The Sacrifice That Counts - Richard Buxton | Ealing Christian Centre

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] well good morning welcome to church this morning whether you're in the room with us or whether you're at home we want to give you a warm welcome if you're here in the room why don't you stand with us we're going to pray before we hand over to pastor sam in the band to lead us in worship this morning so father we thank you for your goodness and your grace but we thank you that this is a day that you have made and the god that we will rejoice and be gladdening but we pray that this morning as we gather around together in worship and in your word that god we pray that god that your name will be glorified god we pray that you will be at the center of all that we do and that god we pray that you the father we thank you god we pray come and let your presence rest upon us come and let your presence rest in this place in your almighty precious name father amen amen come on you can put your hands together this song says be praised from the rising to the seventh cell our creation sings and then let's song be praised [Music] from the valley to the mountaintops we will join the angel song be please god be praying [Music] you are ready to be free [Music] [Applause] galaxies [Music] and you are honing me right now be brave [Music] you are worthy to be brave [Music] forever [Music] god [Music] be praised [Music] oh [Music] [Music] so we're forever up a shower [Music] [Music] me we praise you lord [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] oh is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] we will sing your praises [Music] [Applause] me [Music] oh [Music] our god is moving amen we praise the living god hey [Music] cause i got is moving we praise the living god oh i could have given up could have lost faith could have been crushed could've walked away can [Music] could have been crushed [Music] i everything changed [Music] the strength of my changes [Music] there is victory [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] me oh [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] cuz [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] my confidence is is is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] my [Music] cause you are [Music] no [Music] foreign [Music] so [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] season [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] uh [Applause] is [Applause] uh [Music] [Music] [Music] this is our testimony [Music] he will never he will never you down [Music] [Music] [Music] me you are [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you know [Music] [Applause] [Music] here [Music] [Music] now [Music] is [Music] forever [Music] forever [Music] i'm already [Music] i know who i am [Music] more [Music] [Music] [Applause] already [Music] i chosen i just [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is you are [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] and i will be content in every circumstance [Music] oh [Music] oh yeah [Music] you've wow [Music] is is [Music] uh so [Music] so father this morning as we have been singing and reminding ourselves of your goodness as we've been reminding ourselves all your promises are yes and amen god as we've been reminding ourselves of what you've already spoken over us that god we begin to speak those things father we begin to declare father over our lives those things you've already spoken the things that we maybe aren't seeing yet the god is we have been declaring that our god is good there's some people are going good i know you're good but i'm struggling to see it right now god we declare that truth that god that you are good that as we declare that all your promises are yes and amen god we begin to declare the promises that you have spoken over our lives and go we begin to say that god that they are yes and amen god as we declare that god that i'm already loved i'm already chosen i know who i am i know what you've spoken god we begin to declare what you have spoken over our lives but we begin to declare those things that we aren't seeing yet because we begin to declare them as though they are they go we thank you for what you have done in our lives but we thank you for where you've brought us go we thank you that we are here this morning because we're still clinging to you go we're still clinging for something more they go there's some of us here this morning and all morning as we've been singing i've just had that feeling there's people here who are going good i'm singing these words but i'm not seeing the reality yet the god i'm not seeing reality yet in my marriage god i'm not seeing the reality yet in my job god i'm not seeing the reality yet in my family and god we begin to declare that your word is so we're seeing it go we're beginning to click there the unseen things and so they're seen right now they've got we begin to speak into those places and into those situations and go we begin to say all your promises are yes and amen and go we cling to them they go we begin to cling to the promises that you spoken over us and go we begin to speak them and to be and go this morning god it almost feels like it's a moment where god said he already remembers but it's almost for us to be almost let me remind you of what you've spoken over me go let me remind you of what you spoke ten years ago let me remind you what you spoke at the beginning of this pandemic let me remind you they spoke at the beginning of this week let me remind you what you spoke over me at the beginning of our marriage let me remind you what you spoke of my kids when they were first born let me remind you we're maybe not seeing it yet but all your promises are yes in amen so god this morning god we declare as your people that you are good the god that you are always [Music] [Music] for where you're leading us we're excited for the things that haven't happened yet so god we give you all the praise we give you all the glory the god we continue and lift your name on highest the father is your people the god we