St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney, 5pm Service 19/09/2021

well friends welcome to our 5 p.m service here at saint andrews cathedral being live streamed to you wherever you happen to be and we hope uh this finds you well finds you encouraged but we pray even more that our service this afternoon would give you strength that is needed uh confidence perhaps if you are finding this extended time of lockdown particularly difficult and above all a deeper trust in god and his care let me take you to our opening verse of scripture which will guide us this evening it's from psalm chapter psalm 2 verse 1 why do the nations conspire and the people's plot in vain that's a question that's a question that draws our attention to the nature of our world and the chaos and rebellion that characterizes our world and the threat that this poses perhaps to god but certainly to god's people and how are we meant to feel in the light of this reality well we're going to hear tonight from our preacher lachlan neal as he opens his psalm to us that god reigns that he is in control that he has installed his king on high and indeed we can be confident in his reign so let me pray for us that god might be at work in us this afternoon and that we might be helped by this time together let's pray heavenly father thank you that even though we can't be together physically that you are with us and that you join us together our hearts together in spirit and father we pray that as we hear your voice this day as the scriptures are read as your word is preached and as we respond to you in prayer and in praise father may you be at work in us to encourage us strengthen us comfort us and inspire us that our faith might be strengthened our hope deepened and that we might give glory to you and so we commit this time to you ourselves due now in jesus name amen we're going to have the first of our songs a great song focusing our attention on the lord jesus who gave himself for us the power of the cross do sing along [Music] christ became sin for us [Music] oh to see the pain written on your face bearing the awesome weight of sin every bitter thought every [Music] this the power of the cross christ became sin for us took [Music] we stand forgiven at the cross [Music] the daylight fleece now the ground beneath quakes as its maker bows [Music] is [Music] we stand forgiven [Music] far through your suffering [Music] is [Music] for us [Music] well i wonder if you would join with me in saying together the apostles creed i believe in god the father almighty creator of heaven and earth i believe in jesus christ his only son our lord who was conceived by the holy spirit born of the virgin mary suffered under pontius pilate was crucified died and was buried he descended to the dead on the third day he rose again from the dead he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father from there he will come to judge the living and the dead i believe in the holy spirit the holy catholic church the communion of saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen let me pray for us as we prepare to hear god's word read to us heavenly father we thank you that your word is living and active we thank you that it has the power to open blind eyes unstopped deaf ears awaken deadened hearts and so we pray now that you would help us to hear you as your word is read that we might be changed by it in jesus name amen the first bible reading is from psalm 2. why do the nations conspire and the people's plot in vain the kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the lord and against his anointed saying let us break their chains and throw off their shackles the one enthroned in heaven laughs the lord scoffs at them he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath saying i have installed my king on zion my holy mountain i will proclaim the lord's decree he said to me you are my son today i have become your father ask me and i will make the nations your inheritance the ends of the earth your possession you will break them with a rod of iron you will dash them to pieces like pottery therefore you kings be wise be warned you rulers of the earth serve the lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling kiss his son or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction for his wrath can flare up in a moment blessed are all who take refuge in him this is the word of the lord second reading is from the book of mark chapter 15 verses 16 to 32 and we start this reading right after pilate has handed jesus over to be crucified soldiers led jesus away into the palace that is the praetorium and called together the whole company of soldiers they put a purple robe on him then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him and they began to call out to him hail king of the jews again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spat on him falling on their knees they paid homage to him and when they had mocked him they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him then they led him out to crucify him a certain man from cyrene simon the father of alexander and rufus was passing by on his way in from the country and they forced him to carry the cross they brought jesus to the place called golgotha which means the place of the skull then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh but he did not take it and they crucified him dividing up his clothes they cast lots to see what each would get it was nine in the morning when they crucified him the written notice of the charge against him read the king of the jews they crucified two rebels with him one on his right and one on his left those who passed by hold insults at him shaking their heads and saying so you who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days come down from the cross and save yourself in the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves he saved others they said but he can't save himself let this messiah this king of israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe those crucified with him also heaped insults on him this is the word of the lord thanks be to god have you heard it said god is dead have you noticed the way that churches