week beginning 3rd September

 O Worship the King

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAyKmYD2Zg8

Prayer

Father God we thank you that we can come into your presence this morning. Great is your love for us, it is deeper than we can fathom, wider than beyond measure and bigger than the universe.

We know we are not worthy. Our sin is always before us. But we ask that you will save us from our selfishness, blindness, our greed and pride.

Through the power of the Holy Spirit may we trust in your Amazing grace. Amen

Genesis chapter 6: verses 5-8 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

5 The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination and intention of all human thinking was only evil continually.

6 And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved at heart.

7 So the Lord said, I will destroy, blot out, and wipe away mankind, whom I have created from the face of the ground—not only man, [but] the beasts and the creeping things and the birds of the air—for it grieves Me and makes Me regretful that I have made them.

8 But Noah found grace (favour) in the eyes of the Lord.

9 This is the history of the generations of Noah. Noah was a just and righteous man, blameless in his [evil] generation; Noah walked [in habitual fellowship] with God.

Grace as favour.

God’s favour is the power that changes things for us. God's favour covers every area of our lives! First and foremost, you and I are saved by His grace, favour. To be saved means to be delivered, protected, preserved, healed and made whole.

How many of you have ever seen the film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

There is a dialogue between Harry and his godfather, Sirius Black. Harry says “This connection between me and Voldemort. What if the reason for it is that I am becoming more like him? I just feel so angry, all the time. What if after everything that I've been through, something's gone wrong inside me? What if I'm becoming bad?”

Sirius Black “I want you to listen to me very carefully, Harry. You're not a bad person. You're a very good person, who bad things have happened to. Besides, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters (supporters of Voldemort) . These are a radical group of wizards and witches, led by the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who seek to purify the wizarding community by eliminating wizards and witches born to non-magical parents.) We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.”

Although this is fiction there is a Christian message in it. We know there is bad in us this, is sin. Jesus tells us we are His. He takes way our sin and makes us in the good /new person he wants us to be. He turns our darkness into light. a light that shines through our actions

His amazing grace shines for all who want to see and feel his amazing love.

Amazing Grace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG3wOkWyYAA

Ruth Chapter 1 verses 1 – 18 says;

1 In the days when the judges ruled,  there was a famine in the land. So a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelek, his wife’s name was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

3 Now Elimelek, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

Naomi and Ruth Return to Bethlehem

6 When Naomi heard in Moab that the Lord had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the Lord show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead husbands and to me. 9 May the Lord grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

Then she kissed them goodbye and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— 13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the Lord’s hand has turned against me!”

14 At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her.

15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Ruth 2: 1 – 23 Moabites were worshippers of pagan gods

1 Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side, a man of standing from the clan of Elimelek,  whose name was Boaz.

2 And Ruth the Moabite  said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.”

Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter.” 3 So she went out, entered a field and began to glean behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she was working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelek. =

4 Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The Lord be with you!”

“The Lord bless you!” they answered.

5 Boaz asked the overseer of his harvesters, “Who does that young woman belong to?”

6 The overseer replied, “She is the Moabite who came back from Moab with Naomi. 7 She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She came into the field and has remained here from morning till now, except for a short rest in the shelter.”

8 So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with the women who work for me. 9 Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the women. I have told the men not to lay a hand on you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.”

10 At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She asked him, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”

11 Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”

13 “May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have put me at ease by speaking kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servants.” 14 At mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come over here. Have some bread and dip it in the wine vinegar.”

When she sat down with the harvesters, he offered her some roasted grain. She ate all she wanted and had some left over. 15 As she got up to glean, Boaz gave orders to his men, “Let her gather among the sheaves and don’t reprimand her. 16 Even pull out some stalks for her from the bundles and leave them for her to pick up, and don’t rebuke her.”

17 So Ruth gleaned in the field until evening. Then she threshed the barley she had gathered, and it amounted to about an ephah. (That is, probably about 30 pounds or about 13 kilograms) 18 She carried it back to town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gathered. Ruth also brought out and gave her what she had left over after she had eaten enough.

