The Lord is God

Prayer with Worship Leaders (10:45)

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.

Intimations, Funerals, Baptisms (remember to share this before Sunday Worship)

Covering for Rev. Taylor from Tranent Parish Church as she is on holiday from the 14th - 28th July.

16th of July, Reflective Service, Church Hall, 19:00

21st July, Presbytery, Dalkeith, 10:00

Prayer Corner

Testomony (Try to identify someone.)

Call to Worship: (Zechariah 13: 7-9)

Minister: Call upon God’s name!

All: He will answer.

Minister: We are God’s people.

All: The Lord is my God.

Let us worship God!

Hymn: Rejoice the Lord is King

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)

Eternal God, we notice all the great things in Your creation.

Your works proclaim Your power and might.

As we have gathered, help us hear Your voice in this sacred time.

Let us experience Your wonders as we worship.

Stretch out Your arms and embrace us with grace.

Help us to see Your truth with open hearts and minds.

Holy Spirit convice us with your presence of you love and care.

Thank you that we have a home with you. A place where we know we belong.

We confess this morning that there is no other god but You, our Creator.

Help us to keep Your commandments with faithfulness.

We confess our mistakes, if we have failed you in any way. Forgive us if we sinned and wandered from Your path.

Bless us this morning with you knowledge and insight so that it may go well with us.

We seek you. Fill us. Renew us.

We honor Your name.

Guide our thoughts this morning through your Holy Word.

Unite us as Your people in this holy moment.

We pray in the name of Christ who tought us to pray:

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: Great is Thy Faithfulness

(Children enter.)

Short Reflection: Experiencing God!

Hymn: Faithful One

(Children exit.)

Reading: Deuteronomy4: 32-40 (Stephen Dixon)

The LORD Alone Is God 32 “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. 33 Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? 34 Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him. 36 Out of heaven he let you hear his voice, that he might discipline you. And on earth he let you see his great fire, and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, 38 driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, 39 know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. 40 Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

Sermon: (Rev. Bosch)

Growing up in South Africa, I heard many times the importance of education. Going to University or enroling in an alternitive programe after school was understood as vital. This framework motivated me to complete my University degrees. When we moved to the UK, I discoved that employers did not really ask for my qualification, rather they emphasised something totally different. They asked me to stipulate the experience that I had. At that point, I never released the importance of experience. Every work application I completed asked the question: "What experience do you have?"

In other words, do I have practicle knowledge of a certain task.

The employers in the UK where not just looking at my qualification but also to the practicle experience I have gained through the years. 

This was one of the reason I moved to the north of Scotland to gain experience that could directly complementing my University degrees. 

I have learn the importance of experience and espessially that which really empowers a person. 

In our reading today the emphasis is on God's people experiencing Him. In other words, having a full and live relationship with Him. To experience God is not in isolation, but a full holistic experience.

Experiencing God becomes a way of truly being convince of who and what God is. 

God is unique. The reason for his uniqueness is because of His action in the past. The reading states it this way:   

"by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 

Knowing God, then means, to realise something theologically very important. Biblically speaking this is a non negotible component of theology and that is: 

"the LORD is God; there is no other besides him."

The experience of God's action in the past. The seeing and hearing of God's might in the past is cattelists to become convince that there is no other god then the Lord God. 

As a Christian we unpack the one God in three components. We call this components the Trinity. This theology states that there is just one God with three expressions of Himself namely: 

Father, Son and HS. There is no other god according to the Word of God.  

"To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him."

What does this mean for us today as Christians? 

Very simply it means we do not have to seek something alternitive! We do not have to seek alternivite experiences to fullfill the spiritual void with in us. 

The Lord who is God is all ready with you and in you. 

Christ has already sacrifice himself for us. The HS has already decended and is with us - revealing Christ. Also, the word of God is more than enough to tell us about the Lord God. 

It might then be the case that we should seek an experience to remind us of the Lord God. A good experience is important to help remind us of who God is.  

How do we go about experiencing God in such a way? 

Firstly, as a reformed minister, I would say read the Bible, but with seriously intend. Read it. Understand it. 

Secondly, have routines and reminders through out the day promting us to consider the Lord God. 

Thirdly, just ask plainly: "Lord God, through your grace give me an experience so that I can knewly realise who and what you are." 

The very simplistic formula that we are engaging in is: 

Experiencing God leads to a inner conviction of his faithfulness which directly leads to living differently. 

We can unpack it as follows from a Christian perspective:

The actions of the Lord God leads to realising that there is just one God.

The actions of Christ leads to the realisation of God's love and goodness. 

Because there is just one God we should keep his commands. 

Because Christ has died for us we can’t help but to love one another. 

We can add another component to our formula by asking the following question: Why should we adhere to the one and only Lord God?

The reading states: "so that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.”

The formula then states: 

Experiencing God leads to a inner conviction of his faithfulness which directly leads to living differently so that it may go well with us."

Experiencing God will not be in isolation, but rather it will dramatically influence every part of our lives. 

"And because God loves us and has chosen us through the death and resurection of Christ, and is with us in the HS, to bring us in, to give us a home the church, an inheritance, therefore know today, and lay it to our heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.”

Experiencing God will lead to us knowing he is truly God. 

Education is important but not without experience. To experience God means to reach out to Him to asses for oneself His qualities. 

My we at Prestongrange prayfully approach God asking that He will allow us to trully experience him, so that we too may say: 

"The LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other." Amen

Hymn: Holy Holy Holy

Prayer for Others (Stephen Dixon):

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

Prayer of Thanks

Hymn: Glory be to God the Father

Rethink and Blessing (Rev. Bosch)

"The LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other."

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)

Prayer Corner