throughout europe in the past centuries have crumbled have you seen the trends in the census data here in australia christianity steadily declining i wonder what the most recent data will say have you seen the endless news articles about the outdated ethics and practices of the church have you seen mocking on social media have your friends and family your colleagues said to you what you believe is irrational and it's harmful for society what you believe is up to you but turn it back a bit and stop pushing it on other people or as you heard the news of the taliban taking over afghanistan as you continue to hear stories of christian brothers and sisters being put to death throughout the world do you wonder what is god doing how could he not not have stopped this is he that weak is he even there to sum up this in a single question can god hold up against the opposition absolutely he can there's not even a contest psalm 2 as we just read is his word to us tonight in it god shows us something to give us great confidence he has set his king to rule the whole earth with might and mercy so we can have complete confidence to be confident to take refuge in him and to not fear the threats of those who oppose him the king is crowned so be confident to take refuge in him we're back in the psalms this week these beautiful poems given to god's people from god himself to help us to see our world rightly to lift our eyes and our voices to him in prayer and praise and being poetry they use these structures poetic structures and images to convey meaning and truth in a way that's clear and impactful last week in psalm 1 we saw those pairs of verses those three aspects of the blessed life and they were woven together in a way that invites you in to take part in that blessed life to delight in god in his word and in obedience to his instruction similarly in psalm 2 tonight there's a simple poetic structure that helps us to see what's going on the verses are grouped in threes this time and there are four of these triplets four speeches four speeches tonight that are woven together to invite us to have confidence in god particularly in his chosen king and to not fear the threats of those who oppose him so let's turn to that first of four speeches now in verses one to three the world wages war did you feel the opposition as it was read out earlier did you feel the threat nations are conspiring peoples are plotting kings are rising up rulers are banding together that's quite difficult for us here in 21st century australia to understand and feel that same kind of threat there were times in israel's history filled with political and military turbulence and threat philistines to the west egypt to the south moab to the east syria to the north when opposition is strong and the pressure is mounting when the kings of the earth rise up and the rule is banned together against the lord and against his anointed what is going on is god still there is he able to stand against his opponents but did you notice something in verse 1 it's not telling us that they are rebelling it's saying that their rebellion is in vain why do the nations conspire and the people's plot in vain islam is not here to just to remind us of the threat that the people already knew it's here to call us to confidence in the lord it's not saying why bother resisting against them is futile it's asking why do they bother fighting the lord is futile sometimes it is hard to see that though isn't it when you're in the middle of it hearing news of the opponents gaining ground feeling the pressure to flee or hide it's hard to see how the lord is still in control sometimes and that's why the psalm lifts our eyes in the second part verses four to six he lifts our eyes up into heaven to give us a bird's-eye view actually better than a bird's-eye view a bird's-eye view might just cause you to see more of what's going on on the ground and feel more reason to fear this is like an angel's eye view into heaven to see god sitting on the throne and he's laughing the world wages war the lord laughs he is the one enthroned in heaven the only one reigning over all not one of many and he's not just observing his ruling and he's laughing he scoffs he's not threatened he's not worried the rebels are a bit like ants trying to fight against the sun even if there were millions upon millions of the biggest toughest ants climbing to the top of the tallest mountain and they're rallying together and saying let's put an end to this sun let's put an end to the heat what can they do nothing the one enthroned in heaven laughs but also he doesn't just laugh although their plotting is totally in vain their rebellion is absolutely futile the lord is angry and is filled with wrath they have conspired together against their creator against the one who gives them rain and sun and breath every day and they're rising up against his chosen people and against the one that he has chosen to be king over his people it's a serious rebellion so in his anger in his wrath he rebukes them he terrifies them and he does so with a word furious with their rebellion while also laughing at how futile it is the lord says i have installed my king on zion my holy mountain god has chosen a king and already installed him and he's on mount zion jerusalem where the temple is it's like the meeting point between heaven and earth and earth god is in control of heaven and he's in control of earth when the people of god are afraid of the nations coming at them from all sides god lifts their eyes up to the heavens to show them his sovereign overall and he reminds them that he is not only the lord of the heavens but of the earth as well and has delegated his authority to this chosen king to rule over the earth and why does this news terrify the kings and the rulers they've already decided to fight against the lord and against his anointed so what about this news really terrifies them makes them quake uh that brings us to the next speech in verses seven to nine after hearing the world wage war and the lord laugh we now hear the king's coronation speech the king is crowned all the proclaiming and decrees and quotation marks in this bit can make it a little tricky to figure out who is