Faith, Holiness, Worship And Witness

"Come to him ... be yourselves built into a spiritual house" (1 Peter 2:4-5). This speaks to us of personal conversion and life in fellowship with God's people. The life of holiness, to which we are called, is to be lived in fellowship with God's people. We are to encourage one another to live a …

Good Friday March of Witness

We begin with "Wondrous Love" (also known as "Here is love, vast as the ocean"). https://youtu.be/7uRTQkdvNrY Let's pray. We thank You, Lord, for Jesus Christ – Your Son, our Saviour. What a great Saviour He is! When we think of Jesus, may our hearts be filled with true and lasting joy. We search for happiness – …

In our own homes: leaving the old year behind us and beginning the New Year with God (Let us worship the Lord on New Year’s Eve).

As we draw near to the end of the old year - may God help us to draw near to Him. As we begin the New Year - may God help us to make a new beginning with Him. Lord - lead us in Your way - the way of love - the way of …

In our own homes – let us worship the Lord on Christmas Eve.

https://youtu.be/OBi6x4gRKEU “Immanuel … God is with us” (Isaiah 8:8,10). Lord, we read these words – and we thank You that Jesus has come to be with us so that we may go to be with Him. He has come from heaven to earth so that we might go from earth to heaven. He died for us …

In our own homes – let us celebrate the birth of our Saviour.

Lord, Your salvation is always Your gift. Our salvation is never a reward that we earn. It never begins with “I” – “This is what I have done.” It always begins with You, Lord. It begins with Your love: “God so loved the world” (John 3:16). We can never save ourselves. We can only be saved …

Awesome!

Awesome - the word's become a bit overworked. We use it to describe a blog post that someone liked. What does it mean to say, 'They thought it was awesome"? It means that the word, 'awesome', has been devalued. When, however, we say, "Our God is an awesome God", we're using the word, 'awesome', correctly. …

The relationship between grace and faith

When we are worshipping the Lord, we praise Him, rejoicing in this: He has saved us by His grace. When we say that He has saved us by His grace, we do not deny that we have been saved through faith. We say both these things: "by grace" and "through faith". "Through faith" reminds us …

Easter Sunday worship

Christ the Lord is risen today. https://youtu.be/XveIGmAUdkQ We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, drank from the cup of our condemnation so that we might drink from the cup of His salvation. What a great thing Jesus has done for us. He has done all that needed to be done – for us to …

Palm Sunday Worship

Let us worship God. Let's begin with rejoicing in the Lord and giving thanks to Him. This is the day that the Lord has made. https://youtu.be/IRLxugEtqx8 ‘The Lord is my Strength and my Song. He is my Saviour’(Psalm 118:14). We thank You, Lord, that Jesus Christ is our Saviour. We thank You that He gives …

In our own homes – let us keep on praising the Lord.

'O Lord, You are exalted for ever… The Lord reigns, He is robed in majesty… ' (Psalm 92:8; Psalm 93:1-2).  You, Lord, are ‘exalted’. Help us to exalt You in our worship. You are not exalted because we exalt You. We exalt You because You are exalted. You are ‘exalted far above all gods’. That is why we sing, ‘I exalt …

In our own homes – let us praise our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

We thank You, Lord, that You have opened up for us a great future. What glory awaits us in Your eternal Kingdom! What encouragement this gives to us when we’re going through a hard time! Help us, Lord, to lift up our eyes, to catch a glimpse of Your glory, to be changed by Your …

In our own homes – let us praise Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

https://youtu.be/RbBOOmkMLmI _____ We thank You, Lord, that Your Son, Jesus, is "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). In His death for us, we see Your love for us. Help us to come to the Cross of Christ. Help us to worship You in the beauty of holiness. …

In our own homes – let us open our hearts to the love of Jesus, our Saviour.

