CLM Church Live Stream | Sunday 5 September 2021

[Music] hey good morning welcome to clm to our sunday morning service so great to have you here in the room so great to have the hubbub the noise of people sharing together talking together and welcome to all of you joining us from home joining us online we are delighted that you are tuning in to be with us i want to particularly welcome if you're here in the room and it's your first time or maybe your first time back in the building since march 2020 we are so pleased to be able to worship with you here today this is wonderful if you are joining us on youtube whether from somewhere across coventry or somewhere further afield do put your name in the youtube chat let us know who's joining us and feel free to use the chat throughout the service saying amen put a bible verse in there uh let's keep encouraging one another whether we're here in the room or joining online well today as part of our service we're going to be taking communion if you're here in the room under your seat there should be a little pod which has like a wafer and some grape juice in it that will be ready there for when we take communion if you're joining us at home if you haven't got something ready then now would be a great time to grab something appropriate so you can join with us at the appropriate time brilliant here if you're in the room as you as we're just kind of coming back getting used to being in the space we're asking you to keep your mask on unless you're exempt particularly while we're singing and also if you're greeting other people then we'd encourage you to use an elbow bump rather than a full embrace just so we manage one another's uh fears anxieties cautions and we keep this a safe place where we feel safe we're not required to uh register who's in the building for track and trace if that's something you want to do the nhs qr code is at reception and you can make use of that if you want to if you're here this morning you're a parent or carer with a little one we've got a room to use with babies down on the lower ground floor open all through the service with the service relay make use of that whenever you want to but i am here now as i'm sure you are to meet with jesus to worship jesus anyone here done the same maybe you're joining us at home you have tuned in because you want to worship jesus today so i'm going to encourage us the band are going to lead us in just a moment can i encourage you to draw to mind something that you are grateful to jesus for maybe something he's brought you through maybe something he's delivered you from maybe you're just grateful today for the cross and for forgiveness how precious that is but why not draw it to mind and where you are at home or here in the room begin to speak out some thanks to him begin to speak out praise to him begin to thank him who knows where we would be without him jesus we want to thank you this morning we come to worship you and to bring you honor to bring you praise we come to bow down before you and to thank you for all that you are thank you for your mercy thank you for your grace to us thank you for loving us thank you for coming to find us and rescuing us thank you for giving yourself fully for us thank you for being the same yesterday today and forever consistent faithful strong our father in heaven lord we come to bring you praise and thanks so as we worship today come and inhabit our praise lord because we come to fix our eyes on you amen let's worship him yes lord we thank you we glorify you this morning lord put your hands together for him [Music] of glory yeah [Music] without your love slave to the daughters if it wasn't for the cross [Music] with your kindness chased me down when i was lost [Music] hallelujah thank you jesus i was a priest no i'm not and with your blood you put my freedom [Music] yes lord my [Music] [Music] thank you jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hallelujah [Music] i'm here [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you jesus i was a priest and now not [Music] hallelujah [Applause] [Music] thank you jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] jesus [Music] thank you thank you jesus [Music] thank you jesus i was at the rest now i'm not singing church [Music] hallelujah for the cross friends we're going to take a moment to remember the cross as we share communion together i'm going to invite you just to take your seats we don't stop celebrating but we do take a moment that we might fully reflect on the gravity on the wonder of what jesus has done it says this in luke 22 of jesus he took bread he gave thanks and he broke it and he gave it to them saying this is my body given for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you matthew adds for the forgiveness of sins jesus said do this in remembrance of me this is why we take communion jesus commanded us to do this in remembrance of him and as we take communion today here in the room and joining us at home we're joining our hearts together as the family of god but i call you to remember this morning the one who made everything the one who was before anything was that he took on flesh that he laid aside his glory and majesty to walk in the dirt of the earth for you and for me he lived a perfect life i call you to remember this morning gethsemane where he knelt where he wrestled where he was overwhelmed with sorrow at what lay ahead of him but he said not what i will but what you will i call you to remember this morning the one who could have summoned the hosts of heaven legions of angels to rescue him and to pull him out he did not i call you to remember today [Music] but he went to the cross he was brutalized he was humiliated his blood was shed his body was broken to take your sin to take my sin the truth is that everything we owed every debt we had towards god every right thing we'd not done every accusation against us he took it and it was nailed to the cross with him so i'll call us to remember today his body broken his blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins his blood sealing a new covenant so we come today to remember we come to respond to bring our thanks to bring our adoration to bring our lives to receive from him afresh so let's pray together [Music] lord we stop this morning to remember in our songs but also in the quiet and we stop to remember and to participate in the way that you laid out for us to eat and to drink to take of what you have provided for us your broken body your blood poured out for our cleansing for our forgiveness for our redemption for our ransom to buy us back and to rescue us to put your new life in us and so lord we come to your table today so full of gratitude as we remember what you gave as we remember your love for us as we remember the cost we come to respond to you to bring our gratitude to bring our adoration to bring ourselves to you as you've given yourself for us and we come with thirsty open hungry hearts that as we take of you this morning lord that you might fill us again for we need you that you might forgive us again for we need your cleansing but we thank you lord we remember you amen so let's take a moment now to take the bread and the cup do join us wherever you are at home the band are going to lead us but i invite us all to take this moment to remember to respond to receive from him again [Music] [Music] god [Music] broken for all my sins nobody crucified to make me hold again i will recall foreign [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] as christ is [Music] [Music] my [Music] is [Music] right [Music] [Music] [Applause] you've been so good [Music] you've been so good to me [Music] if not for you if not for you lord god [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] remind me of nothing yet [Music] [Music] [Music] so do [Music] and all my life you have been friends [Music] all my life you have been so so good with every breath that i am i will say of the goodness yeah [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i will say [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] i give you everything your goodness is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is thank you jesus all my life you have been free this is