Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome (elder)

Singing (Music) (Rej 447) Now with Joyful exaltation let us sing to God our praise)

Opening Prayer

*Let’s pray:*

*Our Father who sits enthroned over all that is …almighty God, God of mercy and love, *

*            thank you Lord for causing us to stop for a moment and to reflect on how we are as we sit here before You this morning, *

*            and how you are, as You guide us and call on us, wherever we may be.*

* *

*Thank you Lord for making us aware that it is necessary for us to pause, to take stock of our lives …and of our relationship with you… *

*            for we owe our very lives, our existence, to You. *

*Thank you Lord for Sundays, Lord’s days!*

*            *

*            Thank you Father God that in times of despair, we may freely ask: where will our help come from – you give us that freedom and that mercy to be able to ask, *

*            for if we could not ask you who will go to.

And when we ask… *

*            thank you Lord that we may know the answer: *

*Our help is in the name of the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.*

*As we are gathered here Father God, to sing the praises of your name, to hear your word spoken,  may we forever be aware of your most precious blessing, Jesus, our Saviour, who washes away our sins.

Thank you for the love of Jesus, Lord, in whom we may share in your grace, and mercy, and peace.

*

*Grant us that peace now, Lord.

- In His name we pray.

– Amen!*

*Let’s sing      (Rej 310) (Come let us sing for Joy to the Lord*

                        *And Ps 96 (Sing to the Lord – Sing His praise)*

 

Sunday School (Kids talk) DVD -

Children to Kids Church

Confession –

*Please turn with me to Romans 3: 9-20 as we remember our unworthiness before*

*God:~/~/~/~/*

*9 What shall we conclude then?

Are we any better?

Not at all!

We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin.

10 As it is written: *

*“There is no one righteous, not even one; *

*11 there is no one who understands, *

*no one who seeks God.

*

*12 All have turned away, *

*they have together become worthless; *

*there is no one who does good, *

*not even one.”*

*13 “Their throats are open graves; *

*their tongues practice deceit.”

*

*“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”*

*14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and *

*bitterness.”*

*15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; *

*16 ruin and misery mark their ways, *

*17 and the way of peace they do not know.”*

*18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”*

*            19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

*

* *

*~/~/Our lives would have been hopeless if this reading ended here.

Our lives would have been lost, but for the mercy of God who loved his people so much, He would seek  a way to reconcile His creation to Him.~/~/*

* *

*We continue our reading from verse 21 and further…*

 

 

*21        But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.

22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.

*

*            There is no difference, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.

He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

*

* *

* *

*Let us humble ourselves before our almighty, loving, and just, God: Let’s pray…*

*Our Father who is in Heaven, great is your faithfulness.*

*Lord, by your grace we believe, by your mercy we live, and through your love by the works of your Son Jesus, we may look forward to return to you and share in your grace, and mercy and love, forever.*

* *

*Thank you Father God for placing us in your heart and keeping us there, generation after generation.

*

* *

*And yet, even as we bring thanks to you, Father God, even as we praise you, we must now pray for your goodness in the light of our wickedness.

We need your love and your forgiveness, for so often we seem to be unable to find forgiveness in our own hearts for others.*

*Grant Lord that we will live lives, more and more each day, that bear witness to your love.*

*Forgive us our many sins, our hardened hearts, our lack of love.*

*Give us the strength and the knowledge and the will, to reach out to each other, and to you, in accordance with your great command.*

*These things we pray, Lord, in the name of Jesus, who alone has made it possible for us to approach you.

*

*Amen!*

 

Sing -- Bow 23 The Lord is my Shepherd

 

Reading: Psalm 23 (Wally)

 

Sermon

*Thank you, ~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/*

*Friends in our Lord Jesus …Do you keep a journal?*

*in our first year at college, in a subject called Pastoral Care, we were expected to keep a journal of our thoughts as we progressed and, hopefully, grew in our self consciousness around our Theological studies.

*

* *

*We were also assigned a mentor~/councillor, *

*            a pastoral care “confident,” so to speak, *

*with whom we could share our progress…or lack of it, sometimes.*

* *

*As part of this process, from time to time we would be asked - in complete confidentiality - to share an entry in our journals with this pastoral care mentor…*

* *

*One day my carer, whom I shared with three other students, was clearly burdened by the time it was my turn to see him on that specific day.

*

*            *

*He had just listened to a few other journal revelations, and you could tell*

*             he was somewhat strained.*

*And so I asked him if everything was ok?*

*            This is what he said: *

*“Listening to the entries in people’s journals, *

*                                    are like listening in on people’s prayers to God.”*

*It’s true, isn’t it.

We commit our deepest thoughts, our worst disappointments, our, saddest moments, our happiest moments, to our journals – or, to the recees of the journals of our hearts!

Our hearts and minds, too can hold our journal entries.*

*            With that as background, what would someone hear if they were able to listen in on your prayers to God this morning, to read your heart, so to speak?*

* *

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* *

*In the Bible, we may read The Psalms as if they were journal entries.*

*            Certainly, the Psalms, for the largest part, *

*                        may be read as David’s journal entries.

*

*Let’s pretend we are the mentor, and we have asked David to share a journal entry of his, ps 23, with us.*

*And as we look at it, or listen to him read it, I think, as an introduction, we might say to him: *

* *

*“Well David, Your majesty! we see in your Psalm 23 …. three things:*

*                        Confidence; Confusion; and Comfort*

* *

*And we might add… “if I may say so Your highness *

*                                    – it seems they are all applicable to my life, too!”*

* *

*Three things then: Confidence; Confusion; Comfort!*

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*When David composes the words of Psalm 23, it is obvious, he is filled with gratitude and confidence.