Jesus walks on the Water

Responsive Call to Worship

Welcome: Welcome to the family worship service of Christ Church Welkom - We are part of REACH-SA - The Reformed Evangelical Church of South Africa.

Leader: Praise the Lord!

Congregation: Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise God in the heights!

Leader: Praise God, all you angels; praise God, all creatures high and low!

Congregation: Rulers of the earth and all peoples, praise God’s holy name!

Leader: Young men and women alike, old and young together!

Congregation: With voices united, let us praise the Lord!

Hymn: As the deer pants for the Water

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

Holy God, the first and the last, beginning and end of all things, you are worthy of praise from all your creation. Sun, moon, and stars praise you. Earth, sea, and sky praise you. Every living thing praises you in its own way. And so we praise you in our human diversity, joining our varied voices with all your creatures in heaven and on earth. You fill our lives with the wonder of your love in Christ Jesus. Your Spirit moves throughout the world to reveal your purposes for every living thing. Receive our prayers and praise this day, for you are the Source of our life and our hope,

Holy God, ever Three and Ever One.

Congregation:

Loving God, Jesus commanded us to love one another so the world would know we follow him. Yet we confess we do not always love one another, not the way Jesus loves us. The world has seen our squabbling, our history of hypocrisy, and our lack of compassion for those who don’t measure up.

Loving God, forgive us we pray. Lord Jesus, continue to love us. Holy Spirit, fill us with love, so that the world will witness your love in our words and actions. Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Leader: Jesus taught us that no one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. Christ has laid down his life for us and invites us to love one another as he has loved us. Let us rejoice in his forgiving love and share it with each other day by day.

Children’s Song: Jesus feeds the 5000

Children’s Song: Everybody

Children leave for lesson:

Hymn: Great is thy faithfulness

Prayer for Understanding

O God, your Word is our source of hope and truth in a world filled with deception. Fill us with your Spirit as we listen to your Word read and interpreted, so that it satisfies our thirst for wisdom and truth. Amen.

Sermon

Christ walking on the sea.

Our Lord had sent the disciples across to Capernaum, to detach them from the influence of the excited multitude.

I. THE DISCIPLES EXPOSED TO DANGER ON THE LAKE. "And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea was agitated by a great wind that blew."

1. The sea of Galilee was often exposed to dangerous storms.

2. The darkness of the night must hare intensified the fears of the disciples.

3. The absence of Jesus must have made them feel their helplessness.

4. They were not relieved till the danger had reached its highest point. The boat had now reached the middle of the lake; "they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty stadia." As it was about six miles across, the boat was therefore in the middle of the lake.

II. CHRIST’S SUDDEN INTERVENTION. "They see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid."

1. Nothing will keep Christ from his people in their hour of danger.

2. He is superior to winds and waves. He can walk on the surface of the water; he can still the winds.

3. The words of Jesus still the fears of his people. "It is I; be not afraid." His gracious presence supports us in all risks and in all afflictions.

4. The willingness of the disciples to receive Jesus in their distress. "Then they were willing to receive him into the ship." How dear he is in the hours of our loneliness, our desertion, our helplessness!

5. Jesus does not leave his disciples till he sees them in absolute safety. "And immediately the ship was at the land whither they were going."

Offering:Elizabeth will take the offering at the door after the service.

Hymn: In Christ alone - Let us stand and sing this great truth which we must never forget.

Charge and Blessing

Let us go from this place trusting that God is with us and for us in every place. May the grace of our Lord Jesus, the love of God and the companionship of the Holy Spirit be with you and abide with you this day and forevermore. Amen.