Church at Home Sunday 7th June 2020

Church at Home Sunday 7th June 2020

Welcome and Greeting

Thank you all for joining with us today. As you will know, restrictions for meeting have now been eased under certain conditions. However, we have measured the church space and have looked at all the health regulations and are certain that at this time we cannot meet these requirements if we were to resume our meetings at Christ Church. We are particularly concerned for those of us who fall into the ‘older age’ categories set by the government or who have other existing health issues. There are also issues relating to singing in congregational settings with warnings against this practice at this time. Nevertheless, we are continually reviewing the situation, and when it is safe, we will be taking the necessary steps to have us all come back together in one place. For the moment, we will continue to ‘meet’ at a distance, being the ‘church in our homes and community’ rather than the church that meets in a single building.
Paul and Robyn are about to take 2 weeks leave for some rest and relaxation. We will not be recording the service for 2 weeks, however you will still receive the service sheet via email and Facebook. There are many other church services on YouTube and Facebook.
Today we celebrate Trinity Sunday. So of course, we remember the work of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit in our lives.

Opening prayer
God has made us, with all the saints from every generation, one in Christ.
He has set His seal upon us and, as a pledge of what is to come, has given the Spirit to dwell in our hearts. Thank You that You are here with us tonight and that You love the worship of Your people. Please help us to open our hearts to You now.
Peace to you from God our Father who hears our cry.
Peace from his Son Jesus Christ whose death brings healing.
Peace from the Holy Spirit who gives us life and strength.

The peace of the Lord be always with you.
       And also with you.

Song: To God be the Glory
To God be the glory
Great things He has done
So loved He the world
that He gave us His Son
Who yielded His life
an atonement for sin
And opened the life-gate
that all may go in

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord
Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord
Let the people rejoice
O, come to the Father
through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory
Great things He has done

O perfect redemption
The purchase of blood!
To every believer
The promise of God
The vilest offender
Who truly believes
That moment from Jesus
A pardon receives

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord
Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord
Let the people rejoice
O, come to the Father
through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory
Great things He has done

Great things He has taught us
Great things He has done
And great our rejoicing
Through Jesus the Son
But purer and higher
And greater will be
Our wonder, our rapture
When Jesus we see

Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord
Let the earth hear His voice
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord
Let the people rejoice
O, come to the Father
through Jesus the Son
And give Him the glory
Great things He has done
©Fanny Crosby, William Howard Doane
CCLLicence No 384593

Matthew 28:16-29
¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

2 Corinthians 13: 11-14
¹¹ Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.¹² Greet one another with a holy kiss. ¹³ All God’s people here send their greetings.¹⁴ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Devotion: Robyn

Farewells and Promises  
Today is Trinity Sunday. Our two readings magnify the work of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit as the three in one.

We now look at two farewells and many promises. In the first farewell, Jesus was with His disciples and the second was as Paul completed his time with the Corinthians.
Jesus’ final meeting with disciples comes from Matthew 28. He has led them back to Galilee, the home village of them all. This is the town where Jesus ministry began, and the fishing village of the disciples. However, it was not just to the village, but to the top of the mountain.

From this mountain top you can see many of the villages Jesus and the disciples visited and also the Sea of Galilee where many of their other adventures with Jesus took place. Imagine the memories discussed as they stood there and waited for Jesus. As they faced Capernaum where three great miracles took place – The centurion’s servant, a paralytic and Peter’s mother in law were healed and Jairus’s daughter’s life was restored. In Bethsaida Jesus healed the blind man and fed the 5000.In Korazin there was the teaching from the Sermon on the Mount. In Gadara, the demoniac was healed, and Cana the water was turned into wine. Then, of course, there was the Sea of Galilee where Jesus stilled the storm, walked on water, and filled the net with fish. What amazing memories.

When Jesus arrived, we learn that there was some dissension amongst the disciples. Some of them immediately worshipped Him, while some still doubted. In verse 16 we are reminded of Judas’s betrayal – there were only 11 disciples there.

Jesus did not discriminate between the worshippers and the doubters – and he would have known the hearts and minds of these men. He said to all of them:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus begins His time with them by stating that ‘’All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him.’ In this statement He is again telling the disciples that He and the Father are one. He is God. No one else but God will ever have all power and authority in heaven.
Verse 19 begins with ‘Therefore…’.  Because of this, Jesus being God, Jesus could release the disciples with power to go and teach everyone to obey all the commands of Jesus.

Remember from those amazing chapters in John we have read recently, all the things Jesus had told and promised the disciples? They were to make disciples and baptise them in the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was only days later, in that Upper Room, that the Pentecost power filled them. Peter, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, stood up and quoted so authoritatively from Joel. This was the beginning of ‘Go and make disciples of all nations’. We read last week in Acts 2 that there were people, God fearing Jews from every nation, assembled in Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.

Jesus finished His commission with the words of His promise to them:

‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In Deuteronomy 31:6 God also promised
‘I will never leave you or forsake you’

We have the promises of God that He will always be with us.
Remember Jesus had told them in John 15:26
When the Counsellor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who goes out from the Father, He will testify about me’.

Jesus promised to always be with them, and this was through the Holy Spirit, the Counsellor, the one who would testify of, or tell them all the things they needed to know to minister to people.