actually speaking here this is the king quoting to us what god said to him at the coronation this is the king proclaiming what god said when he made him king and that still leaves us wondering who exactly is this king and as we asked earlier why does this news of this king terrify the other kings and rulers many people think that this psalm may have been read out during the coronation ceremonies of the kings of judah the king would say these verses verses seven to nine maybe during the ceremony that seems likely perhaps the king did say these words at the coronation ceremonies whether this happened or not i think the people of israel knew that these words speak of more than just their average king why i'll take a look at the first half sorry the second half of verse 7 you are my son today i have become your father that's like alarm bells going off reminding us of god's special promise to david in 2 samuel 7. he says to david i will raise up your offspring to succeed you your own flesh and blood and i will establish his kingdom i will establish the throne of his kingdom forever i will be his father and he will be my son so this psalm is not just about any king this is the messiah god's special anointed king the descendant of david who will rule forever and second the scope of his rule in this psalm is huge i will make the nations your inheritance the ends of the earth your possession it says god had given them the promised land and set the king to rule in it so the nations might be drawn toward jerusalem and worship him there he didn't call all the kings to conquer the surrounding nations and rule the whole earth but this is true of the messiah these words are not fully true for all the kings perhaps they did say these words at the coronation recognizing god's promise awaiting the day when god would send his messiah messiah in hebrew or christ in greek or the anointed in english but the reason that we call ourselves christians here today the reason this service is being streamed is because the christ has come the anointed king has been crowned and what a coronation it was did you hear it as the new testament was read earlier from mark 15. the soldiers led jesus away to the palace that is the praetorium and called together the whole company of soldiers they put a purple robe on him then twisted a crown of thorns together and set it on him and they began to call out to him hail king of the jews again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him falling on their knees they paid homage to him and when they had mocked him they took off the purple robe and put his clothes on him then they let him out to crucify him as the romans tried to keep control of the nation they had invaded they mockingly crowned the christ in jerusalem little did they know what they were doing what was unfolding before their eyes why did the nations conspire and the people's plot in vain sadly it wasn't only the roman military who didn't realize what they were doing from mark 15 again in the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves he saved others they said but he can't save himself let this messiah the king of israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe the chief priests and the teachers of the law the leaders of israel mocked their messiah the rulers banned together against the lord and against his anointed as jesus humbled himself to suffer and die as he rose from the dead and was and ascended into heaven god was crowning him as his anointed king i hear these amazing words from ephesians 1 speaking of what was going on when god raised jesus into heaven he raised christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority power and dominion and every name that is invoked not only in the present age but also in the one to come and god placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything and that is why the nations are so terrified god's king is king over everything verses 1 and 2 of this psalm spoke of the nations and the kings of the earth but verse 8 says that jesus the son of god will inherit the nations and possess the ends of the earth the world is his and he rules with might you'll break them with a rod of iron you will dash them to pieces like pottery that's great assurance for the people of god to know that this powerful king has been crowned and they can trust him but what terrifying news if you are a rebel and that's why the psalm turns in verse 10 to the fourth speech this speech is a warning to the rebels the world wages war the lord laughs the king is crowned and the world is warned therefore you kings be wise be warned you rulers of the earth the rebels in the first three verses are not destroyed they are mercifully warned they are invited to serve the lord and celebrate his rule what a gracious offer that is the rebels are not crushed god does not delight in the death of the wicked he invites rebels to repent and bow before the king and that's me that's you isn't it i was a rebel too praise god for his mercy and patience and without his mercy and patience i would not be here tonight and you would not be joining us on the stream but god's grace is also not a free pass god will forgive those who turn who repent but he will not let unrepentant rebellion slide which is why the warning is to serve with fear and celebrate with trembling it's why the warning continues in verse 12 kiss his son or he will be angry and your way will lead to destruction the king is crowned nothing can stand against him the only way to live is to submit to him it may be that you have tuned into this service tonight and you have felt the weight of your rebellion against the lord and against his anointed king his son jesus if this is you then this warning is such a gift isn't it the lord of the universe mercifully invites his enemies to take refuge in the one they've been fighting against if this is you enjoy forgiveness and we would love to hear from you please get in touch with someone at the cathedral to talk about what that looks like and yet although this final part of the psalm is written as a warning to the rebels this whole psalm is written for the people of god the warning is to those who oppose god but it's here for us to