The Lord be with you.

A Prayer:

Almighty God, who sent your Holy Spirit to be the light and life of your Church:
Open our hearts to the riches of your grace, that we may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit
In love and joy and peace.
Through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
Who is alive and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
One God, now and for ever. Amen

Reading:              Daniel 6: 16-23

TRUSTING GOD IN DIFFICULT TIMES? SERVE GOD CONTINUALLY

There’s a little phrase that is repeated in this passage: “serve God continually.” I just want to make three points as we consider what this means.

  • Serving God continually – it’s gives us Godly perspective looking forwards

You may wonder why Daniel ended up in the lion’s den. Well, King Darius had been tricked by a group of officials. They didn’t care too much for Daniel who was a highly distinguished administrator, responsible to the king. So they decided to set a trap for the king so he would do away with Daniel.  They got the King to issue a decree where if anyone prayed to any other god or human apart from the King for a period of one month – they would be thrown into the lion’s den.

So, what did Daniel do in response? Verse 10…

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 

So, this law curtailing freedom comes in – and what is Daniel’s response in his moment of need?  He does what he always does – he gives thanks to God! 

Essentially he is saying – “Lord – there’s this thing happening – but I am going to carry on with you. Yes – there’s stuff happening which I don’t really understand – but I will keep thanking you Lord for all you have done in my life, all you are doing and all you will do.”

There’s a little song I sing with our children from time to time. It goes: “Count your blessings – count them one by one. Count your blessings – see what God has done.”

You’ll notice that Daniel opens the window from his upstairs room and faces Jerusalem which was probably his usual custom. In doing so he is gaining perspective.

When I lived at home and was studying for my accountancy exams, we had an upstairs room that looked over to the Purbeck Hills. When I was need of a bit of inspiration (which when studying accountancy is desperately needed!) – I would raise my head and look out onto the Purbecks. In doing so I would almost leave the world of accountancy and marvel at the glory of the Purbeck Hills.

So how much more do we gain perspective when we raise our head from the concerning details of our lives and gaze upon the living Lord. It is though – an act of the will. It is to say to ourselves that I will turn away from this matter or that matter, I will start to gaze upon the Lord and, one by one, thank him for each blessing. And as we do that, we start to gain a Godly perspective on life.

  • Serving God continually – gives Godly perspective looking back

Serving God continually gives a Godly perspective looking back. Look at what Daniel says in verse 22

My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight.’

When we go through tough times, it is remarkable when we give ourselves to God in these difficult circumstances, and wait on him and lean on him, that we are able to see God’s hand at work. And this is precisely what Daniel experiences. He is able to look back – after he has spent an evening with the lions and say – “God was there; God protected me.”

I have a friend who used to run a Scripture Union camp in Somerset. Each morning we would have our leaders debriefing session and we would discuss what had happened the day before. What John seemed to do was to pick on things that had happened and then say – “you know – I think God is doing this here.” He was somehow able to see God’s hand in the events of the day.

John was simply used to serving God continually and the more he was used to serving God the more he could see what God was doing.

Over these past few months – God has not been inactive. So, what has he been doing? I have a colleague at work (Julie) and she is involved in running an Alpha Course via zoom. She invited her sister and brother in law (who live in West Devon) to join them on line. I think it would be fair to say that her sister and brother in law were card carrying atheists! They said at the first Alpha – “we’re not sure why we are here” – but they kept coming back, week after week. Julie bought them both Bibles as they didn’t have one in their house. They loved reading the Bible and the gospel accounts in particular and after the Alpha Course finished they continued with a weekly zoom meeting with Julie and her husband and would have on line discussions about what they had read in the Bible that week. Just a few weeks ago, Julie came in and said – “you never guess what – we spoke to them last night and they said they wanted to become Christians and we looked at each other and said “let’s do it now” – so we prayed – they prayed – and they are now Christians. Isn’t that amazing?”

So, my question to you is this: in this time of Covid – what is God doing? So, what we might need to do is to ask the Lord to open our eyes so we can see what he is doing. Let’s add our blessing to what God is doing.

  • Serving God continually is Jesus centred

So, serving God gives perspective looking forward and back and indeed in the here and now. Finally serving God continually is Jesus centred. Look at verse 23:

And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.