In the second farewell, Paul finished his letters to the Corinthian people. His first charge to them was to REJOICE. He then charges them with four important aspects of Christian living that are so important for the wellbeing of churches.

1.Strive for full restoration. Do not have any grudges, anger, bad thoughts, disagreements between your members. Restore right relationships

2. Encourage one another. Use kind, helpful, and use encouraging words as you speak to each other. Acknowledge the good in others

3. Be of one mind. Do not pick arguments or disagree openly with others

4. Live in peace. Show Christian love to all people with whom you come into contact.

When we do these things, there is the promise of God’s presence in us. In verse 12, Paul suggests we ‘greet one another with a holy kiss’. Perhaps in non COVID-19 days this would be a hug or handshake.

These are all extremely good traits that each one of us can pray to have in our own lives. We can ask God to forgive us where we have failed in these and to grant us the grace to forgive and move on where we have been hurt or we know we have hurt others by unkind or thoughtless words or actions.

Paul concludes with the grace in verse 14. Paul could never have imagined that 2000 years later, churches all around the world would be using these words every week in their church services. What a blessing they are!

‘May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.’
Song:  Standing on the Promises

Standing on the promises of Christ my King
Through eternal ages let His praises ring
Glory in the highest I will shout and sing
Standing on the promises of God

Chorus
Standing, Standing
Standing on the promises of God my Saviour
Standing, Standing
I’m standing on the promises of God

Standing on the promises that cannot fail
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail
By the living Word of God I shall prevail
Standing on the promises of God

Chorus

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord
Overcoming daily by the Spirit’s sword
Standing on the promises of God

Chorus

Standing on the promises I cannot fall
Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call
Resting in my Saviour as my all in all
Standing on the promises of God

Chorus
(c) CCL Lic No 384593
R. Kelso Carter

Confession:

Heavenly Father,
Thank You that Your word says that as we draw near to You,
You will draw near to us, by the working of Your Spirit in us,
We are sorry for doing those things that have displeased You
and we ask for Your forgiveness.
Please cleanse our hearts and hands and minds
Help us to walk in love and newness of life
so that we can be more like Jesus
and make him known to all we meet. Amen

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. We thank you Father, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we come before you today, reminded of the promises that Jesus made to the disciples and to us before He ascended that He would be with us to the end of the age’.  Thank You that you will never leave us or forsake us,

We thank You for time shared together tonight even though we are still apart. Please help each one of us to walk in the way You want us to and to live according to Paul’s words in his farewell to the Corinthian church.

We continue to pray today for all our health workers, and we pray especially for those who make decisions about restrictions being lifted. Thank you that we can now see our families and some friends. And thank you that You have blessed us with relative safety against COVID-19 across this country. We pray that people will have a mind to continue to obey the directions put in place by our governments that we may be kept safe from a second wave of infection. We pray for researchers and ask that a COVID vaccine will be developed soon.

We continue to pray for schoolteachers and children as they settle back into their schools. We commit to You especially of our own children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.

We pray for our local council, for our state and territory governments, our national parliament. Please be with all those who make laws and help them to do so with good judgement. Please continue to give wisdom to our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, and to all members of our local, State, and Federal governments.

We pray for people who are struggling because of loss of jobs and lack of income. We do ask that their needs will be met and that no one in Goulburn goes hungry or cold. Please show us if there is any way we can help to provide comfort for another person.

We ask that you give each one of us strength to go forward this week. We ask for healing for those who are unwell, and for comfort for those who are lonely. Please help each one of us to look to You for our strength, our joy and our comfort and make the most of this time of continued isolation. Please show us ways that we can encourage others. And again we pray that You will protect each of us from the Corona Virus.

In Jesus name.
  Amen.

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
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours
now and forever. Amen

Song:  All In All
You are my strength when I am weak
You are the treasure that I seek
You are my all in all
Seeking you as a precious jewel
Lord to give up I’d be a fool
You are my all in all

Jesus, Lamb of God,
Worthy is your name (x2)

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame
Rising again, I bless your name
You are my all in all
When I fall down, you lift me up
When I am dry, you fill my cup
You are my all in all
(C) 1991 Shepherd’s Heart Music
Dennis Jernigan CCLI #384593

Blessing

Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, evermore Amen.

Prayer Points

• Thank God that we can join together for our services, even though far apart.
• Ask God to show you ways you can contact others from F5, F10 and beyond to encourage them along. Pray for wisdom to know who to ring, who to send a message or note to
• Pray for nurses, doctors and hospital staff as they learn to work differently and wisely
• Pray for those who are going through difficult times with sickness, depression, loneliness, loss of work, separation from family and friends.
• Pray that we will each have God’s strength and wisdom to be able to make each day worthwhile.
• Pray for Scott Morrison and our governments as they make unprecedented decisions regarding all things connected to the Coronavirus
• Pray for teachers and students as they settle back into school

Enquiries – Paul (0418 633 396) and Robyn (0414 254 154)
Website – www.f5refresh.org.au & Facebook

PLEASE SUPPORT THE MINISTRY OF F5
Direct Debit – for F5 – is now available through the Anglican Development and Investment Fund http://www.aidf.com.au/www/home/
The details of the account are as follows:-
Account Name: F5-Refresh Ministries; BSB: 702-389 Account Number: 05209657