continue to look to you they go we continue to fix our eyes on you and go we continue to declare your goodness over our lives god we continue to clear your promises over our lives and father we continue to declare that you are the god who does abundantly more than we could ever hope or imagine so far that we pray father for those here this morning who are maybe struggling gonna wrap your arms around them and walk god we thank you that you walk with us that you go before us you're behind us and you're all around us god we pray that as we move from this place of worship and god we move through our service god we pray that father that we will continue to heal you that god will continue to listen and we'll continue to be in the center of all that you are doing in our lives thank god you will continue to speak to us in your almighty precious name father [Music] [Applause] young people this is your point to go to your various different classes and different services um well good morning for those whose who don't know who i am my name is alec i'm one of the pastors on team here at ecc i want to give you all a warm welcome if it is your first time with us or you're new with us we would love to give you a gift so as you leave the building this morning downstairs so if you're upstairs you'll have to come down here and there is a information table and at the back there if you give us your details you will get a goody bag that gives you a whole load of information about what happens at ecc also i think there's still bars of chocolate in it so if you want a free bar of chocolate that's where to go after the service um for those of you at home we're going to be doing communion in a moment or at the end of the service so make sure you get that ready if you're in the building with us hopefully you picked up one of these did everyone pick up one of these in the building if you didn't pick up one of these you're going to struggle to do communion later on so if you haven't picked up one of these um if you send someone from your group to the table at the back there are communion cups there for you so you'll be able to grab so just figure out how many you need for your group and at the back of the tables there or if you're in the balcony i think there's some tablets some of the tables at the front i've got some communion cups so make sure you grab some some of these um and i think we've got a video play for some announcements you've got two videos yes so why don't you have a look at the screen to see what's coming up in the life of the ecce who are the men and women used by god to shape his direction for history how did their lives prophetically foreshadow the coming of jesus over a period of eight weeks beginning on the 8th of october in our next online equippers bible classes we will be looking at the spiritual giants of the old testament there will be a one hour class online each week that you can watch in your own time and a one hour live zoom question and answer session each thursday evening to register please email equippers ecc.org.uk or you can call the church office on 0208 840-7508 wonderful so we've got a woman's event coming up and we've also got our equippers coming up so if you would like to sign up for both of those and the information was on the screen um our first uk bus class goes out this week i'm sure with a woman's event it will be something that is continuously advertised we're going to read some scripture we're going to read one chronicles 21 18 to 28 and it says this it says then the angel of the lord told god to instruct david to build an altar to the lord at the threshing floor of aruna the jebusite so david obeyed the instruction the lord had given him through god through god aruna was who was busy threshing wheat at the time turned and saw the angel there his four sons who were with him ran away and hid then aruna saw the king approaching he left his threshing floor and bowed to the ground before david david said to aruna let me buy this threshing floor from you is full price then i will build an altar to the lord there so that he will stop the plague take it my lord and use it as you wish aruna said to david here are the oxen for the burning offering and you can use the threshing tools for wood to build a fire on the altar and take the wheat fork the grain offering i will give it all to you but the king replied to aruna no i insist on paying what it is worth i cannot take what is yours and give it to the lord i will not offer a burnt offering that has cost me nothing so david gave aruna 600 pieces of gold and payment for the threshing floor david built an altar there to the lord and sacrifice burnt offering and peace offering and when david prayed the lord answered him by sending fire from heaven to burn up the offering on the altar then the lord spoke to the angel who put the sword back into his sheath when david saw the lord had answered he prayed his prayer he offered sacrifice there a arunus threshing floor amen amen why don't you stand with us we're going to take up our ties and our offerings at this point we want to say thank you to everyone who's continued to give over the season um if you are at home or here in the building there are i think there's four different ways you can give so you can give online you can give through standing order you can call the office during the week or if you're in the building with us um you as you are leaving and we'll have some offering buckets at the back so as you leave the service later on um there is place for you to do that if you want so why don't you stand worship team why don't you continue to lead us as we continue to worship god through our given [Music] you could carry that kind of way it was [Music] [Music] i tried to hide [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] jesus [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] yes [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] i know you're not ready to sit down [Music] [Music] is [Applause] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] yes [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] right