your taste of money stick it out to all my life you [Music] of the goodness come on church lift up your voices stick it out to the king all my life you have been faithful about all my life [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i think maybe we've only just got started on that declaration this morning but a sense the lord wants to minister into some hearts today because he's been good to you in romans 8 32 it says he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not along with him graciously give us all things what he has done for you already his faithfulness to you on the journey he wants to remind you that you can trust him for today and you can trust him for tomorrow i sense particularly the lord wanting to administer into anxiety and maybe you just find yourself anxious maybe that's a long-seated thing i felt the lord just put into my spirit particularly there's people with patterns of anxiety it's not just necessarily a brand new thing but there's some patterns some rhythms but maybe you're heading back into school or an educational setting in these next few weeks or maybe just you're still recalibrating from what has been in the last couple of years many of us are [Music] psalm 116 it says return to your rest my soul for the lord has been good to you return to your rest o my soul for the lord has been good to you some of us here this morning we need to speak to our soul say return to your rest my soul for the lord has been good to you it's his goodness it's what he has given to you and for you that is to be for you it's like a lighthouse in the storm so i know we're gonna get there because of who god is and because he's already proven it by what he's done i just want to invite you to open your hearts to receive if you're joining us at home this is for you as well open your heart to receive from him this morning lord we thank you for you've already done so much for us and the cross stands to testify through all history that you love us enough to give everything for us and i thank you that your desire is to lift anxiety off us is for us to live in your peace so we welcome you holy spirit yes we ask you and invite you to minister into every heart to break off chains of anxiety to break into rhythms and patterns of where there are regular triggers holy spirit we pray that you would come and bring a depth a deep revelation and an encounter a recognition of your goodness that breaks the pattern that brings a different revelation holy spirit we invite you to minister and to do your work [Music] [Music] peace be still peace peace tell peace be still oh my soul peace be still peace peace peace be still oh my soul peace be still peace be still peace be still oh my soul peace be still peace peace [Music] peace be still oh my soul peace be still peace peace peace be still oh my soul [Music] peace be still oh my soul [Music] peace [Music] peace [Music] this [Music] morning peace peace [Music] receive the peace of the lord [Music] [Music] peace peace [Music] peace yes [Music] we thank you lord for your presence for your faithfulness we thank you that you speak into our lives and you also we are able to remind our souls to speak to them of the goodness of god to speak to our souls to find again the peace of god and we remind ourselves today of your goodness that we might rest in it and move forward covered by it and so we pray father for every person every boy every girl here in the room joining us at home that you would if you like consolidate in your hearts in this moment the goodness of god the heart of god that is for them championing them going ahead of them providing everything that is needed and we pray lord that anxiety and fear would have no place in these hearts as your love keeps filling and filling and refilling so we pray for courage and strength for every one of your people today and in the coming week and we ask it in your precious name amen amen please do take your seats we continue to stand in prayer if you want to send in a prayer request to clm sorry to online at clm church dot co dot uk then please do so in just a moment we're going to hear some important information of what's going on in the life of the church while we're doing that our children are going to go out to their group we're still just working on groupings from those who were in reception up to year six in the last school year that's going to change next week but for today if you have come out of reception or up to year six then we have kids work for you this morning and so during the notices if you want to head out or if your parents want to take you just to the bottom of the stairs out in the reception area and our kids team will meet you there and also from now in the service there's another room open on our lower ground floor for preschoolers and parents you can take your preschoolers there any time if you want to make use of that but now take a look at the screen with me hey church great to have you with us today if you are new to clm firstly welcome it's so great to have you with us if you're joining us in person we'll love you to call in our connect point in the corner of the room to my right and to your left straight after the service so we can say hi and make sure we don't miss you just head over as soon as the server finishes if you don't manage to make it take a netpoint or join us online we love to help you get connected all you need to do is go to your web browser and go to clam church code uk forward slash connect and here you'll find a short online form this will simply allow us to gather some basic details from you and then a member of the team will get in touch to see how we can help you for those joining us in person our prayer ministry team will also be available at the front of the room after the service they will love the opportunity to pray for you at this time about anything you are currently facing firstly a few things on next sunday we are going to be trying stopping the booking system for those who wish to join us in person we'll be keeping this under review and remain fully committed to creating a safe space for all who come to worship so if you would like to join us in person next sunday at either 9 15 or 11 30 a.m there is no need to book in simply come along we'll also continue to live stream our 9 15 a.m service over on the clm church youtube channel next sunday we are delighted to have martin smith with us as a guest worship leader martin is going to be providing some input to our worship team next week and has kindly agreed to lead us in worship martin is a highly acclaimed worship leader and songwriter who has penned many well-known songs including history maker did you feel the mountains tremble and i could sing of your love forever be sure to join us and lastly on next sunday just to confirm that we'll be having sunday sessions for those in schools year 7 to 11. we'll also have in-service packs available for all our primary school-aged kids along with both our parent and carers and baby room and our pre-schoolers room that will include a short focus time and some activities as mentioned last sunday and on social media next saturday we are very excited to be holding an open house as part of the city of culture faith event this is a 24-hour event that involves celebrating different faiths and cultures through foods plays and other experiences we'll be opening doors from 11am and we'll have drinks and refreshments as well as a chance to learn a little about the church history hear a short presentation of the gospel and have the opportunity for prayer this is a great way to invite those who perhaps wouldn't normally attend church to come and find find out a little bit more in a very relaxing environment this is open to everyone not just those who have signed up for the seat of culture event so feel free to come and join us from 11am next saturday if you've not managed to make it back to the building yet it may also be a good way to come back in a really relaxed environment for more information please drop us an email to online at clm church or credit uk there are a lot of different things happening in september so just to profile a few dates ignite is back on friday the 17th of september ignite is for those in schools year 7 