When I first read this passage what struck me were the similarities and mirror images to Jesus and all that happened on Good Friday. Both Daniel and Jesus were living where the rulers were sympathetic to their case (Darius for Daniel; Pilate for Jesus). In both the rulers were pressurized to carry out capital punishment. Both Daniel and Jesus were sentenced and punished. And so on. 

But there is something quite different…

God rescued Daniel from the lion’s den. No wound was found on him. Not even any broken bones from being thrown into the pit.

But what about Jesus? Jesus was not rescued; his body was wounded. He was broken. But he was broken for us. He took the punishment that we deserved so that the penalty was paid so that we could have life with God. He took all that for you and for me. In the Garden of Gethsemane, we see Jesus struggling with all that was to happen. He was saying on one level – “I don’t want to do this” – but ultimately said – “Father – your will be done.” Here, Jesus ultimately served God and in serving God he served us. Jesus is the ultimate servant. We sing these words from time to time: “This is our God – the servant King”.

So, if we want to serve God continually – we look to Jesus. He has served us – he is serving us and will continue to serve us through his continual kindness.

So, what is our response to that? How does this play out with our current Covid situation? And we might say – but how          can we serve if we are not meeting on Sundays at church? Well – that day will come. No one knows when that day will come. Only God does.

So, what do we do in the meantime? We continue to serve God.

It is to offer ourselves to God each morning – and say: “Here I am God – thank you for all you have done for me through Jesus – you have rescued me. Use me today so that people would see you and praise and worship you.”

Here’s one thought. We are God’s agents in a dark world. Often we think of agents, who go out to their appointed destination and cause chaos. Well, God’s agents also have an appointed destination – not to cause chaos, but to be light to a dark world. To point to Jesus as the hope of the world. So maybe the Lord has someone for you to phone or meet or email or message today – to be that agent of hope. A word to encourage, strengthen or comfort.

And then maybe decide to do that tomorrow. And the next day, decide to do that again. And the next. So that we would be God’s agents serving as Jesus did continually for him.

A Prayer:

Heavenly Father by the indwelling power of your Holy Spirit help to persevere in our journey of faith putting our trust in you particularly in times of trial. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Saviour and Lord. Amen

The Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen

The Blessing:

The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you,
The Lord turn his face towards you and give you peace.
Amen

Prayers for Sunday 9 August 2020

“As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”

Those are the words which end the book of Daniel (ch12 v.13); words spoken to a man who had seen much tragedy and suffering but throughout his life had put all his trust in the LORD.

We thank you Lord that in these times we can take those words spoken to Daniel for ourselves; that our constant hope is in the resurrection through our Lord and Saviour – Jesus Christ. We do live in difficult days and do grieve for those we have lost but we praise you this day that we, like Daniel, can look forward to our rest and resurrection to eternal life with you.

We thank you Lord for the many ways you have encouraged us and drawn us into new patterns of fellowship. We thank you for all those who have worked so hard to maintain the spiritual and practical life in our church; for those who continue in care for the children and their families, for the lonely and those in need of shielding. We thank you for your servants who continue to provide the spiritual food that builds us up in Christ. Please, Lord, continue to bless and encourage your church and lead us forward in faith with the assurance of the presence of your Holy Spirit.

We pray for Lebanon Lord; a nation that has known such suffering over many years and bears the burden of countless refugees from the war- torn nations around it. Now, Lord, in this recent tragedy, we pray for all those who are suffering and grieving. Please, Lord, protect your people serving you out there and all who are involved in the rescue operations. Lord, ensure that all the aid required gets safely to those in need. Please Lord, flood that land with your peace.

We are concerned for the state of our nation and pray, Lord, that you will protect this nation as it tries to manage both the health and the economics of the nation during these days. Please ensure wisdom, not only in the government and business leaders but in the ordinary folk and the manner in which they lead their lives; that Lord they will learn the lessons of the times and call upon you in their times of crisis. We see also, Lord, threats from other nations at this time and ask that you will protect us in peace and turn the hearts of the people towards you.

Lord, we offer ourselves in your service and commit into your hands all those on our news sheet who have asked for prayer and those known only to us in our families and amongst our neighbours. – – – – Please Lord fill them with your peace and healing making them aware of your presence with them in love and grace.

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Amen

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven, – hallowed be your name. – your kingdom come, – your will be done, – on earth as in heaven. – Give us today our daily bread. – Forgive us our sins – as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation – but deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours – now and for ever.

Amen


Category: Prayers , Sermons , The Bridge

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