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oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] w [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] w [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] w [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] w [Music] w [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ni [Music] [Music] [Music] okay good morning Welcome to our 11 o’ meeting really really good to have you with us my name is Rich this is Suzanne we’ll be leading you through the meeting today welcome to those of you joining us at home as well good to have you with us really really excited about today we have Ron lamb bringing the word later on today we’ll also be breaking bread uh in a few moments time as well we’re going to start in worship so I’m going to hand over to Suzanne to lead us in to worship okay if you’re able to please stand let’s Get Ready To [Music] Worship okay just start to shift your attention away from your week don’t know what your week’s been like but we’re here to worship shift your attention away from this week sometimes it’s helpful to close your eyes stretch out your hands just changing your body position helps you to shift your focus to shift your focus onto God he loves you he’s [Music] here he sent his sun to die on the cross for us the one who chose you for for adoption before before he even created the world he’s worthy worthy to be praised just start to lift up your own praise lift up your own words to your father tell him what you think tell him you love him you don’t have to be quiet you can pour it out lift up your praise thank you Jesus thank you Jesus he’s the one that lifted you out of the mud and the May he’s the one who rescued you from Darkness he’s so worthy of Our Praise pour out your praise make it your own thank you Father thank you for rescuing me thank you for Lifting me out of that muddy pit keep pouring out lifting up that praise keep going no one’s listening to you it’s only the father it’s all for him all for [Music] him Psalm 103 says let all that I am praise the Lord with my whole heart I will praise His holy name let all that I am praise the Lord may I never forget the good things he does for me let all that I am praise the Lord keep pouring out your praise keep praying it out let all that I am praise the Lord he’s so worthy so worthy of Our Praise thank you Jesus Keep Your Eyes on him keep your eyes on him thank you Jesus that you are worthy yeah Lord we thank you we thank you that you are worthy of Our Praise we thank you that you inhabit the Praises of your people we thank you that you died on the cross for us that you love us that if nothing else you’ve done everything that that we need that you are God that you are worthy and we love you we worship you we are here to praise you we thank you that we can enter your courts with Thanksgiving that we can freely come in into your presence we love you we worship you we are here for you oh Lord would you come and meet with us as we meet with you thank you Father you are worthy and we praise you amen [Music] us the mountain I could not in and your name into the night [Music] and youring kindness to the Shad of my the work is [Music] [Music] father down glor to my S and my sh the CR has w I am for the King of Kings [Music] beor I’m yours for Jesus Christ my [Music] living hallelujah praise the one you sent free Hallelujah death has lost it g on me you have broken every and salvation in your name Jesus Christ my [Music] living Hallelujah prise the one who set me free Hallelujah death has lost it grip on me you have broken Every Chain this salvation in your name Jesus Christ my [Music] living seal the pro your to of the lion as no the morning the your body [Music] out of the silence [Music] the Jesus is the Glory Hallelujah praise the one who said me free Hallelujah death has lost its grip for me you have broken Every Chain there salvation in your name Jesus Christ my living home Hallelujah prise the one who set me free Hallelujah death has lost its grip for me you have broken Every Chain there salvation in your name Jesus Christ my Living Hope Jesus Christ my living home oh God you are my living home [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes Jesus said if we have Faith as small as a mustard seed we will see mountains [Music] move walking around these walls I thought by now they’d fall but you have never fa me yet waiting for change to come knowing the battles won for you have never failed me [Music] yet your promise still stands great it is your faithfulness faithfulness I’m still in your hands this is my confidence never me I know the night won’t last your word will come to heart my heart will sing your praise [Music] again Jesus your still keep me within your life my heart will sing your praise [Music] again your promise your promise feel stands great is your faithfulness your [Music] faithfulness I’m still in your hands this is my confidence my [Music] confidence your promise still stands great is your faithful your faithful I’m still in your hands this is my confidence you never fa me yet [Music] [Music] I’ve seen you move mountains I’ve seen you move you move the mountains and I believe I see you do it again you made a way where there was no way and I believe I see you do it again I’ve seen you move you move the mountains I’m I believe I see you do it again you made a way where there was no way and I believe I see you do it again I seen you move you Mo the mountains and I believe I see you do it again you made a way where there was no way and I believe I see you do it [Music] again I see you do it again [Music] [Applause] [Music] your promise still stands great is your faithfulness faithfulness I’m still in your