Resting in the Lord

Prayer

Let us pray together although we are apart.

Heavenly Father we come to you this morning perhaps with some anxiety or even fear because of the uncertainty of the unfolding circumstances in our land and the wider world.

Help us to refocus our gaze, to look to you, and to look upon you, The Unchanging One. How blessed we are to know the matchless depth of your love, to draw upon your limitless resources, and rest in your unfailing purpose for our good.

Will you refresh us as we share in these truths today. Strengthen our resolve to walk in your ways however difficult the path. You, Lord, will never leave us or forsake us.

In Jesus name we come to you.

Amen

 

Hymn

The well loved hymn below (When peace like a river) was written by Horatio Spafford in the 19th century.

The well loved hymn below (When peace like a river) was written by Horatio Spafford in the 19th century. In November, 1873, Horatio Spafford sent his wife and four daughters on the French ship Ville du Havre from their home in Chicago to a vacation in France, planning to set out a few days later himself. Somewhere in the Atlantic, the Ville du Havre collided with a British ship coming the other way, and sank in just 12 minutes. Of his family, only Spafford’s wife survived. Spafford took the next boat over, and as he passed the spot where the ship went down, began to write,

“When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll,” and continued until he had the text, “It is well with my soul.” His good friend, Philip Bliss, composed the tune for his words, naming it after the ship, VILLE DU HAVRE. In this hymn, Spafford has given all of us words of comfort and assurance in times of physical and spiritual crisis, paraphrasing those familiar words of Julian of Norwich: “And all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

Please read and ponder the truths expressed and lived out in the words of this hymn He wrote.

Click the button below to play hymn

Bible Reading

Romans 8 verses 28 -39

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Pray now for those affected by the virus, those who treat them and those who seek to discover
remedies and implement preventative measures

Message from your Pastor

There can be no doubt that we as a church are entering a challenging season in which we will not be meeting together. The company of God’s people is something precious and unmatched by any other grouping of people.We shall all feel the absence of corporate worship and fellowship in the presence of each other.

Perhaps we ought to be excited rather than disappointed. Perhaps we should seek out new opportunities to touch the lives of our neighbours and others, in anticipation of some lovely outcomes.
Would not that be a wonderful expression of trust in His promise that He does work out all things together for the good of His people?

 

Hymn

Click the button below to play hymn

1. THROUGH the love of God our Saviour,
All will be well;
Free and changeless is His favour,
All, all is well.
Precious is the blood that healed us,
Perfect is the grace that sealed us,
Strong the hand stretched forth to shield us,
All must be well.

2. Though we pass through tribulation,
All will be well.
Ours is such a full salvation,
All, all is well.
Happy still in God confiding;
Fruitful if in Christ abiding;
Steadfast through the Spirit’s guiding:
All must be well.

3. We expect a bright tomorrow;
All will be well.
Faith can sing through days of sorrow,
All, all is well.
On our Father’s love relying,
Jesus every need supplying;
Or in living or in dying;
All must be well.