now you can take your seats thank you thank you good well good morning everybody downstairs upstairs all those of you joining us online great to see you all this morning and it's the london marathon today isn't it i don't know what you're thinking you're thinking why am i not in the london mountain you're thinking that weren't you but but it was my turn to preach this morning and i have my priorities so uh i'm here higher priority and i want to talk about sacrifice the sacrifice that counts is what i'm going to be talking about this morning um looking at that story that uh pastor alex read just a little earlier on and just to go back to that story then the situation it was king david's king david had made a serious error of judgment and he had numbered he had taken a census of the people uh for all the wrong motives and god said to him david um what you need to do is you need to build an altar make a sacrifice and um to undo what you you've done wrong to put right what you've done wrong so that's what david did he went to uh god told him where to make sacrifice it was at a particular place in those days jerusalem was much smaller than it would be in the next generation in solomon's time and so just outside the city there was a a a mount a threshing floor where owned by a man called arona who was threshing his uh his wheat there and god said make a sacrifice there so david went up to orona and he said look i want to buy this place and i want to build an altar and i want to make a sacrifice and aurora said you're my king i'll give you everything i'll give you this i'll give you the land i'll give you the wood for the sacrifice i'll give you the animals just take it i'll give it to you as a free gift and david said this no i will not take which is yours and give it to the lord i will not sacrifice to the lord that which cost me nothing and so i'm sure david didn't know that that particular piece of land would become a very uh well in time would become probably the most important piece of land in the world because there the temple would be built the temple site and to this very day the whole eyes of the world is upon that particular piece of land in jerusalem um so it become the the temple mount and um david was adamant um if i'm going to make a sacrifice to the lord it's going to be something that costs me not something that i get free from somebody else and so in the old testament then god made it clear that whenever you bring a sacrifice make sure it's perfect there should be no imperfections in your sacrifice in the old testament of course they brought animal sacrifices and so leviticus 22 21 god said this you must bring a perfect animal it may have no defect of any kind and so there was a principle laid down in the old testament where god said don't bring me the second best bring me the best without defect even if you bring a voluntary gift you don't have to bring a voluntary gift but if you do bring a voluntary gift make sure it's the best not the second best so that's a principle that was laid down in the old testament and when we looked through the book of malachi malachi was very firm in his uh dealings with the israelites at that time about the quality of their sacrifices you're bringing the second best you're not bringing what's the best so we don't live under the terms of the old testament of course we live under the the new covenant of christ but what we see from the old testament is a principle that is from god's heart and it shows god's heart and god reveals to us that when we bring something to god is to be the best so our motive behind the sacrifice is to bring an offering that is the best that is uh right and acceptable to god so he can't be fobbed off with with um any old thing he can't be fobbed off with the second best god is a perfect god in all his ways and when he gives to us he gives only that which is perfect and of course the most perfect gift that god gave to us was his son jesus christ he couldn't have give given anything more valuable he couldn't have given anything um more perfect jesus the son of god god's gift to us thank me to god for his unspeakable gifts the apostle paul says when he thinks about the gift of jesus christ to this world jesus of course voluntarily came and so god gave us the very very best that he could there was nothing he held back when he gave jesus to be our sacrifice to die for our sins and to rise again from the dead because he is the perfect son of god so we don't bring animal sacrifices of course but what we do bring is we do bring a sacrifice to god and for us we are to be the sacrifice we ourselves are to be the sacrifice to god romans 12 1 tells us this and so dear brothers and sisters i plead with you to give your bodies to god because of all he's done for us let them be a living and holy sacrifice the kind he will find acceptable this is truly the way to worship him or this is your spiritual worship or your reasonable service so the new testament says we are to bring ourselves as a living sacrifice to god and god doesn't want the second best he wants the very best that we can bring so david quite rightly understood the mind of god when he said um i insist on paying the full price i will not sacrifice that which cost me nothing and so he paid out the full price to um iran i don't know if david's david probably didn't know that that was the place a thousand years earlier where abraham had sacrificed or went through the motions of sacrificing isaac although of course isaac wasn't sacrificed god was looking at the heart of abraham to see whether he's prepared to give up that which was dearest to his heart and as i mentioned other occasions that um sacrif that place of sacrifice of isaac was such a prophetic pointer to the coming of jesus in all the details of it that i've mentioned on other occasions and of course it would also point forward to the prophetically to the time when the great son of god would come and abraham would call that place or jehovah jireh god will provide that very spot god would provide again looking prophetically to the coming of jesus so what should