In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus - sung by Fernando Ortega Often, Lord, we have too much self-confidence and not enough confidence in You. May there be less ‘I can’ – that’s the pride we can do without – and more ‘God can’ – this is the faith we need so much. …

In our own homes – may we experience God’s love and enjoy His blessing.

https://youtu.be/lCt1s44cfMM The Father, The Son, The Holy SpiritAdvent is the time of preparation for Christmas. Make sure that you prepare your heart for a real celebration of our Saviour. Remember that Christmas is not about us. It’s about God – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit: “an angel of the Lord” comes with …

In our own homes – let us remember that the Lord is with us, every step of the way.

https://youtu.be/JmGwHdNtpEw _____ Less of our sin, more of Your love – Lord, this is our prayer. Our sin does us nothing but harm. Your love always does us good – nothing but good. We’re sinners, Lord. Why do You keep on loving us? We don’t know why – but we’re glad that You do! We …

In our own homes – let us pray to the Lord and let us praise the Lord.

‘How I love Your Temple, Almighty Lord! How I want to be there! I long to be in the Lord’s Temple. With my whole being I sing for joy to the living God’ (Psalm 84:1-2).  Lord, we read this words, and we know that this is much more than paying lip-service to You. This is real. ‘I long …

In our own homes – let us be faithful in worshipping the Lord, reading His Word and praying to Him.

https://youtu.be/s3hNZT6ddJg ‘Fulfil your vows’ (Nahum 1:15). Lord, You’re calling us to be faithful to You. We are to be faithful in worship. We are to be faithful in reading Your Word. We are to be faithful in prayer. We are to be faithful in giving. We are to be faithful in witness. Our faith is …

In our own homes – May the Lord fill our hearts with His love, joy and peace.

https://youtu.be/-Msh0PAJfPU Lord, we read about Your judgment upon sinful nations – Ammon (Ezekiel 25:1-7), Moab (Ezekiel 25:8-11), Edom (Ezekiel 25:12-14) and Philistia (Ezekiel 25:15-17). You speak to us. You say to us, ‘You will know that I am the Lord’ (Ezekiel 25:5,7,11,17). You speak to us as our Judge. You speak to us about ‘sin, …

In our own homes: Let us look to Jesus – and be changed by Him.

https://youtu.be/mgzRB4gEPf4 We compare ourselves to other people. We like to think that we’re doing pretty well. What, Lord, do You think about all of this? Are You impressed? You’re saying to us, “What about Jesus? How do you compare to Him? Help us, Lord, to look at Jesus – and see where we need to …

In our own homes – Let us return to the Lord and hear His Word of salvation.

https://youtu.be/BUT-G4xHYpo ‘The Lord roars.’ ‘The Lord thunders’ (Amos 1:2). We thank You, Lord, that Your Word comes to us from above – ‘The Lord will roar from on high.’ You speak to us from heaven – ‘He will thunder from His holy dwelling.’ We dare not ignore Your Word. Your Word comes to us as …

In our own homes – let us praise our Saviour.

“In the beginning, God … ” (Genesis 1:1). “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start… ” (from the film, The Sound of Music). When we go back to “a long time ago”, do we go back far enough? The first four words of the Bible takes us back beyond “a long …

Redeemed By The Lord, Let Us Worship Him.

We gather at the Lord's Table. We celebrate the Lord's Supper. We remember Jesus Christ, the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. As we drink the wine, we recall the words of Jesus; "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness …

Let us worship God – with joyful thanksgiving.

‘Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord… Let us come before Him with thanksgiving… Come, let us bow down in worship… ’ (Psalm 95:1-2,6). Lord, You’re calling us to worship You with joyful thanksgiving. We rejoice in You. We give thanks for Your love. You are ‘the great God’. You are ‘our God’. You are the God of creation – ‘In His …

In our own homes – let us lift up our hearts and voices to the Lord.

The first four worship videos are choruses I remember from my youth. I hope they will encourage you all in the Lord. The first one is sung by a young man, who is, also, playing his guitar. For God so loved the world https://youtu.be/Gl1uoaLVwkM ‘Let us go to the Lord’s House; let us worship before …

Let us worship the Saviour and live for Him.