to 11 and is a great space for our young people to have some fun connect with god and receive relevant teaching for their age group we'll confirm times and other details to all parents on our database in the next week or so on sunday the 19th of september we look forward to the return of student lunches which will be every sunday after the service from 19th of september to the 10th of october this is a great opportunity to relax meet other students and enjoy a meal together on a week commencing 19th of september the next is also running in commentary we'll be throwing out some world-class apologetics teaching taking place at coventry cathedral to find out more about this and to sign up head over to our growth track page on our website we will also be holding three days of program fasting from tuesday 21st to thursday the 23rd september we'll be meeting to pray online via zoom each morning from 7 to 7 45 am and we praying in person here at clm each evening from 7 30 to 9 00 pm i'm aware there's a lot of dates and information so if you'd like to find out more about these events please check out our website cm church or credit uk or refer to our september e-news that should have just landed in your inbox this week if you don't receive our monthly e-news or have any questions about anything i've just mentioned simply drop us an email to online at cdmchurch.com well that's all from me today have a blessed week brilliant thank you so much gabriel lot's going on it's good to be getting back to a point where there's lots going on in the life of the church and many things happening in person so thank you gabriel we're so grateful to many of you we've got many people today on serving teams making church happen great job stewards can we can we have a round of applause for our serving teams as we are building back it's been so crucial and we're so grateful to many of you are getting involved but as we are getting back we've got a particular opportunity a number of opportunities to get involved with clm kids and gemma sumner who's our kids pastor is going to tell us a little bit about that and that's going to come up now also on the screen hello church i just wanted to take a few minutes to share with you a little bit about clm kids you've probably guessed already by the name clm kids what our ministry area focuses on anything to do with children from birth all the way through to the end of primary school but we also aim to build connections with the grown-ups too across our kids ministry we want to create opportunities for children to discover god for themselves and be prepared to journey a lifetime relationship with him was there many different aspects to how we engage with the children and their grown-ups one of the biggest interactions that we have is on a sunday morning starting with our youngest group naught tattoos where we have a space available for the grown-ups to take their little ones then for our preschoolers alongside their grown-ups we have a space with activities linked to the big idea for the day in both of these spaces we have team hosting the room on hand to support and pray with the grown-ups as well as engaging with the children and leading a short focused time with our preschoolers for those children in primary school we have sessions during the service where we run specific activities for this age group as part of these sessions our team fulfill many roles from guiding discussions in small groups to running the tech enabling our worship and teaching to run smoothly over these last few weeks there has been such a buzz throughout the team as we have been able to engage with the children and families in person once again there has been a delight at hearing children praying for one another and sharing how god has been walking with them in their daily lives we have also had beautiful moments of connecting with some of their grown-ups listening and praying with them as they journey their current situations to keep fully engaging and building better opportunities for children and families to journey and grow with god we need a strong and healthy team and i would love you to get involved with clm kids ministry we need people who are passionate about seeing little ones grow and develop their own faith as they discover who they are in god if you would like to know more about how you could be involved even if you're not really sure where you may fit in please speak with myself or email me gemma clmchurch.co.uk to ask any questions and i look forward to hearing from you soon brilliant thank you we can applaud gemma that will be good you know investing in the next generation it is such a valuable use of your gifts and of your time i was in clm kids just last sunday supporting the team it was so good to be alongside some of our little ones just hearing them connecting with them helping them engage talking about god uh it's it's life-giving actually to connect with our little young ones so much energy and uh such a different perspective you know we so want our little ones to know they're loved and valued here at church we want to nurture them and grow them but that relies on us growing a strong team building a strong team again to help them but you know this is where bringing the kingdom begins with our young people and our little ones and i would really want to encourage you maybe this is an area you've worked in before and taken a break from or maybe it's something you've thought about but not actioned do get in touch with gemma find out some more and let's keep investing growing and bringing the kingdom of course there will be uh something of a recruitment process that's critical for safeguarding our children but that's really straightforward and our team will help you through all of that and we look forward to hearing from you awesome well right now as part of our worship we're going to bring our tithes and our offerings primarily we're still doing this online whether you're at home or here in the room and just in case you're not sure how to do that it's really straightforward simply go to our website clmchurch.co.uk and click on the giving tab there's two different options there for giving the first is to give by bank transfer or standing order and the bank details for the church are there with some simple instructions the second option is to click on the box that says online which allows you to make a card payment that's a really easy process as well there's a third way to give which is by text if you're giving up to or including 20 pounds and you can do that by texting clm give followed by the amount you want to give to 70085 that's all up there on the screen if you are here in the room today if you brought cash or a check we won't be sending pots down the rows um but there is a pot at the front and there's some envelopes and pens at the front and at the back if you want to make use of those and you can do that at any time during the service well as we give we're going to worship again we're going to sing but let me pray before we do that as we bring our offering to the lord father we thank you for all that you've given as we've remembered today we thank you that you are our provider jehovah jarom what we bring to you as an offering is only a small a small offering of what you have poured out into our lives but we come and we bring it thanking you for your faithfulness to us thanking you for what you have given to us and we ask again as we do this that you would supply everything that we need that you would give us our daily bread and we ask that as we bring our offerings to you and we bring this into the storehouse as it were that lord you would open the floodgates of heaven over every one of your people that you would give them jobs where they need jobs promotions provision of all kinds we pray father for businesses represented that they would know your blessing and your favor especially in these difficult times we pray that you'd open doors for your people in every way and that you would keep making us generous on every occasion so that we can meet the needs of others and overflow your grace and bounty in countless ways so we ask it in the name of jesus amen [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] and suddenly i'm not afraid