our response be then we look at these these principles um we understand that god has given us everything he held back nothing from us um the bible tells us in that well-known verse for god so loved the world that he gave he gave his one and only son his only begotten son whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life he gave us the gift that would give us eternal life the forgiveness of sins and eternal life jesus christ and we were very um gladly singing just now about how we've been brought out of the the grave of um sin and degradation and brought alive in jesus so what sacrifice do we bring to god then a sacrifice that is acceptable to him and that costs us um well let's look at that that verse romans 12 1 i looked at just now to bring ourselves as a living sacrifice to god so there's a spiritual cost a spiritual sacrifice that we can make to god and when peter was writing his first letter 1 peter 2 5 he says this what's more you that's talking to christians you are his holy priests through the mediation of jesus christ you offer spiritual sacrifices that please god and a little later on we'll be coming and sharing communion together and so it's an opportunity just for us to reflect right now what am i giving to god am i giving to god that which is my very best or am i giving something which is less than that am i giving out of the the overflow of the love of my heart um everything that i'm capable of um or am i giving to god that which cost me nothing or very little well one of the things that probably the most precious commodities that each of us has and i discovered that the the most commonly used noun in the english language is the word time apparently of all the nouns in the english language that's used more than any anything else and time is a very precious commodity isn't it one of our most precious resources time well there's the past time we can measure that there's a future we can imagine that present time i've often wondered how long does the present last for is it second or that could be half a second or a quarter of a second well some say it's 200 milliseconds 200 000 of a second others say well the time is perpetual we're always living in the present time well i don't know what the answer to that one is but what i do know is this that we all have exactly the same amount of time each one of us so we have 168 hours in the week that each one of us has and on average 56 hours of that will be spent to sleep and then another 15 hours apparently will be spent in preparing for and eating our meals and then 35-40 hours will be for many people will be their place of work or business um so there's a lot of things that we have to fit into that 168 hours isn't it we all have important things to do and the important things revolve around work they revolve around family for many they revolve around uh god and they revolve around ourselves the things that that we need to do so how do we use our time then that most precious of commodities that we have we all have the same amount how do we use that well um i think it's always essential to plan our time plan our time you know as chris as christians followers of the lord um we have one life we don't get two lives we get one life we get one opportunity and we only get one shot at it so i think it's a very good idea for us to plan our lives very carefully um and fruitfully so um we plan then around our priorities what are the priorities when it comes to the christian well our priorities are these what god shows us number one god is our first priority if we don't get that right nothing else will fall into place so god is our first priority our second priority is our family um and our third priority is our ministry now by ministry i would include our workplace because as followers of jesus we are 24 hours seven day a week ambassadors for jesus and so for for very many people vast number of people uh the workplace will be a the place where we live out our christian faith well those are the priorities god first family second ministry third to get those in the right order and you know we can go through the routine of um as christians and we can just about give sufficient time to god to keep our spiritual life afloat uh you know like uh somebody who is anorexic just about lives enough eats enough to to stay alive but without being able to live the fullness of life that is possible well that's possible for us um but if we prioritize our time our most precious uh commodity prioritize our time carefully um then we can give god his jew what what's due to him and it may well take it will take a sacrifice to be able to do that but god says don't bring me second best bring me the very best because i always bring the very best for you and so that that will take a sacrifice for us to be able to do that our lives are to be living sacrifices for jesus for god and we can ask ourselves the same question or that surrounded um david's dilemma shall i take that which cost me nothing or will i give to god only that which cost me something and when paul was writing to the church at philippi he said this in philippi philippians 2 2 5 he said said to christians he said your attitude should be the same as that of christ jesus then he goes on to explain how jesus gave his all on the cross for us and every one of us is uniquely different god made us uniquely different for a very good reason um and the two images metaphors in the bible are number one we the church we are a body so we're all different parts of the body uh peter talks about us being living stones uh in a living temple um but the idea then is that we will work together as the body of christ we all have different things to bring to god's work but we do it together as the body of christ doing collectively everything that needs to be done so we'll work together to see god's vision fulfilled of working in partnership with jesus christ jesus said i will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it jesus builds his church he also said authority and power is given to me jesus but now you go out in my name and start doing the same things