19 Her mother-in-law asked her, “Where did you glean today? Where did you work? Blessed be the man who took notice of you!”

Then Ruth told her mother-in-law about the one at whose place she had been working. “The name of the man I worked with today is Boaz,” she said.

20 “The Lord bless him!” Naomi said to her daughter-in-law. “He has not stopped showing his kindness to the living and the dead.” She added, “That man is our close relative; he is one of our guardian-redeemers. (The Hebrew word for guardian-redeemer is a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty ”)

21 Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay with my workers until they finish harvesting all my grain.’”

22 Naomi said to Ruth her daughter-in-law, “It will be good for you, my daughter, to go with the women who work for him, because in someone else’s field you might be harmed.”

23 So Ruth stayed close to the women of Boaz to glean until the barley and wheat harvests were finished. And she lived with her mother-in-law.

Boaz showed compassion, mercy, understanding, also he was not above eating with his servants. Sharing his harvest with a stranger, a foreigner. Some one who had worshipped other gods. She had found that Boaz showed his grace kindness and was taken aback, but found reassurance in his words

But Ruth also made a commitment when she said she wanted to stay and look after Naomi

Ruth said “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.”

Jesus shows us grace and teaches us that when he shows us His grace, then we then learn to show kindness to someone else even when they don't deserve it. Grace is going out of our way to give your compassion, kindness and love to someone even if they might not appreciate it, or return the favour.

Kingdom of God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOrkdW5NAM0

Prayer

Kingdom of god is Justice and Joy

We thank you O God that your justice and joy for they work together to bring us full salvation. t through your salvation we can feel the joy of knowing you with in our hearts

Kingdom of God is mercy and grace

We thank you O God that your mercy and grace work together to Bring us comfort and peace - beyond our understanding It is good that we can feel your presence with in our hearts.

The kingdom of God is challenge and choice

We thank you O God that you challenge us to do your bidding make us willing to make the right choices. We know you gave people free will. When you prompt us to speak in your name make our bodies and minds as willing as our spirit. For you O God live with in us.

Gods kingdom is come the gift and the goal

We thank you O God that your kingdom is now in this world. We pray for all who are caught up in the selfishness and evil.

Father God we thank you for your gift of Son Jesus Christ our Lord who is the prince of peace. We pray in His name that conflicts may cease from country to country, from neighbour to neighbour, and bring harmony within families. We thank you for his life and teachings, for His death and resurrection. The goal of eternal life is available freely for all.

Father God be with all Children as they restart or start school that they may be taught wiseley.

We pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ everywhere. We pray for our families and friends, for the frail, the lonely and sick. May they all feel your loving arms around them and be with us all as we say the prayer our Lord taught us.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen

Jesus’ shows His grace towards someone even when they don't deserve it.

By our actions of compassion, kindness and love to someone even if they might not appreciate it, or return the favour. Is sharing His Grace.

Now thank we all our God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLPWeF6GOyo

1
Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
who wondrous things hath done,
in whom His world rejoices; ..
Who, from our mothers’ arms
hath blessed us on our way
with countless gifts of love,
and still is. . ours today.

2
O may this bounteous God
through all our life be near us,
with ever joyful hearts
and blessed peace to cheer us; ..
and keep us still in grace,
and guide us when perplexed;
and free us from all ills,
in this world. . and the next.

3
All praise and thanks to God
the Father now be given;
the Son, and Him who reigns
with them in highest heaven;..
the one eternal God,
whom earth and heaven adore;
for thus it was, . is now, .
and shall be. . evermore.

Words https://sdahymnals.com/Hymnal/559-now-thank-we-all-our-god/

Help us as we endeavour to be your hands and feet to the poor and the oppressed.

As we go from here and carry your gospel of peace, Fill us with your Spirit deep within our hearts. As we lift our eyes to worship you, Refill us with hope as we glimpse again the promise of Heaven.

Amen.