cause [Music] there is hope in every single word [Music] i don't wanna miss a one word you speak [Music] quiet my heart i'm listening [Music] peace [Music] will keep me safe [Music] [Music] you speak [Music] [Music] we're listening for yourself [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] you speak [Music] you speak [Music] you speak cause everything you say is alive [Music] [Applause] [Music] cause everything you say isn't life to me i don't wanna miss the one words you speak quiet my [Music] thank you lord that you speak to us you speak to us through your word you speak to us by your spirit sometimes you speak through our brothers and sisters in encouragement to strengthen us lord we thank you that you are a speaking god we pray that you keep helping us to learn to quiet our hearts to listen and to hear what you're saying that we can follow your still small voice speak to us we pray amen oh man thank you so much and for leading us worshiping leading the way this morning in just a moment dr john andrews is going to bring us the word today but just before he does so i just want to introduce four new faces to you we've got three new interns uh starting tomorrow and so i'm gonna welcome faith and beau and isosa and beth ann if you can all just uh come up yeah you can give them a round of applause let's see just come and kind of stand on one of the crosses on here then you'll have some light that's it if you go there so as a bow you come over here brilliant so we've got uh wow that was exciting and that's now not working thank you are we good oh we're good thank you very much matt there we are just to show it can all go wrong this is how well our guys do most the time that this doesn't happen thank you for sorting these things out so quickly you are amazing anyway this is uh this is bethan befan isn't an intern but bethan is alongside some theological study doing a placement with us for the next few months just give us a headline of what you're going to be involved in please do feel free to lift your visor to do so um yes so i'm hopefully going to be here um in the weekend so friday and sunday so hopefully doing youth and kids so i'll be around don't be shy say hello brilliant this is bethan well welcome hold the applause will welcome them all in just a moment this is bo moyo you may know this face bo what are you going to be involved with bo is starting an internship here tomorrow what are the ministry areas you'll be connecting with with media and youth media and youth and how are you feeling about this excited i guess awesome this is beau we're gonna we're gonna welcome him in just a moment this is faith menker faith welcome and uh what ministry areas are you mainly going to be involved with um i'm only going to be involved in kids young adults and life groups brilliant thank you you may be hearing from faith and this is isosa iso what areas are you going to be involved with um i'm going to be involved in youth students and growth check brilliant youth students go to these guys we are so delighted that you are investing in the house and giving of your time and uh we want you to know their faces so you know them you can pray for them stand with them the lord might prompt you to give to them or bless them in some way please do feel free to do that we can take a moment just to pray for them and then you can welcome them with that applause that you're ready to go with father we thank you that you speak to us and you lead us and you lead us into places of serving and places of growing and we pray for izosa and faith and beau and bethan in this year that specifically as they serve you and give of themselves that you would grow them that you would meet them that you would blow away their expectations of both what you do in them and through them we pray for them that you would bless them favor them give them everything that they need and may this be such a blessing to them we ask in the name of jesus amen amen so please do give them a big welcome thank you thank you that's great that's it it's short and sweet and right off the back of that we're going to welcome dr john to bring us the word great to have you with us dr john andrews so open your hearts and if you've got a notebook get it ready thank you so much thank you good morning it is uh absolutely wonderful to be with you thank you for having me again i love coming here it is like coming home and thank you also can i say to pastors martin and esther and the team for welcoming bethan i know she is very excited to be part of you in the coming months as she studies at bible college and thank you so much she is she is my favorite number three uh so if you can look after that would be wonderful but i'm genuinely excited for her for the opportunity to be part of a great christian community and uh and it's such a joy so thank you i'm deeply deeply grateful it's my joy this morning to carry on as part of the series that we're doing called finding strength now if you've missed any of that series if you've been away or on holiday whether abroad or staycationing uh it's good to have you back but if you've missed any of that then you can grab all of that on podcast and it's there for you and i would encourage you to lean into that and to dig into that for me this morning i have the privilege of taking on the subject of finding strength in the word finding strength in the word and that what a great subject you have given me and i'm so so excited to do that so if you have the bible with you come on now if you have the bible with you uh then why don't you grab it and turn with me to 2nd timothy chapter 3 2 timothy chapter 3 let me get the self organized second timothy chapter 3 and i'm just going to read from two verses they'll come up on the screen for you but if you do have a bible grab that and do it uh with me in second timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and it says these amazing words all scripture is god breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking correcting and training in righteousness so that the servant of god man or woman of god may be thoroughly equipped for every good work now just just look at the words of the screen i mean if we sort of take that remotely seriously okay as a follower of jesus maybe you're here as a guest you're not a follower of jesus as followers of jesus we really believe in the bible we believe the bible is the revealed word of god to us in print it's not just an important book for us it is the book that we build our lives upon and the book itself tells us how important it is paul wrote these words and he says all scripture not just your favorite bits not just the cool bits but even the viticus bit all scripture is breathed by god now that's the only time that phrase god breathed some translations have inspired it's the only time it appears in the whole of the new testament it's a really cool idea and we've got in the god breathiness we've got the word of god having its origin in god and it's life in god and it's purpose in god a magnificent image all scriptures god breathed and is useful useful for what teaching rebuking correcting and training why so that me and you can be thoroughly equipped so that we can have every tool we need to go into our world and live for jesus all right that's why the word of god's there and sometimes when we approach engaging with the bible it can all feel a little bit heavy and a little bit sort of mechanical and this is something i just have to do but if we approach the bible with a mentality this is what i have to do then we'll miss all of this cool stuff we'll miss that the sense that actually this word is here for you it's here for me and you so that we can be thoroughly equipped so that john andrews can be taught in the ways of jesus so that when john andrews is going off course he can be corrected and even rebuked that has happened believe it or not it has and so that john andrews can be thoroughly equipped and and that's the same for me and you had actually this amazing book that we have is here for us some of you will will know this translation of the bible the message how many people have heard of this or seen this or maybe you've got a copy at home fantastic okay it's pretty popular my wife loves