you've seen me doing preach the gospel lay hands on the sick see them heal drive out demons speak in new tongues move in the supernatural do those things now if we're going to truly follow the law there is a cost there is a sacrifice that we bring of our time and that time time then will include time for prayer now there are some things we do in life that um are natural things you don't normally have to push someone to eat their food do you or to go to sleep these are things that we do naturally they are natural human activities but prayer is not a natural human activity in the same way and it's something that um it's a sacrifice it's a spiritual sacrifice the bible says when we come to god in prayer it's something that we are bringing we're making a conscious choice to bring as uh the holy priesthood that um god has made us through jesus christ and when it comes to a relationship there are two things that are important in any relationship one is that there is communication and the other is what you do for them do for one another and so what we do and what we say are two important things to keep a relationship healthy and alive and so what we do if we have a relationship with god the things that we do and the things that we say and jesus said this uh in john 14 15 he said if you love me you'll do what i command so the things that we do are the things that jesus commands we live according to his standards we there are two kingdoms the kingdom of this world that we live in we are citizens of this country or whatever country but we are also citizens of heaven when we put our faith in jesus christ and we have a higher allegiance to the king of heaven jesus and so we we adhere we we should always be law abiding citizens the bible teaches us but we adhere to a higher standard also that's the standard of the kingdom of heaven and so jesus said if you love me you will do what i command you to do that he says is an expression of your love so something we do and then the second aspect of a relationship is what we say and with god of course that's prayer we're talking to god in prayer we do what he commands we pray as we talk to him and relationships get into trouble when either of one or both of these two areas are not carried out if couples or people if they stop doing good things for each other helping each other or if they stop communicating with each other then the relationship begins to deteriorate doesn't it and so if we're doing things to hurt or grieve somebody or if we're not talking to them at all or if that communication is is running down so if we lose that habit of communication and so is the same is true with our relationship with god uh what we do what we say so prayerlessness is a sign that our love for god is growing cold if we're not talking to him then it's a sign that our love is growing cold if we are not obeying what jesus tells us to do that's a sign that our love is growing cold and so there is time in prayer talking to god and how does god talk to us well he can talk in different ways but primarily the bible is god revealing his mind to us so if you want to know how does god think what are god's plans what are his purposes then we read the bible the bible reveals that to us so we talk to god in prayer and primarily he talks to us when we read his words and so those are signs then that our relationship is is healthy with god but these things um take time and time is a sacrifice that we we bring to god so there's time for uh prayer communication with god time for service um david had a vision to build a temple there on that site and but god said to him david it's great that you've got that vision in your heart but you're not the man to build it you're a soldier you've been a soldier of your life uh you're a man of war uh we've got blood on your hands you're not the man to build this temple but your son who will not be a soldier uh he'll be a man of peace he will build it for you so david had the vision but um david decided i'm going to do all i can to help this temple be built and so he gave to solomon he gave the um the plans for the temple how the the size the uh construction exactly how it should be built he gave him all the plans um the holy spirit inspired him he tells us but he he he gave the plans one chronicles 28 tells us all these things he showed solomon how to organize the worship in the temple how do you organize collective worship he did all that because david was a apart from being a soldier and a king he was also a great musician and so he um showed them how to organize the temple worship and then he also collected all the materials that were necessary so here he accrued the gold the silver the iron and all the things that was was needed in the for the temple and so um it was a a collective work um david's himself wasn't able to build the temple but he he worked in a teamwork with uh with others to make sure that it came came about and similarly in the church then we are we're a team we are a body the bible says we are a living temple living stones and living temple and collectively we can't all do the same thing but collectively we can do that so um our time then is part of that so time to be living sacrifices therefore i urge you brothers in view of god's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to god this is your spiritual service or your reasonable service or your act of worship the bible says so we bring our best god says bring your best to me so that's the spiritual side i think there's also a physical side of course a physical cost for david uh particularly if that was his situation that he was um he was offered everything free of charge great offer but he said no i'm not going to take from you and give it to god i'm going to pay for it myself and it's interesting when we read through the bible whether it's the old testament there or in the new testament as well that god does actually take notice of the reasons why we give things why we do things and what we do god takes notice of our heart attitude because that's actually what he's more interested in not the sacrifice not the offering