Many people, who never attend Church, claim to live by the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount. They don't make time for worshipping  God, but they tell us that the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12) is their favourite Bible passage. This is because the Beatitudes contains the ideals by which they live their lives. Are we …

What are we doing when we gather together to worship God?

The visitor gave the invitation, "We're from the local church, We'd like to invite you to join us at our church services. The reply was unhesitating: "I can worship God without going to church." The visitor, continuing to extend the invitation, said, "We'd like to strengthen your worship by giving you the opportunity to share …

Looking up to God and looking out to our community

Here are some thoughts from Local Church Evangelism, edited by David Wright and Alastair Gray. Worship comes first. “Praise is the primary form of the communication, the sheer enjoyment of the grace of God in our lives – all other communication is an overflow of this, the spread of its scent, affirming in appropriate ways, …

Let us worship God.

Let us worship God. "No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). We begin with a great hymn - The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord. Be blessed, as you listen to it - and sing along with it. As you sing …

In our own homes – let us thank the Lord for saving us and calling us to be His servants.

Serving You, Lord, doesn’t begin with our choice. It begins with Your call. The initiative is Yours – not ours. Thank You, Lord, that You love us so much. Thank You for saving us – and calling us to be Your serv.ants. At the beginning of the lockdown, Jack McHugh, the Moderator of the Presbytery …

Worshipping the Lord: Learning From The Psalms

In Psalm 4, there is a great message of the Gospel. By ourselves, we are sinners, turning God’s glory to shame, loving delusions and seeking false gods (Psalm 4:2). By grace, God has done something about this - ‘the Lord has set apart the godly for Himself’ (Psalm 4:3). When we pray, ‘Answer me’ (Psalm …

In our own homes: In our troubled times – let us praise the Lord and pray to Him.

‘I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the House of the Lord”’ (Psalm 122:2). Why, Lord, do we go to Your House? We go ‘to give thanks to the Name of the Lord’ (Psalm 122:4). We seek Your mercy for our past sins: ‘Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!’ …

In our own homes – let us put our trust in Jesus Christ, our Saviour.

https://youtu.be/lhUiRonlzaQ Lord, we need Your wisdom (2 Chronicles 1:10). We need Jesus – He is Your wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:30). Without Jesus, we’re fools. We may think that we’re wise – but we’re not. Jesus makes us wise. True wisdom comes from Him. When we build our lives on Jesus, we are truly wise (Matthew …

In our own homes – praising the Lord

At this difficult and distressing time, we're not able to gather with one another to worship the Lord in His house. In our own homes, we can come to the Lord and we can bring our praise to Him. Let's begin our worship with "We have come into His house and gathered in His name …

In our own homes – let us rejoice in the Lord and receive strength from Him.

This time of worship is not only for Sunday morning (or some other time on Sunday). You can come back, again and again, during the week, and be blessed by the Lord. He is with us every day. He loves us - always and forever. However difficult and distressing our present circumstances may be, let …

In our own homes – let us sing to the Lord with grateful praise.

“Sing to the Lord with grateful praise” (Psalm 147:4). Here’s a link to a song – “I’m forever grateful.” The video will lead you to think of God, your Creator. The words will lead you to the cross of Christ, your Saviour. Look around you – and sing to the Lord with grateful praise. Look to your …

In our own homes – let us give thanks to God for His amazing grace.