the message and her bible she has the sort of niv version of the bible and the message side by side she absolutely loves the message and this was translated by a man called eugene peterson and eugene peterson did i mean this was his most amazing work really he's written a lots of great books he's a phenomenal author he's now in heaven unfortunately for us but an amazing amazing man of god and when this was released in 2002 bono the lead singer of you two picked up a copy and was completely blown away by it in fact he said this he said that this is the first time that i've been able to read the bible and the bible has spoken to me in my language okay and he was so blown away by it he did an interview for rolling stone magazine and in that interview he waxed lyrical about how amazing the message was okay now this isn't really still magazine not in premier christian magazine it's rolling stone and one of eugene's peterson's students came into his class one day with a copy of rolling stone magazine and showed it to professor peterson and he said professor peterson bono you too is like absolutely stoked at your uh version of the bible the the message to which eugene peterson said who's bono okay at the same time bono reached out to peterson for an interview he wanted to meet with peterson privately this was all under the radar and bono wanted to meet with peterson and talk to him about this amazing translation and peterson turned him down okay now this became a bit of an urban myth so this happened around about 2002 and this rumor circulated that peterson turned bono down okay now he did eventually meet with bernard you can check all of this out on youtube there's a phenomenal program of bono meeting eugene peterson talking about the psalms it's really really stunning for those involved in worship it's definitely worth a look a few years later in 2007 peterson was being interviewed at a university campus and dean nelson who was interviewing him picked this story up this urban myth and he sort of won isn't it true he said is it true that you turned bono down uh and peterson said well i did you know i was busy with deadlines with the message and to which dean peterson said dean nelson said these amazing words he said you may have been the only person alive who would turn the opportunity to meet bono down for a deadline i mean he said come on he says it was bono to which peterson in the interview looked straight at him and said but dane it was isaiah who would turn bono down for isaiah there are beautiful christians don't even know who isaiah is okay who would turn bono down full stop but to turn him down because he was so enraptured with isaiah that he said no to bono because he was saying yes to isaiah now that's an amazing story on a whole different level to where i live and you live but there's a sort of a challenge there if we're gonna find strength in the book we've gotta love it enough to say no to a whole bunch of other stuff because you and i live in a world that is screaming for our attention 24 7 noise noise noise noise noise and actually you and i if we're going to tune into this book which i love if we're going to find strength in this book then we got to take this book seriously a bit like the song we sang just before i got up i don't want to miss a single word now they are amazing amazing words but if we're going to take those words seriously then then we've got to have a really robust approach to the book we can't sing those words that i i want to get every word because those words are life and i want to i want you to quote my heart help me to tune in we can't sing those words and then be casual with this right we've got to take it seriously and my challenge is that my experience teaches me that many christians can i say this carefully and this is not in any way to condemn anybody in the room it's just to challenge us and make us think my experience is that many christians don't take it seriously all right now now my experience is also borne out by some stats and i know we don't often like stats and you can make statistics almost say anything you want to say but in two recent surveys one commissioned by the church of england which was released in 2014 they interviewed 8150 people in this particular survey about spirituality church the bible etc etc of the 8 150 people who responded 56 classified themselves as followers of jesus so either they were anglican or they clashed themselves as active christians or they clashed themselves as followers of jesus so of the 8 000 150 who responded 56 put themselves in the bracket of jesus follower you with me and when they were asked the question um do you or how often do you read or listen to the bible that that percentage of people who said they were active followers of jesus 14 of them said that they would listen or read the bible about once per week the shocking statistic was that 55 of the jesus followers said they never read the bible now somebody will say well that's not clm we that's not our stat that wouldn't be us and i i would probably say that would be true because i think if you're part of a strong bible-centric church that uses the pulpit strongly and advocates the word of god you're more likely to build a bible-orientated community that really respects the bible and i knew you work hard on that but let's just work with that's that imagine if that was true here imagine a 55 percent of us of clm all the services online and the two this morning 55 of us had never read the bible or weren't engaging with the bible in 2019 the bible society released a report where they did a survey amongst 18 to 35 year olds now that's the millennial group in fact they wanted to interview what they called digital millennials so if you're 18 to 35 in this room or online and you own one piece of sort of uh digital kit a smartphone or a tablet etc and you're on social media at least once a week then you would be in this category of digital millennial okay 18 to 35 and they wanted to know what the attitude to jesus followers in that group would be in the bible considering the fact that we've got almost unlimited resource online when it comes to the bible okay i mean we're living in the most amazing amazing time in history for that now within that group nine percent of practicing christians said they read the bible every day come on thirteen percent said a few times a week thirteen percent said every week and 17 said they read it a few times a year meaning that 51 of practicing christians in the millennial group that were interviewed read the bible less than once per month now that could be just them and not the 18 to 35 year olds here okay but if those surveys are representative and all the surveys coming out are putting non-engagement with the bible in the sort of 50 plus category for jesus followers we're not talking about joe and josephine out there who can't spell jesus we're talking about jesus followers those stats are sort of holding when i used to lecture in bible college i would teach luke and acts to the first years a lovely introductory course and every single year i did a spot survey and it wasn't scientific it was just anecdotal it was to give me a feel for the class my last class i taught a few years ago had 34 students in it now this is in bible college and i said okay you must be honest just tell me the truth how many people in the room have read all 66 books of the bible at some point of the 34 students six said we've read all 66. okay six out of 34 in bible college then i said how many people have read the new testament part of the bible a further 9 on top of that 6 said we've read the new testament that's the 27 books of the new testament so here's what it meant to me as i stood up to teach the gospel of luke half my class in bible college hadn't read the gospel of luke wow i you know that's not shocking actually actually it was a sort of a pattern i was noticing bible literacy bible engagement bible love bible vibrancy i was seeing a dip over many many years and i think that's worn out now i'm not saying any of that to criticize anybody or condemn anybody or judge anybody i'm sort of saying that to put that into context to eugene peterson he turned down bono for isaiah and actually we face a