but actually the heart that goes behind it that's what he's interested in and there are some actions highlighted in the in the bible where people gave what in um the natural sense would be very little but god was looking at the heart behind it why did that person do it what were they doing and why did they do it and and god could see the heart the the the self-sacrifice the um the giving of the best that they could in their circumstances and commended them for it so in luke chapter seven there's a in the gospel of luke there's a story there where jesus was um at a uh a dinner and a woman came in who she was well known in the town for all the wrong reasons so she was a very notorious woman but there's something about jesus that touched her heart and melted her heart and changed her she wanted to change her life and the story tells us that she just came in she didn't say anything she just came behind jesus and with her tears she washed his feet and then she anointed his feet with perfume and those sitting around who knew who she was knew what her lifestyle had been like they were very critical um thinking jesus you're a prophet and you allow someone like that to wash your feet and anoint them with perfume um but jesus could see her heart he could look right into that he knew what she was doing and why she was doing it the depth of love that he had she had for him because she recognized in him someone who could save her from her sins and jesus said in luke 7 47 she has shown me much love through her actions he could see what she was doing criticized by others but actually it was a great heartfelt sacrifice that she was doing for him and there was a similar story in john chapter 12 where another woman this time not a notoriously bad woman but a quite the opposite mary who was one of jesus's great friends mary martha and laz and lazarus were siblings and on that occasion the bible tells us that similarly mary took a half a liter of perfume it was so expensive that the bible says it was worth one year's wages of an ordinary work workman can you imagine how expensive that was as he just broke it and anointed jesus feet with it wiped his feet with her here and the disciples were watching and thinking well judas the bible says judas was there and he said what a waste you know that could have been sold for a year's worth of wages and given to the poor there's a little footnote afterwards that said actually judas wasn't interested in that he was a thief and he kept the money so he was thinking i could have had that money um but anyway that's that was what was said but jesus said this leave her alone john 12 7. leave her alone she did this in preparation for my funeral now that act that you know at a dinner the woman just quietly came up anointed his feet with this very expensive perfume and jesus realized that um what was coming from our heart and he said she's anointed me for my burial which would happen very shortly after that event but um in fact mary was probably of all people of all jesus followers she was probably the one who had the clearest insight into what was happening why because she would sit at the feet of jesus and listen she just listened and she had that understanding of what was happening and there's another event in the um in the in the gospels where jesus was sitting in the temple and the treasury was there and he said to his disciples see that old lady over there she has given more than anybody here and it was an old lady she put in two copper coins that was so uh low in value that they were virtually worthless and she was just doing it secretly but jesus knew and he said that what jesus did was he saw what she did and he knew why she was doing it though they were basically worthless that was all she owned he said that's all she's got and so she's actually given of her very best everything that she had and to jesus that was priceless because it was she was giving the very best of what she had and what we do give what we don't give outwardly in in a physical way or a financial way it does reflect what's in our heart and it's the heart that god is looking for rather than the gift what's the heart doing we can never out give god there's a story in the old testament of elijah who was helping a widow and uh he said look god's gonna do a miracle for you go and collect all the jars you can as many jars as you can from your neighbor and that little um jar of oil you've got just pour it into the jars and then she went round that the oil never ran out and all these jars were being filled with oil until she had no jars left and that was a great picture of how you know god never runs out with what he can give to us and jesus told us this that a person's priorities can actually be measured by what we do with our money he said this in matthew 6 19 he says don't store up treasures here on earth where moths eat them and rust destroys them and where thieves break in and steal well there's nothing wrong with having earthly wealth it's it can be a great blessing for the work of god but god he's always looking at our attitude towards it how do you regard it but he goes on to say this but store up your treasures in heaven where moths and rust cannot destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal wherever your treasure is there the desires of your heart will be so wherever your treasure is there the desires of your heart will be so we could ask ourselves where is where's my treasure what do i regard as my treasure um that's where my heart will be well there's a financial cost of course to fulfilling the coming the commission of the church to go out and preach the gospel and um i just i just thank god that from this church um 10 different nations are able to uh run their ministries and um and continue the gospel spreading the gospel 10 different countries around the world because of the um of what you as a congregation give here that's a great great blessing um but our giving does reflect the value we put upon the things we put it towards um but our treasure as i've been saying is not um just in our finances or in our possessions