Sunday, May 3rd 2020
“Worship from Home”
Sunday, May 3, 2020
Brothers and Sisters; Grace and Peace to you! Welcome to worship from home. I am glad you are able to join me this morning as we bring glory, honour and praise to our Lord and Saviour, Jesus. It does not matter where you are this morning, what you are wearing, how you are feeling, or what you may be dealing with; know that you are welcome here. Ask Him to meet you where you are today! Even though we are worshiping from different homes, we are still part of the same family…the family of God! Each one of you is the church! Let’s prepare ourselves as we enter into a time of worship to our Great God.
Call to Worship:
“Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.” (Ps. 77:13-14)
Opening Prayer:
“O God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you. I give you thanks for your unfailing love. Although the world seems to be turned inside out, we can still say that you are Great, O holy Father! There is no one as great as you are. You are sovereign over all, and we need to simply trust in your goodness, and put our hope in you. For it is you who will carry us through this time and walk with us each step of the way. May we never forget that you are great. As we worship, meet us where we are, and challenge and equip us for the week ahead. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Worship in Song:
As we join in song together, please do whatever is most comfortable for you. Whether you are sitting, standing, listening, meditating or singing, I invite you to join me in some songs of praise this morning. Just click the link and it should bring you to our music this morning. Let’s sing to the Lord.
Prayers of the People
Our Great and Everlasting Father, we come to you today so thankful to be here. We are thankful to be safe at home with our families and to have another day to worship you. Tomorrow is not promised to us, so may we be thankful for each new day that you give to us. Lord, there is none like you. Thank you Father for who you are, and for your love, compassion, mercy, grace and kindness. We come this morning to not only ponder your greatness, but to worship you because you are most worthy to be praised! We also come to lift up prayers from our hearts this morning. (Pause for Personal prayers here.) Father, even though we may be safe at home, there are many who are not at home and are out and about. We pray for them and their safety. For those who continue to work in public, we pray for them as well. May your hand be upon them for protection. We also pray that we would see an end to this virus. May you help those who are working so hard to find a vaccine. Give them clarity of mind as they are working and give them strength as there is so much research in order to figure out a plan.
We also bring requests to you from our church family this morning. You know each heart and who may be struggling today. Be with them we pray. For those who are battling illness, keep them comfortable and remind them of your presence. We thank you for always being with us! You are so so good to us. We lift all of these requests and place them at the foot of the cross, and pray the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, saying: “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 trespasses, As we forgive those who trespass against us, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory Forever and ever, Amen.”
Scripture Reading:
Psalm 95:1-7: “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before Him with thanksgiving and extol Him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.”
Worship in Song:
(Please join me as we sing this old chorus. I am sure many of you would know it. Let’s declare together God’s goodness!)
Devotion:
Has anyone ever asked you a hard question about God that you could not answer? Maybe they were curious, and maybe they wanted more of an understanding because they wanted to know about the God we worship. A small girl once asked her understanding father, “Daddy, who made God?” With her simple question, was she not expressing the burning desire of most of us in wanting to know more about the God we worship? It seems that every time we try to explain God to another person, we discover the painful and humiliating truth that nearly all of our explanations are short and unclear. Even though we will never be able correctly and totally to explain to someone else the God we worship, there is much we can know and share about Him.
If we are to explain who God is to someone, we must consider His greatness. It is impossible to know and understand Him without recognizing this truth. The writer of Psalm 95:3 said, “For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” Here, the psalmist had made a comparison between his God, (the God of the Bible), and the false gods known and worshiped by many of the people of his time, and the psalmist concluded that his God was much, much greater. Still in this day and age, we can be absolutely certain that the God we know and worship as Christians is greater than all.
#1. God is great in His holiness. Through what the bible reveals to us, we are able to see that God is perfectly holy. This fact causes Him to be distinguished from things sinful. The sudden realization of this fact caused Isaiah to cry, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (6:5). Likewise, when Moses had recognized God’s holiness, he fell on his face before God. When we come to realize God’s character, it causes us to be troubled about our own sinfulness but thankful that the God we worship stands apart because of His great holiness.
#2. God is great in His knowledge. It is interesting to know that there are many people today who have not awakened to the teaching of the Scriptures that God has perfect knowledge and knows all things. They fail to understand that His knowledge, (being great and perfect), is not limited by time, space, or distance. A. W. Tozer wrote, “Because God knows all things perfectly, He knows no thing better than any other thing, but all things equally well. He never discovers anything, he is never surprised, never amazed. He never wonders about anything, nor does He seek information or ask questions.” We can be certain that God knows what you are going through today. He knows what is on your heart and what you are troubled with. Will you let Him walk with you through your struggles? Will you give Him all the rest of your days and let Him walk with you even in the good times?
#3. God is great in His power. God possesses what no creature has: absolute power. We know this from the psalmist’s words, “Power belongs to you, God” (Ps. 62:11). Honestly, how can someone look at the universe and say ‘there is no god’? I believe the creation of the universe stands as one of the greatest testimonies to the greatness of God’s power. We can even read about it in Genesis, chapter one. Of course, the ultimate testimony of His great power is found in His ability to change people. Do you remember when He came into your life? We have heard many stories about how God has changed the lives of so many. He can take the lowest convict and change him from the inside-out. He has the ability to change lives for the better.
#4. God is great in His presence. God is here, everywhere, close to everything, next to everyone. In every time and in every moment, God is present. David, king of Israel, wrote in Psalm 139:7 – 10: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Likewise, God is with you too, brothers and sisters. Do not fear. Know that you are never alone. Whether you are going through good or bad, He is there. He is bigger than what you are going through. Learn to lean on Him and put your trust in His strength. He loves you! This brings me to my final point.
#5. God is great in His love. The apostle John declares in 1 John 4:16, “God is love.” With these three small words, he reveals the essential nature of God. Because of this nature, we are allowed to know and love through the forgiveness of sins given to us in the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Concerning the greatness of God’s love, F. W. Robertson said, “To me this is the profoundest of all truths — that the whole of the life of God is the sacrifice of self. God is love: love involves sacrifice — to give rather than to receive. All the life of God is a flow of this divine self-giving love.”
Knowing this, we can be assured that He gave Himself for you. That’s how much you mean to Him. God is a flow of self-giving love. Will you give your all to Him? He gave His all for you. If you never have realized this before, know that this great God can be personally known by you. He has revealed Himself to all people through His Son, Jesus Christ. People are hurting today in this world. They need to know about a great God who is there for them. If you have a relationship with Him, will you share His love? In this day and age, we can do that through media and use it for His glory. Share through your messages about God’s love to a hurting world. Some many reject it, but to another, it might change their day….or even their life. Remember, He is Holy, all knowing, powerful, ever-present, and is love. That is our great God! Amen.
Let’s lift our voices once more, shall we? It is no secret that God loves you, for He is love! People need to know about that truth! They feel alone in the world, scared to face another day. He not only loves us, but He gave something very precious! His own Son! ‘To God be the glory – great things He has done! So loved He the world, that He gave us His Son.’ I am ever thankful! Let’s sing together!
Benediction:
“And now may the Love of God, the Peace of Christ, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with each one of you, now and forever more. Let’s continue to go forth together and serve our Great Lord. Amen.”
***God Bless you! Please join us online again next week! Anytime throughout the week that you would like prayer or if you have a prayer request, I am only a phone call or e-mail message away. I look forward to hearing from you. Have a safe and blessed Lord’s day.
– Pastor Stephen Wheaton