challenge today as followers of jesus like never before to engage with the bible and actually we've got lots of voices speaking to us all over the place and we have got to find a way to engage with this book because this book is our primary guidance and bringing us god's revelation god's truth and god's life to us whatever other forms it comes in through a preacher like me through a podcast through a feeling that you have when you are engaging in worship through even through the worship team whatever conduit comes from it's ultimately the word of god that is our source of strength so you and i have got to learn to engage with this i love what proverbs says it says every word of god is flawless he is a shield to all who take refuge in him now me standing up here saying you've got to read the bible isn't going to help you okay you know that as a follower of jesus the bible's important and you know what's important to this church and you sort of know without really me telling you that this is important to your faith so me simply standing up and telling you you got to do it isn't necessarily going to help you to do it but so what's important is we have a strong reason to read the bible in other words it's such a strong reason we come to the conclusion i cannot not read it are you with me in other words it becomes so important to us that it's like it's like eating food every day it's like having a shower every day hopefully it's like it's like brushing our teeth every day it's something we just do because we know we cannot do jesus life without it now that's the bottom line once that becomes a reality to me and you then we're more likely to sort of take up the challenge of picking up this book as big and as scary as it is and making it part of our everyday experience does that make sense to you so here's four reasons why we should pick up the book number one it creates faith where does faith come from faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of christ so where does faith come faith doesn't come from you faith comes from the word of god it's actually god's word in whatever form it comes to us whether read or heard or engaged in it's god's word that creates faith i don't faith faith i can't manufacture spiritual faith now there's a sense of which every human in this room has natural faith but that's not what we're talking about we're talking about about spiritual faith that allows me to engage in a living relationship with jesus that faith the bible tells me can only come to me when i hear god's word now if that's true or even half true then here's what it means if i don't engage with his word reading listening engaging with a christian community that celebrates the word of god if i'm not engaging with it i am literally cutting off my own faith so all these songs beautiful songs we sang this morning are based on the word of god which creates faith it's not just fridge magnet positive psychology that we're dealing with this is the truth of god's word now once that became a reality to me as a young christian and i was graced by the fact i i got this idea really quickly in my journey as a christian i realized hold on a minute if faith comes by the word of god whatever form the word of god comes in then i've got to make sure i'm getting the word of god into my life like if possible every day it just made sense to me and so why is the word of god important because it creates faith secondly it's important because it sharpens our focus every single day i pick up the bible not this one this is my sort of old preaching bible but i have a devotional bible i use at home it's a wide margin bible it's got scribbles all over it and marks all over it some of you who follow me on instagram you'll see my pictures have been put in on the john reflections uh this month and i love that bible and every single day i pick up the bible believe it or not i kiss it and i pray this prayer from the psalms open my eyes o lord that i may see wonderful things in your law now why is that important because because this book is not just an intellectual book this book is a spiritual book so it's not just me accumulating knowledge if i just want to accumulate knowledge i can go to google for that this is a book where i need insight revelation i need to be able to see with not just physical but spiritualize into the truth of that and therefore i invite the holy spirit to open my eyes that i may see wonderful things in his law so every day there's sort of three elements to my prayer as i prepare for the word of god i pray that the eyes my eyes will be opened that i will see wonderful things of the law my mind will be open to truly understand not just intellectually but understand in a life-giving way what i'm reading and that my heart will be open so that i will know jesus more as a result of the bible experience i'm about to have i'm not just picking up the book to increase my knowledge i'm trying to pick up the book to increase life you with me and so the word of god is important because it creates faith it sharpens our focus thirdly it builds fortitude look at these amazing words from the psalms again psalm 119 my soul faints with longing for your salvation but i have put my hope in your word now that's what we've been singing this morning you sang that in a different form of words but we sang that we said we're putting our hope in your word now if that is true then we've got to get his word to our hearts we cannot put hope in something that we do not know and so so it's not enough to rely on pastor esther or or martin as they bring something inspirational or or or the worship team as they lead us as brilliant as that is and we thank god for that but somehow i i've got to realize that that this book is the very means of finding strength and fortitude in a weird wonderful and ever-changing world in which i live psalm 119 says if your law had not been my delight i would have perished in my affliction can i just be really vulnerable to you my my youngest daughter is sitting on the front row and she knows the journey we've made if it wasn't for this i would not be here now i had great friends friends aren't enough joe and josephine out there have mates are you with me they have a community down the pub they have people who support them that's not enough right having a great experience is not enough what what i needed was to be rooted in what god said and being rooted in what he said literally not just big picture i'd become a christian but literally saved my life i am here because of his word and if i showed you my devotional bible you'll see scribbles in the margin you'll see dates in the margin you'll see explanation marks in the margin where god spoke spoke spoke to me no atmosphere no worship bond to help me no goose pimples just spoke through his word i trained my mind to go lord i need your word without your word i am dead in the water i need your word and leaned into that word and in moments when i felt nothing i heard something come on and i would not be here if it wasn't for that book that's the truth that's my conclusion believe it or not if your law had not been my delight i would have perished in my affliction and lastly the word of god is important because it produces fruit in us here's what the psalmist said one of my favorite psalms i recite this every day we'll finish with it today psalm 19 the law of the lord is perfect why it revives the soul the law of the lord is perfect reviving the soul i want to tell you that spiritual fruit comes out of spiritual truth come on are you with me we cannot have spiritual fruit without engaging in spiritual truth and if we want our soul revived if if we want to be men and women that experience the supernatural revival of the soul then one of the things we've got to try and treat ourselves in is regularly and consistently listening engaging with this book because it has the power to revive you it has the power to renew you it has the power to guide you it has the power to give you everything you need so that the man and woman of god can be thoroughly equipped for every good work that's why it's important to kind of say without getting too spooky on this that's why the devil will do everything in the context of society in the context