uh but our treasure is everything that we do for god and our act of spiritual worship god is looking at the heart where is our heart this morning as we come to communion in just a moment perhaps the worship team would would come back please um our act of spiritual worship god says the bible tells us that i want you to be the sacrifice to god offer yourselves your bodies as living sacrifices to god and where your treasure is or where your heart is where your treasure is that's where your heart will be the desires of your heart will be so right now then we're going to come to communion where it gives us the opportunity then just to reflect on uh collectively reflect on what jesus has done for us and i was i mentioned earlier on that verse in philippians 2 5 where paul says that um you should have the same attitude as christ jesus let me just read what follows on from that what was the attitude of christ jesus he goes on to say this philippians 2 5 2 6 he said though he was god that's jesus he did not think of equality with god as something to cling to indeed he gave up his divine privileges he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being and when he appeared in human form he humbled himself in obedience to god and died a criminal's death on a cross therefore god elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names the name of jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue declare that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father so right now we're going to come to communion so if you have the communion if you'd like to take that please just a moment i'll just go get mine [Music] and so we come now share together just these emblems that um are an outward sign of what's going on within us already if we know jesus christ as our savior and lord and if you know jesus and i'd invite you please to um to participate with us well what it symbolizes is that it's just a symbol of jesus body symbol of his blood but it symbolizes outwardly what has already gone in we have already received jesus christ into our life and so this is just an outward symbol of of that we're declaring before god we're declaring before angels we're declaring before demons we're declaring before people jesus christ is within me he's my lord and my savior and so as we consider david this morning who said i will not sacrifice to the lord that which cost me nothing and as we remember in the new testament that we ourselves are to be living sacrifices to god that we're to offer ourselves as living sacrifices and we just come to god and say lord [Music] am i offering to you the best that i can give of my life or am i just offering that which cost me very little or cost me nothing well as we come to communion right now we just say thank you lord for your broken body and your shed blood it tells us that you gave us everything that you could you gave us yourself holding nothing back because you love us and so lord i thank you for your broken body and your shed blood thank you lord that you gave us your best amen so let's just take the emblems together right now thank you for your shed bloodlord that washes away our sin makes us right with god only your blood could do that thank you jesus lord as we just as your body as your church just gather together around these emblems and remember your wonderful love for us lord just help us we pray at this time lord just to look over our own lives as we bring them before you right now lord we just say lord just show us anything lord you would have us change lord you know we know you look at our hearts our heart is the most important thing why we do things and what we do the motive of our heart the lord we just pray that our hearts will be right before you [Music] and that you would delight in your children that we would please you just lord as you please us we would be a blessing to you just as you are a blessing to us thank you lord [Music] [Music] [Music] how great the cows [Music] i could [Music] is [Music] in this one [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] i am [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] every day [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] your very [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is me [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] who set me [Music] [Applause] every day [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus christ [Music] [Music] so father we thank you for the sacrifice that you made for us god we thank you for the death of jesus on the cross and how it changed everything and god we pray that today as we go from this place thank god we pray that we'll be as we've been challenged from pastor richard sermon that god that we will not only remember your sacrifice but god that we will live a life that is full of sacrifice got a life that is full of sacrifice to you so father we pray that as we go god we thank you that you go before us that you are behind us and you are all around us that god that you go with us so father we give you all the praise and all the glory and you're all my precious name amen and amen and amen well have a wonderful week remember we've got prayer meeting on tuesday or you can watch online monday to friday um at 6 30 on tonight we've got our evening service online at 6 30. also for those who want to know more about equippers that starts this week you can sign up through our website or by email in the church office have an incredible week we will see you all next week god bless you

Channel: Ealing Christian Centre

Views: 471

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: pentecostal church service, online church service, who is noah, was noah a prophet, why did god save noah, why did god flood the earth, why did the flood happen, bible believing church service, pentecostal church, what do pentecostals believe, prayer meeting, christian prayer meeting, christian prayer meetings, daily prayer meeting, prayer storm, christianity, what do christians believe

Id: FTSNzkRAtTE

Length: 96min 35sec (5795 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 03 2021