hands this is my confidence confence your promise still stands great is your [Applause] faithfulness faithfulness I’m still in your hands this is my confidence you never fa me you’ve never failed me I never will forget you never failed me yet you never will for I’ve seen you move you move the mountains and I believe we’ll see you do it again you made a way where there was no way and we believe we’ll see you do it again we’ve seen you move you move the mountains and we believe we’ll see you do it again you made a way where there was go away and we believe we’ll see you do it again just want you to lift up those times remember where he has answered your prayers where those mountains have moved that your faith rise up Lord give us the gift of faith this morning to those mountains you’re facing right now just speak to them Faith as small as a mustard seed speak to those mountains in your life in the lives of those around you and tell them to move tell them to come into line with God’s will that his kingdom would come his will would be done [Music] in the Book of Revelation John had a vision he said the living creatures the elders fell down before the lamb each had a harp and they’re holding golden bowls of incense incense which is the prayers of God’s people our prayers are the incense that rises up before God and they sang a new song saying you are worthy to take the scroll open its seals because you were slain with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and Nation Worthy is the Lamb who was slain they say to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and Glory and praise [Music] [Music] all the sints and dangers they bow before your throne oh all the elders cast their crowns before the Lamb of God and say you are worthy of it all you worthy of it [Music] all for from you are all things and to you are things you deserve the [Music] glory oh all the saints and angels they bow before your Throne all the ERS cast their grounds before the Lamb of God and sing you are worthy of it all you are worthy [Music] from you our and to you our things you deserve Glory you are worthy [Music] of you’re worthy of [Music] from you are and to you are you [Music] [Music] deserve day and night night and day worship day and night night and day letor day and night night and day let rise day and night night and day day and night night and day and Sur and night night [Music] and day and night night and day to and night night [Music] and wory of it all [Music] you wor of it [Music] all [Music] are GL you worthy of it all [Music] day and night day and night night and day and night and [Music] day and night and day inise day and night night and day that in [Music] day and night and day day and night and you are you are from you are all and to you are all you [Music] deserve you’re worthy of it all for from you are all things and to you are all things you deserve Glory let’s stay in this place of worship let’s keep our eyes fixed on Jesus isn’t it wonderful just to dwell in the presence of God just sense that the presence of God Is So tangible here at the moment as we’re worshiping in and just there’s a closeness he’s always close but you know sometimes we feel that more than others and I believe the Lord wants you to know that he loves you do you know he sees you he sees everything that you’re facing right now and he loves you completely he’s so for you so just enjoy the presence of God on you and with you right now he’s here thank you Lord thank you Jesus you’re so worthy of our worship you’re worthy of our hearts you’re worthy of our minds you’re worthy of our song Jesus I thank you that you’re here thank you that you love your church your bride thank you Lord Lord we love your presence thank you Jesus [Music] amen we’re going to break bread in a moment this is an act of worship to Jesus why do we do this it says in Scripture it says the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread and when he given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the New Covenant in my blood do this when whenever you drink it in remembrance of me for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes we do this as a family together as an act of remembrance remembering what Jesus has done for us and also Proclamation proclaiming the truth of the Gospel as we do this so the invitation if you’re a follower of Jesus this morning is to come and take the bread and wine this is a meal for followers of Jesus if that’s not you just take a moment to ask God to show you who he is he loves to do that he loves to reveal who he is but if you’re a follower of Jesus this morning I want to invite you just as the band continue to play just to come and take the bread and wine there are two tables at the front there are three at the back just come and take it and then take it back to your place and when you’re ready just take that bread and wine as an act of remembrance of what Jesus has done and as a proclamation of the Gospel let me pray and then we’ll do that Lord we thank you so much for your sacrifice for us that you held nothing back to show us the extent of your love for us and Lord we gladly come this morning to take part in this meal Lord to remember you and to proclaim the truth of who you are thank you Jesus amen amen when you’re ready just come and take the bread and the wine there glutenfree bread at the back as well thanks I [Music] [Music] the [Music] wa [Music] [Music] got e [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] take [Music] [Music] might [Music] you are you are [Music] let’s finish with just voices [Music] you are [Music] glor just in this case of worship still God is here and just feel his presence near you to keep your eyes fixed on him as part of our worship we