see primarily to give us great confidence that the king is already crowned and that we are on the winning side there is no threat that stands in his way the king is crowned you can be confident to take refuge in him so when you feel under threat like god is powerless against opposition remember the first speech the rebellion is in vain and lift your eyes see the lord in heaven laughing the rebels are terrified because the king is crowned jesus reigns and he rules the world with might i remember that fourth speech the warning if you have been opposing god this is the warning now is the time to turn to bow before jesus this psalm tells us the king is crowned and you can be confident to take refuge in him what might it actually look like for christians to live with this kind of confidence let me tell you a story i read recently about a small church in a city that was hostile to christians there were two men that were part of that church let's call them john and pete john and pete went boldly into the town one day and they were telling people the good news about jesus by the end of the day the authorities had heard what was going on they went in to the town and dragged them off the streets and they locked them in a cell overnight and they came back to question them the next morning they ordered john and pete to stop speaking publicly about jesus to which they replied we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard if the story sounds familiar that's because this is a story from the bible acts chapter 4. this is the apostles peter and john but more than the apostles i actually want to focus on the response of the church as they heard this news of what had happened this is what happened in acts 4. on their release peter and john went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them when they heard this they raised their voices together in prayer to god sovereign lord they said you made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them you spoke by the holy spirit through the mouth of your servant our father david why do the nations rage and the people's plot in vain the kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the lord and against his anointed one indeed herod and pontius pilate met together with the gentiles and the people of israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant jesus whom you anointed they did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen now lord consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness this church knew psalm 2 didn't they and in the face of strong opposition they prayed to god and said sovereign lord they oppose you in vain this is all according to your plan fill us with extra boldness to speak so what about you what about me tomorrow if you see a news article or a social media post shaming christians for regressive ethics next week if we hear of a secret church in afghanistan being attacked and our brothers and sisters being put to death in a month's time if you're just feeling down and like god is not strong enough at christmas time if it feels like there's less room for jesus than last year next year if we see the census data come out and there's an even sharper drop in the christian population the year after if new legislation continues to clamp down on christian education in schools let's remember psalm 2 why do the people's plot in vain picture the lord laughing he is angry but he is not fazed remember jesus living and reigning as king let's give thanks to the lord also for his patience and mercy and allowing sinners to repent uh let's remember the king is crowned you can be confident to take refuge in him let me pray for us sovereign lord we're greatly comforted by your word tonight that you are not surprised by the opposition you're not fazed by it at all like we are prone to be when we are fearful lord bring these words to mind by your spirit in us give us confidence in our great eternal king jesus in his name we pray amen [Music] there is no other name in heaven can be found through whom we are redeemed through whom your grace abounds no other name can say but jesus christ our lord [Music] there is no other name in heaven can be found through whom we are redeemed through whom your grace abounds no other name can save but jesus christ our lord my joy in sorrows tears my strength to cast our fears no other name but jesus jesus my hope in darkest night my broken soul's delight no other name but jesus jesus [Music] there is no victory but jesus crucified no other cure for sin but that our savior died no other hope we have but that he rose again he rose again my joy and sorrows tears my strength to cast out his no other name but jesus jesus my hope in darkest night my broken saucy light no other name but jesus jesus [Music] no the song remains [Music] confess you our lord you are lord my joy and sorrows tears my strength to cast our fears no other name for jesus jesus my olden darkest night my broken souls delight no other name but jesus jesus [Music] our god is seated on the throne in heaven so let's bring our request to him now in prayer we're going to pray for four things first for the covert pandemic next for regions of the world they're experiencing unrest next for our government leaders here in australia and finally for naomi who's our link missionary i'm just checking that my sound is coming through excellent okay let's pray together dear lord thank you that your eyes are on your people and your ears are attentive to our cries thank you that through all things we have refuge in your son and chosen king lord we begin by asking you to mercifully ease the impact of covert 19 on your world please slow the spread of the virus and give comfort and healing to the many people who are suffering through this pandemic we ask that the rollout of the vaccine and the ongoing lockdown restrictions will be effective in mitigating the virus in australia in particular as the prospect of change restrictions draws nearer in new south wales please give wisdom to those making decisions regarding the transition please give all of us patience and compassion as we prepare for changes on the horizon and as we might engage with different viewpoints above all lord we