of your world to distract you from this book he doesn't care what you read as long as you don't read that he doesn't care what you listen to as long as you don't listen to that he doesn't care who you are connecting with as long as you are not connecting to men and women of god who are building their lives on the truth of the word of god fill your life with whatever you want as long as you stay away from that come on so it's important for us why because the word of god creates faith it sharpens our focus it builds fortitude and it produces fruit so here's some practical tips in terms of the word of god i want to encourage you with as we bring this to a close now every tip i'm going to give you i do so i'm not selling you something that i don't personally engage with all right um um this is stuff that i have worked through in my life so i've been a christian since i was eight years old i was filled with a spirit of 12 called by god into ministry in my mid teens and i've been in full-time christian ministry since 1987. all right and i still have to intentionally and deliberately engage with this book can't rely on yesterday i've got to engage even today so what i'm about to tell you i've worked it through over 30 plus years of serious ministry contacts is that okay i'm not saying that to sort of bum myself i'm saying i put context in some of these statements because some of the stuff i'm going to say is really simple but it works here's the first practical tip create a time and a space now here's the thing if you do not create a time and space for the word of god it won't happen guarantee it guarantee it if you don't create a time and a space it won't happen in my personal behavior this is what this is my view i make a date with the word of god okay again i have a member of my family sitting on the front row and she will tell you my rhythms and routines that i am rarely prepared to compromise on because this book is more important than bono right now it's not because i'm super spiritual it's just because i've understood bono as brilliant as he is isn't going to save my life if this book is going to do it and if i get distracted with the bonus stuff of this world please forgive me for using that illustration but you think you know what i mean then i'm not gonna make it so so i make a date and a place i've actually created a little space in my world where i can go specifically for the bible now you may not be able to do that because of the world you're in but if you can do that i'm telling you it'll make a difference make a time now make it a time that you can make and create a space really worthwhile it really does work secondly prepare your heart don't just pick the book up and start reading because it's not a book this is breathed by god now this is really really important to me when i open the pages here's what here's where i start the disc contains the breath of god and when you see the breath of god at work in the bible everywhere the breath of god goes life happens everywhere the first human in genesis the dry bones in ezekiel wherever the breath of god goes life springs from it so so i've tried to discipline myself don't just pick up this book like i'm picking up a novel but pick up the book and actually go lord your breath is in this so here's what i'm going to try and do i'm going to prepare my heart to receive some breath i'm gonna open up my mouth to receive your breath i'm gonna put my mind in a disposition to help me receive that breath how i am as i read the bible influences what i receive so if i'm flustered and distracted it's going to affect how i receive if i am preparing my heart and settling my heart it influences how i receive come on here with me does that make sense to you so prepare your heart don't rush this thing prepare your heart take five minutes some of the ancient rabbis would stand in the presence of god for an hour in silence before they open the text now you don't have to do that but remember this is not just a book this is the only book you own that has the breath of almighty god in it and if you give it respect it'll speak come on here with me still there number three turn off the noise turn off the noise we live in the noisiest generation in the history of the world now i love the technology i use the technology i've got the technology but if the technology is distracting you from the book then it may be you have to go old-fashioned and you may have to buy one of these like with real pages in it because some of you have your bible on your phone but you can't resist the pop-ups the buzzes the pings and the vibrations and you get distracted and there you are in the middle of reading about jesus but a really interesting message has just popped up on tick tock right or you've been watched up by a friend and you're distracted now imagine if jesus was sitting with you in your room and your phone buzzed would you answer it if you would you really need to be ministered to right now you need to come out the front and let me hit you with the but no let me minister to you the the power of the lord listen when i'm with friends over lunch my phone's in my pocket because they are my focus i never have the phone on the table i don't want to be disturbed because i'm with you we're not even allowed phones at our dining room at home because you're with me here i'm here not on instagram i'm here now you've got to turn off the noise find a quiet place and turn it off and for some of us it may mean can i say parents in the room listen if you've got young children and you read your bible on your phone can i just encourage you make the switch because here's what happens your kids think you're on the phone so when they're playing they think you're on the phone and you're on the bible so actually if you have a copy of the bible out then you've trained them actually my dad's not just on the phone messing around on whatever he's in the bible just a thought feel free to reject that if you want to but it's a helpful one as we're doing number four have a bible reading plan don't leave the bible to spontaneous don't leave the bible to your favorite bits make a plan now there are millions of plants out there on the internet you've got wonderful reading plans on you version i mean there's a whole stack of amazing stuff out there i've designed my own reading plan and in that i do a little bit of the new testament i do always the gospels i read jesus i'm amazed at how many christians don't read jesus and i want to urge you keep rotating the gospels well i've read matthew before read it again read it again i i was meditating on john's gospel this morning and some of you will know because you follow me and this incredible truth in the world you will have trouble but don't be afraid take courage i have overcome the world it's a word right now to us read that this morning have a plan now you can be spontaneous but spontaneous is easier when you have a plan you can go spontaneous go to your favorite bits but i woke up this morning knowing which bit of the bible i was going to read today even if it's leviticus i'm going to read it even if it kills me i'll read it come on are you with me so when i don't feel spontaneous intentionality kicks in now let me say this i'm nearly there people say to me when i talk about a bible reading plan they say this that sounds really religious i've heard this nonsense from people let me tell you they said i got in the shower this morning i get in the shower every day i didn't think as a student a shower this morning i need to change my routine it's a bit religious i want to brush my teeth i didn't think i'm just very religious brushing my teeth every day when i shaved last night we talk nonsense when it comes to this reading your bible having a reading plan is not religiosity now it can become steel of course it can but it's wisdom i want good oral health so i brush my teeth i want to be clean so that you want to embrace me if we could embrace so i wash it's not religious that's wisdom get over your religiousness about the bible reading plan it's just an excuse for you not to do it come on make a plan make a plan number five uh quickly read slowly and out loud read slowly and out loud it's not a race the bible is not a