Words by David Hollows
Our Amazing God
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to you steadfast love; according to your tender mercy and loving kindness, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and guilt then cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin. For I am conscious of my transgressions and accept that my sin is ever before me.
Pause in silence.
Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness and be satisfied; let the bones which you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt and iniquities.
Pause in silence.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering and steadfast spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. My sacrifice to God is a broken spirit and a contrite heart, such, O God, you will not despise.
Pause in silence.
O Lord, open my lips and my mouth shall show forth your praise.
(Psalm 51)
Praise-time
With the assurance that you are forgiven and restored, come to our great God now with your songs and hymns of praise. Please use CDs and Youtube to assist you and you may wish to include in this praise time the following;
Alleluia, alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord (Mission Praise 31)
Prayers
We continue in praise as we bring our prayers of thankfulness and gratitude to God. You may wish to use the following prayer:
Lord, we thank you for all those whom your Spirit has inspired to work for justice and peace and for the prophets who proclaim your Word, challenging people to live justly and encouraging them to seek peace. We thank you for those who work for world harmony who try to open the eyes of leaders to the folly of war and conflict. We thank you for those who risk themselves and their freedom in the struggles for justice and efforts for peace. Lord, we thank you for sending us your Son, Jesus to show us the true justice which meets our deepest needs, true peace which changes human lives and perfect love that breaks down all barriers and redeems the world.
In His name we pray, Amen.
Photo by Abigail Keenan via Unsplash
Bible story
Luke chapter 5 verses 17 to 26
Key idea: We have seen amazing, incredible, unthinkable things today.
(Luke chapter 5 verse 26b)
In your lifetime what amazing events, activities or new resources have you witnessed? The older you are , then the more you will have seen; the first man on the moon in 1969, microwaves and mobile phones, emails and texts rather than telegrams, electric cars, potato pie exchanged for a huge variety of world foods.
And who amazes you? Your grandchildren and their confidence at what they can do or that your great grandchildren can do so much so young, especially with technology Sitting in his wheelchair at a senior citizens home, a man joyfully listened as a group of high school teens sang about Jesus. Later, as some of the teens tried to communicate with him, they discovered that he could not talk; a stroke had robbed him of his ability to speak.
Since they could not carry on a conversation with the man, the teens decided to sing to him. As they began to sing, something amazing happened; the man who could not talk, began to sing and with great enthusiasm he belted out, ‘How great Thou art’.
(Our Daily Bread – Dave Brandon – 08/05/2020)
The Bible is packed with equally amazing stories of God and His people; you will know many of them, for example, Noah and the flood, Moses and the Exodus, Esther and Jonah.
We also read of God’s amazing impact on individual lives; Peter after the denial, Paul and his conversion, the healing of the man at the Beautiful Gate (Acts chapter 3) Jesus healing the blind, the lame and the deaf as well as raising the dead.
In the Bible story we read of the amazing two-fold healing for the man on the stretcher; Jesus first forgives him his sins so that he is healed spiritually then the physical healing. No wonder the watching crowd commented; we have seen amazing, incredible, unthinkable things today.
However, our amazing God is still in the business in 2020 of being amazing for people; ‘I was rejected by my parents who treated me cruelly,’ comments Madelina. She was the only girl in her family in South Sudan and for many years she was rejected and oppressed by her parents. One day, Madelina was at home when she heard the sounds of a crowd nearby. She ventured out to find a speaker in the street talking to the crowd about Jesus. ‘The preacher explained that the Lord loves us, even if others reject us. I gave my heart to Jesus and prayed to feel his love.’ Madelina moved away from her family but prayed for them. Eventually, she reconnected with her family which also experienced transformation. ‘Now I am accepted by my family and they ask me to pray for them. I no longer feel rejected because I have found peace and love in Jesus.’
(Sat-7 Prayer Guide 09/12/2019)
Our God gave the world an amazing gift 2000 years ago to our world; the gift of His Son; For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John chapter 3 verse 16)
D. L. Moody, a famous American Christian had a passion to see his friends come to know Jesus. He prayed through a list of 100 of his friends each day and saw 96 of them give their lives to Jesus in his lifetime. The remaining 4 came to Jesus during the funeral service of Moody. Amazing!
What amazing things has God for you, in you and through you? Give Him thanks and praise.
If you are not a believer, what amazing thing would it need for God to do to bring you to faith in Him?
Photo by OC Gonzalez via Unsplash
Your response; you may wish to sing or say the hymn,
Amazing grace (Mission Praise 31)
Prayer time; as we come now to pray for those we know in need and those we learn of in the media, you may wish to spend time praying for those you know who do not have a relationship with Jesus. You may wish to include this prayer:
Lord, we pray that you will deliver people from the destruction of violence and the poison of hate, from the web of hatred and division. We pray for the victims of violence and lives shattered by intimidation and oppression. We pray for those in need of healing to mind, body or spirit and release for the captives. Lord, we pray for those you will use to bring your blessings to your world today and for your Church to be a channel of blessings across the world. Amen
The Lord’s Prayer
Praise-time; please now use the time you have to sing your favourite songs/hymns of praise to God. You may wish to include;
How great thou art (Mission Praise 506)
A Blessing:
God our shelter in the storm, protect us. God our rock, be our strength. God our Father, nurture us. God our life-breath, be our inspiration. God our beginning and our end, hold us ever in your love. Amen
Extra; if you have access to YouTube, either on-line or TV, you may like to try this worship music:
Thank you for sharing your worship with us.
God bless you
Comments