Speaking on behalf (First Sunday in Lent)

Light Reflective Music

Bible Enters (Organ)

Welcome / Intimation (Rev. Bosch)

I greet you in the Name of God the Father, who loves you and keeps you safe - in the care of Christ Jesus.May it be that we receive mercy, peace and love.

Feedback Word Day of a 🙏 pray

Board Meeting, 10th March at 19:00, at Margarets Home.

Monthly Reflective Service, 12th March, at 19:00, in Hall.

Prayer List

Alternative reflective Services Wednesday at 19:00

Last week we reflected on the birth/start of a leader. Moses was found in a basket on the waters. Pharao order that the baby boys of the Israelites should be drowned in the river. It was the same waters of death that became the life-line for baby Moses. The basket on the waters held a baby that became a great leader. Today we will re-join Moses where he and Aaron receives instructions from God. The instruction was to speak to Pharao. Confronting Pharao was not simple. We will explore this difficulty during our reflection today.

As it is the start of Lent, we are in a time of considering some kind of sacrifice or maybe starting somekind of spiritual practice. We do so to reanct the 4o days that Jesus fasted in the desert before the start of his ministery. My prayer is that our Old Testament reflection will encourage us in this time of Lent to consider Christ in desert preparing Himself for His ministery.

Let us approach with our call to worship.

Call To Worship (Ps 91):

Minister: God is my shelter…

All: and protection.

Minister: God is my fortress…

All: and sustainer.

Let us worship God!

Hymn: In Christ alone

Declaration:

Blessed be the name of the Lord now and evermore.From the rising of the sun to its setting, the Lord’s name be praised. Let us pray:

Prayer of Approach and Confession (Rev. Bosch)

Lord, we confess that sometimes we walk with unseeing eyes and with ears closed to your wonders.

We thank you for todays opportunity to be aware in your presence. We confess to forgetting about your wonder as we become so busy with with all our activities. We draw near and we ask that you will grasp our attention and make us experience your joy. 

Lord, we express thankfulness to your love and care. It is also wonderful that such a wonder can be experienced through your church. We confess that we take all these blessings for granted. May your grace sustain us today and that your love will overflow in our lives. Lord, help us to experience the colour of your grace that enriches our souls. We realise that no song we can sing is too great to offer you in praise. No word of prayer and worship is too rich for you. You are the one who reigns forever supreme in the heavens. There has never been a God like you from one end of eternity to the other. You alone are the Lord of time, space, and eternity.You are the Lord who is sovereign over all things, and for ever. We thank you that your greatness is shot through with the grace that sets us free and the love that brings healing, renewal, and wholeness. You have blessed us with the precious gift of free will, help us to responsible with it. Today we bow before you, the Lord of creation, and confess with gratitude our hope in Christ alone. Thank you for Jesus; thank you for his victory; thank you for the hope he brings; thank you that through his death and resurrection he reclaims and restores what was lost.All thanks and praise to our life-renewing Lord. Let us pray together. Amen.

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 debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Hymn: CH567 - Focus my eyes

(Children enter.)

Children’s Address: Speaking for a Friend.

Hymn: Kids hymn: Mister Noah built an ark

(Children exit.)

Reading: Exodus 6: 28 - Exodus 7: 1-7

28 On the day when the LORD spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 the LORD said to Moses, “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.” 30 But Moses said to the LORD, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips (unskilled of speech). How will Pharaoh listen to me?” Moses and Aaron Before Pharaoh 7 And the LORD said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall tell Pharaoh to let the people of Israel go out of his land. 3 But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, 4 Pharaoh will not listen to you. Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so; they did just as the LORD commanded them. 7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharao.

Sermon: (Rev. Bosch)

Vulnerable. A feeling of total vulnerability can be scary and uncomfortable. During those times of vulnerability, it is reassuring to have support from a loved one. A person you can trust gives a sense of relief when you know you are vulnerable. Vulnerability can come in many forms. It is a place where you know you are exposed physically, mentally and spiritually. I presume we try not to be vulnerable through planning and preparation. True vulnerability can happen when a situation confronts us out of the blue. It is those circumstances that we can just ask:

Really! How did this happen?

What did I do to expose myself in this way?

Moses found himself in such a place of vulnerability. The reading speaks of him receiving instructions from God. God told Moses: “I am the LORD; tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I say to you.”

The problem was that Moses, after receiving this clear instruction, did not have the skill set to deliver the message. He had some kind of speech defect. God is asking Moses to do something that he can not do. Why?

God wanted to teach Moses to trust and rely on Him alone (God). Trusting and relying on God is more important than getting the task done. The last thing God wanted was for Moses to think how great he (Moses) was. The instruction that God gives to Moses is not about Moses and his abilities, rather it is about God's actions. It is not Moses who will deliver, but rather God.

God does not have time for arrogance and pride. Therefore, he did not want Moses to even get close to such (bad) qualities.

God's instruction was about obedience and not about the success of the instruction. Obedience to God's call is very important, more so than results. If God speaks listen and obey and also do not forget to be humble and thankful. This reminds us of Jona, who did not obey and cossequintly he got into serious trouble.