Amazing grace Lord, we thank You for Your “amazing grace” – “I once was lost but now am found” (John Newton). We think about our life. Did we find our way back to You?  – No! You found us! You came looking for us – and You found us. We think about this, and we say, …

In our own homes – let us give thanks to God for all He has done for us and all He has given to us.

https://youtu.be/5x1OV5YzmL8 Lord, we thank You that You want to bless us – more than we want to be blessed by You. We don’t deserve to be blessed – but You keep on blessing us. Help us never to forget to say, “Thank You, Lord.” Help us, always, to treasure Your blessing – and to keep …

In our own homes – let us be encouraged in the Lord.

https://youtu.be/Uxviwvjyg1w When the storms of life are raging, the Lord is our anchor! _____ Lord, we thank You that Jesus came to earth for us – and we thank You that He died for us. He ‘came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). He came to bring us back from our wandering …

In our own homes – let us rejoice in God’s wonderful love.

https://youtu.be/yOzf0VrDNGU Lord, what You have done for us – we could never have done for ourselves! It’s so amazing what You have done for us. We were making plans for ourselves – but our plans didn’t include You! You came to us. You said to us, “I have a wonderful plan for your life.” We …

In our own homes – let us celebrate the love of God.

https://youtu.be/KWT8BjS4aw0 Lord, everything seems so hopeless  – when we take our eyes off You! Help us to keep our eyes on You. Fill us with fresh hope. Sometimes, we can be optimists. Often, we’re pessimists. You’re always “the God of hope” (Romans 15:13). You’re always saying to us, “There is hope” (Jeremiah 31:17). Lord, real hope …

In our own homes – let us worship Jesus, our wonderful Saviour.

https://youtu.be/rVeG6mokRvs _____ Lord, what are we to do when we’re going through a hard time? Hard times can be the breaking of us – or the making of us. We can blame You – or we can trust You. Help us to trust You – to know that You are near, even when it feels …

In our own homes – let us praise the God of our salvation.

https://youtu.be/dTKIqmdfHSk _____ Living for You, Lord, is not easy. We face determined opposition from Satan. He keeps coming back at us, again and again. We thank You, Lord, that we do not stand against him in our own strength. We stand in Your strength, in the victory of our risen Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, …

In our own homes – let us pray to the Lord and receive His blessing.

“‘I am the Beginning and the End’, says the Lord God” (Revelation 1:8).We think about the past – and we know that we cannot change it. We think about the future – and we don’t know what it holds for us. All we have is the present. We think about the past and the future …

In our own homes – let us worship the Lord and give thanks to Him for His salvation.

https://youtu.be/hJ34W-gJONs You call us, Lord, to “lead a life worthy of Your calling” (Ephesians 4:1). We say, ‘I can’t.’ You say to us, “I have blessed you, in Christ, with every spiritual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). Why we do allow our lives to be controlled by our own weakness when we can be transformed by Your …

Worship and Witness

We ask the question, "How are we to worship God?" We must also ask the question, "How are we to witness for Him?" Worship and witness belong together. * Worship which does not lead to witness is incomplete. True worship does not end the moment you step outside of the church building. True worship shapes …

In our own homes – let us pray that the Lord will give us His strength.

https://youtu.be/a1jMihP_S-E “Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Break me, melt me, mould me, fill me” (Daniel Iverson). Lord, it’s Your Spirit who makes the difference. He changes us. We lose heart. He gives us new strength. We feel like giving up. He keeps us going on. Thank You, Lord, for Your Holy …

In our own homes – let us open our hearts to the wonderful grace of Jesus.

https://youtu.be/-Msh0PAJfPU “Wisdom is better than gold” (Proverbs 16:16). Where, Lord, will we find wisdom? Your Word tells us that Jesus Christ is “our Wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:30). When we find Him, we find wisdom. Jesus says to us, “Seek, and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). Set us free from the idea that we already know …

In our own homes – let us praise the wonderful Name of Jesus.

  https://youtu.be/UyPT3lVSpmo We thank You, Lord, that You invite us to “come” to You and receive salvation – “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Along with Your promise, there is also Your warning: “if you refuse and rebel … ” (Isaiah 1:18-20). You call us to believe in …

In our own homes: When the going gets tough, let us keep on going – to the Lord.