ask that through these times of suffering you will continue to advance your purposes to bring all things under christ by spreading the knowledge and love of him amen we continue to pray now for areas of the world that are currently experiencing unrest we particularly think of afghanistan ethiopia and myanmar even if these places seem far away from us we know that you know every single person in these countries and mercifully give them life breath and everything in your mercy please ease violence and unrest in these places for those who have power please show them their accountability to you and bring about just rule in place of oppression please also provide care to those who are most vulnerable and lord please encourage christians in these places to live in faithful obedience to you knowing the eternal inheritance they have to look forward to along with us amen lord we pray now for our government leaders including our prime minister scott morrison our premier gladys berejiklian and our lord mayor clovermoor please provide our leaders with wisdom for sound decisions that will enable the well-being of those they govern please also surround our leaders with others who will help them in their decisions and provide wise and timely counsel we ask that through our leaders you will enable us to live peaceful and quiet lives and that your people will be godly and dignified in every way as we offer others the news of salvation through christ amen finally we pray for our sister naomi who is currently back in australia for home assignment thank you that you have been an ever present comfort for naomi even through the grief of changed plans and watching hardships unfold back in her mission field please continue to lift her heart as she takes refuge in you and please also encourage her believing friends back in location thank you for the opportunity for her to continue language learning online we ask these classes will be fruitful for her and that you will open doors for naomi to speak the gospel using this language in future thank you lord for hearing these prayers which we bring to you in the name of our lord jesus christ amen and will you join with me now in the words of the lord's prayer our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven give us today our daily bread forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for the kingdom the power and the glory are yours now and forever are men when we come to a brief time of announcements i'd love to be able to announce a picnic and a karaoke night and well maybe sometime soon but i do want to say first of all make sure you join us on zoom after the service concludes the link is the same as in previous weeks can be found on our facebook page if you've forgotten where what it is but it's very important for us to capitalize on the moments we have like this just even to join together on screen so we can talk with each other pray with each other and pray for each other so please make sure you do that but there is an exciting announcement that we're launching tonight to do with a discipleship course that's going to be starting in term 4 and we're going to flick to a video which will introduce this to us and then i'll say a little bit more about it on the other side [Music] imagine being told to dance when you can't hear the music we teach people all the right moves go to church read the bible pray share the gospel and having taught people those moves we expect them to be able to dance but very often they can't hear the music that drives it all that's why we created discipleship explored the series is based on paul's letter to the philippians it's perfect for small groups or one-to-ones there are eight sessions which take you through philippians full of real-life stories about how jesus changes people and full of provocative questions to help followers of jesus hear the music of the gospel the greatest love we've ever known [Music] that's discipleship explored it's our way of turning up the music [Music] [Music] well that is going to be coming soon as i said uh tuesday nights in term four four it will run for eight uh weeks consecutively and we'll say more about it in the coming weeks but if you do want to register now you can do that through the qr code that will come up at the end of the service or through the just the cathedral newsletter and the link there to the office email all right well we are going to have one final song before we conclude together and so again i hope you'll take the opportunity to to sing of christ who is yours forevermore [Music] mine are days that god has numbered [Music] the king of is [Music] i am here forevermore [Music] the is i [Music] must peace [Music] christ completes his work [Music] [Applause] [Music] hatred [Music] is [Music] is [Music] christ is [Music] [Music] [Music] for his love is gone and hope is sure christ is [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] christ is mine forevermore christ is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] well what a great encouragement we've been given tonight and thank you loki for preaching to us on such a wonderful psalm yes the world does wage war against the lord and his king but not only is god not phased he has established jesus as king of kings ruler of this world and so we can be confident we can be certain that he is in charge and that warning is there of course to the world to wake up because the judgment day is coming which is why that psalm ends so beautifully blessed are all who take refuge in him i hope you are one who's taken refuge in the lord jesus christ and can find comfort and strength in him during these times well we're going to conclude our service by praying a prayer together you'll see it come up on your screen so please pray it out loud with me father take us and use us to love and serve you and all people in the power of your spirit and in the name of your son jesus christ our lord amen friends go in peace to love and serve the lord in the name of christ amen don't forget about zoom see you there you

Channel: St Andrew's Cathedral Sydney

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Length: 59min 0sec (3540 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021