Yet, God did not leave Moses high and dry, He provided support in the form of Aaron. Aaron would speak on behalf of Moses taking the practicles of speaking away from Moses. Again, we see that God wanted his leader to trust in others and not solely on himself.

The teaching is, with very difficult and complex tasks get some help. Get others to do the tasks that we know they can do better then us.

When it comes to God's business there is no time for self-righteousness and self-centeredness. This message is very relevant for us as church leaders and Christian leaders in general.

If a leader thinks he/she is highly skilled, can do and say everything perfectly, takes all tasks on, can not do wrong, and micromanages every one around them. If this is the case, the reading today will ask:  

Is there a place for God to act? / Is God present and truly moving when we are managing our own performance anxiety? / Where is God if we think we are so good?

God wants to act - not Moses.

God wants to act - not Aaron.

God wants to act - not us.

God forces Moses to be humble and thankful for the external help he receives from God and Aaron. This emphasises the importance of humility and thankfulness. The qualities of humility and gratefulness are more important for God than getting the task done. For God, it does not help if we get things done but we do not consider humility and thankfulness. God does not have time for self-centred and self-righteousness even though our performance is top class.

The essence of the passage is the following irony:  

God instructed Moses and expects him to obey, but He also informs Moses that He would not be successful. Even though Moses and Aaron will go and speak to Pharao, in the name of God, he will not listen. God tells Moses before he goes that his efforts will not be successful.

Do we see the picture?

Here we have Moses anxious and vulnerable for the task at hand, and also hearing his efforts will be futile.

What is then the use?

Why do something when we know it will not work?

The emphasis is again the importance of obeying. For God obeying is much more important than external success. God wants obedience and not success.

What this means for us is to speak and act the truth even though we know it is futile. Act righteously even though we know evil will prevail. Do what is good even though we know the bad will win.

Righteous conduct is much more important than specific outcomes.

In other words, keep your own conscious clear. This is what Moses had to do and that is to keep his consious clear by obaying God even though he knew Pharao will not listen.

It is like the friend going to His neighbour and advising him to stop the destructive behaviour. When the friend left after giving advice and solutions to the neighbour's problem, he knew that the neighbour would not listen. At least the friend's conscience is clear by trying to address the destructive behaviour of the neighbour. The friend can only control his conscience and not the destructive behaviour of the neighbour.

The reading today teaches us to listen to God and be truthful in actions and words without controlling the outcome as we wanted it to be.

Although, Moses and Aaron are called to speak out against Pharao they did not determine the outcome. God is the one who determined the outcome and deliverance of His people and not the messengers.

Then I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring my hosts, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great acts of judgment. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.

Moses and Aaron did as they were told demonstrating obedience and trust even though they were very old.

7 Now Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharao.

Sometimes we need to listen and obey God even though we do not feel ready. We even might be vulnerable in circumstances and then receive a strong conviction from God to act. It is during those times that we may trust in God and also know that we are part of Christ's church. We have brothers and sisters in the Lord to support and help.  

As we have started the season of lent, may we trust and obey God in the midst of our own vulnerability. May Prestongrange Church be a place were we are humble and thankful knowing that God will have the final say. Speak and act truthfully keep your conscience clear. Amen.

Hymn: SoF 423 - O Lord hear my prayer (Taize)

Prayer for Others:

Lord, we pray for those who have lost a home and family through earthquake, cyclone, or floods.

We think of those whose way of life and livelihood have been destroyed due to circumstances out of their control.

We pray for those who is sick with diseases and for those who live in places where there is no help.  Help us Lord to be a caring comunity. A community were we help others with prayers and support. 

Our thoughts go to those with no voice and no home. Our thoughts go to all the families who has lost a child during the Ukriene and Russian war. We cry with them.

We bring our community to you. Were there needs to be healing/forgiveness/encouragement - may it be so. 

Lord, we pray for those who forget to walk in the garden of life with you. We bring farmers to you in Africa who is providing for food for many to eat. We bring farm workers to you who’s daily job is to cultivate the land for others not to be hungry. Help us to care and pray for farmers in Scotland. You know Lord it is a loney job, with many stressors. Be with them. Thank you for there hard work providing food for us.

Lord, we pray for ourselves and for those for whom we are concerned; for those facing a painful journey. for those struggling with doubt, despair, or depression

Lord, whose presence is our strength, teach us to help and to care. We bring our prayers in the name of the One, who gave us life through His sacrifice and death. Amen.

Offering (The person at door duty brings the plate to the table.)

Prayer of Thanks

Hymn: CH124 - Praise to the Lord, the Almighty the King of Creation

Rethink and Blessing (Rev. Bosch)

Trusting and relying on God is more important than getting the task done. The instruction that God gave to Moses was not about the abilities of Moses, rather it was about God intervining. God does not have time for arrogance and pride. If God speaks listen and obey and also do not forget to be humble and thankful.

In the presence of the Holy Spirit, may the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, 

guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. Amen

Sing/Play Amen (Organ)

Bible Exits (Organ)