We're living in difficult times - distressing and discouraging times. For your encouragement, here are some hymns and prayers. Let us "wait upon the Lord and renew our strength" (Isaiah 40:31). May these hymns and prayers help us all to "be strong in the Lord" (Ephesians 6:12). http://youtu.be/GyRIVbdsi4c ‘They will be taken to Babylon and …

In our own homes – Let us listen to the Word of the Lord and receive the strength of the Lord.

https://youtu.be/bcAfxUj1D_0 ‘The heavens were opened and I saw visions of God… The Word of the Lord came to Ezekiel’ (Ezekiel 1:1-2). Lord, You open our eyes to ‘see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:4). You, Lord speak to us. Help us to listen to You: ‘Speak, Lord, for …

In our own homes – Let us bring our prayers and our praise to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

https://youtu.be/hGmZcTCXjmM ‘Hosea’ means ‘salvation’. Married to ‘an adulterous wife’, Hosea spoke with great compassion to ‘the land’ which was ‘guilty of the vilest adultery in departing from the Lord’ (Hosea 1:2). We thank You, Lord, that Hosea brought Your Word of love to the people: ‘I will show My love to the one I called, …

In our own homes – Teach us, Lord, to live for You.

“I am filled with the power of the Lord’s Spirit” (Micah 3:8). This is what makes true ministry of God’s Word so different from ‘prophecy’ that doesn’t come from the Lord. Without the power of the Lord, there can be no Word from the Lord. We need the Word, and we need the power. “Let’s …

In our own homes – may the light of God’s love shine upon us.

https://youtu.be/Mnks-i1vbgs “Your Word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Without the Word of the Lord, we’re stumbling around in the dark; We’re trying to make sense of life, but it’s not quite working, There’s something missing. The Word of the Lord comes to us. It brings light …

In our own homes – let us rejoice in the Lord and give thanks to Him.

https://youtu.be/eMY3ivdNzwE We thank You, Lord, for Your Holy Spirit. He works in us to bring blessing to us. He works through us to bring blessing to others. Without the working of Your Spirit, there can be no blessing. May the “living waters” of Your Spirit flow in our hearts and out from our hearts to …

In our own homes – let us give thanks to God for Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

https://youtu.be/XqSIMQaeAds Lord, You call us with Your challenge. You call us to make our choice. We are to put the past behind us. We are to press on into the future – with You and for You. We hesitate – and we end up doing nothing. Help us, Lord, to turn from our self-centred ways. …

In our own homes – let us praise the Lord and give thanks to Him for His wonderful love.

“God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Have there been times when you didn’t really understand what was going on in your life, and, then, some time later, you’ve been able to look back and say, “God meant it for good”? Sometimes, we can feel that we’re in a dark place. Nothing really makes sense …

In our own homes – Let us praise God: His love is unchanged, unchanging and unchangeable.

https://youtu.be/7ScQfSjzbsY No-one goes on forever. We read about David’s reign coming to an end, about David being replaced by Solomon (1 Kings 1:30). Help us, Lord, to pray that the future will be “greater” than the past (1 Kings 1:37,47). In all of life’s changes, help us to remember this: You are the living God …

In our own homes: Let us worship God – our help in ages past, our hope for years to come.

https://youtu.be/SVy77bGE9Ho Take a little time to remember - and give thanks to God. Think about today's world and its problems - and pray. Be encouraged by what you have sung: God was "our help in ages past." He is "our hope for years to come." As we look back to the past and travel towards …

In our own homes – let us rejoice in the great love of God.

https://youtu.be/X-dEfvz6Vms Lord, we read Job’s question: “Would He contend with me in the greatness of His power?” We also read his answer: “No; He would give heed to me” (Job 23:6). We thank You that You are not only the God of great power. You are also the God of great love. If You, Lord, …

In our own homes – Let us sing our praises to the Lord.

‘Daniel resolved not to defile himself’ (Daniel 1:8). We thank You, Lord, that Daniel was devoted to You. It was not easy to live as Your faithful servant. His dedication to You was put to the test – ‘Test your servants’ (Daniel 1:12). Our faith is put to the test. We ‘suffer many trials’. Why, …