race now if you're trying to read the bible in a year cool but listen if you're reading the bible so fast you've forgotten what you read by the end of the reading it's too fast it's not the point the point is not a race the point is truth i am reading the bible slower than i've ever read it and you know what i do every day i read it out loud i don't just read the words i read them out loud so my ears hear them and when you read out lord it literally slows you down i said john i can't read very well then you can get versions of the bible from you version where you can listen to the bible and if you struggle to read i would encourage you to listen and follow the words in the text at the same time now listen if you're struggling to read because you've had some challenges educationally hear the word of the lord from me learn to read if you can't read you're always at the mercy of the person who can and learning to read the bible for yourself it's life-giving it's life-giving people gave their lives for you to have that bible and it's transformational so if you struggle to read for one reason or another listen to it but follow the words it'll help you read better and read slowly you with me number six the band want to join me they're going to be ready to just finish with this number six record your thoughts record key thoughts if if you read something and it speaks to you write it down write it down now i write it in the margin of my bible some people have journals my daughter is a a massive note taker and scribbler and her bible is like a work of art to be quite honest with you it's quite magnificent a mind's mind i write stuff down over covet i kept a covered journal amazing and writing down's good because it helps me to record and remember because we forget and it's amazing in six months time you look back at that journey go wow i was reading my bible this week and on a date popped up on the side of my bible my margin i just go my goodness look what the lord did then and i remember record key thoughts and lastly number seven rehearse what you've learned speak it out coming down in the car this morning had the most wonderful experience with my daughter talking about the word of god and it's a pretty cool moment it's a really cool moment as a parent that your conversation is around the bible and not just me being clever to her but her speaking to me and she reflected with me on the fact that in a moment the lord spoke to her out of isaiah that he is faithful and and how this became such a revelation of life to her in the midst of this and as she spoke it out over her life it has had transformation why because she's rehearsed that's what mark's helping us to do in worship we're rehearsing we're rehearsing the word of god we're rehearsing truth we're reminding ourselves of what he said and who he is and what he's done because when we rehearse that word rotates in us turns over in us lives in us transforms us the time's gone why don't you stand with me let me read you these words and as i read these words and recite these words to you these are words that i recite every day then i want you to just open up your heart open up your hands some of the stuff i've said made total sense to you some of you're thinking john i know this rock's for you it's not rocking for me but listen what whatever you've heard whatever you've got the word of the lord is vital it's vital peterson turn down bono for isaiah lord that our hearts would be so hungry for you that we would turn off the noise that we would turn down the invitations and we would tune in to you listen to these amazing words close your eyes as a read and receive the law of the lord is perfect reviving the soul the statutes of the lord are trustworthy making wise the simple the precepts of the lord are right giving joy to the heart the commands of the lord are radiant giving light to the eyes the fear of the lord is pure enduring forever the ordinances of the lord are sure they are all together righteous they are more precious than gold than much pure gold they are sweeter than honey then honey from the comb by them is your servant warned and in keeping them there is great reward the psalmist concludes in psalm 19 may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight o lord my rock and my redeemer lord thank you for your word thank you for breathing this word thank you for giving us this word thank you that the word has come to us in such an amazing written form that we can carry it in our phones we can have it in our pockets it sits in our homes we thank you for it but lord we want this word to live in our hearts we wanted to go beyond information to revelation we wanted to go beyond stuff we can recite to stuff we live so lord we invite you to help us will you create a love in each of us for your word we don't just want to do it because we have to we want to do it because we want to and so holy spirit for those online for those in this room give us a love for your word that your word will live in us your word will live through us and that the words of our mouth and the meditation of our heart will delight you and please you o lord our rock and our redeemer amen [Applause] [Music] there is a promise that points beyond my failure there is a still voice to silence all my faith even the worst of my mistakes are miracles in the making miracles in the making by your stripes i am here with one's hat i am a hoe you have spoken and i know that it [Music] you have spoken and i know [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] i am [Applause] [Music] and i know [Music] and i know [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] you will [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you let us [Applause] [Music] ah [Music] by your strife i am healed with one touch i am made whole you have spoken and i know that it [Music] it won't is me go you have spoken and i know that it is so you have spoken and i know that it is so we thank you for your word that gives life that builds a strong foundation in our lives that gives us courage and strength and truth to give us freedom and we just pray lord that you would put a new passion in our hearts for your word help us to see when we're being distracted and to put aside the things that would do that that we might have all the strength that you have put there for us in your word please help us holy spirit in this week and the weeks to come to build on your word we ask in your name amen thank you so much for joining us as church here today um brilliant practical encouragement from dr john with such passion today thank you dr john our prayer team will be here as soon as we finish down here on my left on your right if you just come to the front they'll pray with you with some uh appropriate distance to make you feel comfortable but they will agree with you on anything you would like prayer on if you're new and newish to church do head to our connect point over in the corner find out some more about church how you can get more involved if you don't make it over there the other way you can do this is to go to clm church dot co dot uk forward slash connect there's another way there for you to get connected in here it's a pleasure today to provide refreshments there's tea coffee cold drinks available out in reception feel free to grab a drink i guess is it so nice outside might be good to grab a drink head outside so we can maximize the space available if your kids went upstairs but haven't made it back to you please do go up to find them most of them have come back down but if they haven't returned to you please do go upstairs brilliant that is all for us but as we finish let me speak a blessing over you may you be thoroughly equipped and strengthened by god's word and now may the blessing of almighty god the father and the blessing of his son jesus christ and the blessing of the holy spirit be with you fill you and remain with you always amen amen if you've been here in recent weeks we've staggered the leaving of the building we're not doing [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music]

Channel: CLM Church

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Length: 115min 5sec (6905 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021