love to share testimony so we’re just going to hear a short video testimony from Jonathan please remain standing it’s really sure I promise you because we’re going to respond afterwards okay well the story is that I go to a spinning class which is like Endor cycling in case you don’t know and my instructor her name is vadia so over the weeks she gets got to know her a little bit but don’t know her very well anyway after our spinning class she said oh she had a she had a migraine coming on and that um she needed to get home so I said well would you like me to pray for you about your migraine and she said yes so I prayed for her migraine to be not happen and anyway the following week when she bursts into the spinning class as she always does and says good morning everybody she announced oh Jonathan prayed for my migraine last week and I was completely healed so that was amazing um I mean to be honest I I I heard a story about somebody who prayed for healing for people for like 100 200 times before he saw anybody healed and so he was kind of saying it’s just a matter of doing it really and so I thought well I can go with that so I just decided I would you know look for opportunities to pray for people it’s not always easy but um you know I so I’ve prayed for many people to be healed and not seen a great deal of result so this was quite a breakthrough and um thank God for that that’s brilliant isn’t God good um if you don’t know migraines are horrendous they’re like a full body assault for days so that is a miracle that is a wonderful miracle and so um we just we’re going to give go like Jonathan said we’re going to pray so if you are someone who suffers with migraines headaches head pains head related stuff like that and you’d like to be pray for can you stretch out your hands maybe put a hand on your head whatever feels comfortable for you and we’re going to pray father first of all just’re going to pray for fear fear of the migraine fear of all of that it is fear of it coming all fear associated with migraines and head pains in fact if you don’t have migraines and you have fear I want to pray for you too just to add that in there if you feel like you’re someone who suffers with a lot of fear let’s just pray for you too fear you have no rightful place here enough fear be gone in Jesus name Holy Spirit would you fill that space now with your your peace would you take your peace deep deeper still deeper still that you would overflow your people with peace bring your peace thank you Jesus for migraines head pains all of that father would you bring your complete miraculous healing freedom to brains to Pathways to chemicals to hormones to all triggers associated with migraines and headaches and pains be completely free be gone be healed in jesus’ name we pray for all Associated conditions all causations of migraines and headaches pots EDS hyperism long covid chronic fatigue all of that we pray for all causations to be completely healed now in Jesus name full body restoration in your name Jesus amen amen amen okay second response um I’m not surprised by Jonathan’s story cuz he’s really running for Jesus he really wants to see God’s Kingdom Come and I don’t know about you but I’m done with safe Christianity I don’t I want to be on fire for Jesus I don’t want any area of my life to not be fully surrendered to him and you know sometimes we take areas back sometimes we get lukewarming places and you know what God is on the move and I want to miss out I don’t know about you so if that resonates put up your hands let’s just pray let’s pray yeah Jesus we are sorry for areas where we’ve got cold lukewarm where we’ve taken areas back we fully surrender Our Lives to you every area of Our Lives neing no stone unturned we give our whole selves to you would you burn our hearts again would you give us a passion for you again Jesus that we would live radically for you we want to be like we were first Saved when we were exced fed for parking spaces would you burn us again that we would be fully living for you no areas uh taken back that would be no other gods but you we want to be your hands and feet we want to see your gospel spread we want to see healings and miracles and signs and freedom would you use us would you burn us again we cry out to you we give you our whole lives that we have no other gods no areas hidden we give that to you today we thank you we thank you that you are worthy you are so worthy you’re so much better than anything else we can live for or do you are worthy you are the one that’s worthy to be praised we give ourselves to you again thank you Jesus thank you amen [Music] woo you still can’t sit down could you take a minute um have a turn around find someone you haven’t spoken to before and say hello or if you’re feeling brave talk about what it looks like to live for [Music] Jesus e e e okay let’s begin to bring our conversations to a close grab a seat thank you so much I hate cutting these conversations short I love these times and just being able to chat but do grab a seat thank you so much church thank you well a really warm welcome to Kings this morning if you are joining us for the first time if you’re new um we’d really love a chance to get to know you so at the end of the meeting we have a welcome area over there um where someone will um you give you a gift tell you more about the church how to get involved um we’d really love to get to know you if you’re joining online for the first time the best way to get connected is to go to our website and hit the I’m new button and someone will be in touch during the week yeah three things I think to mention this morning the first is this a few weeks ago we welcomed 16 people um into church membership yeah that’s that’s what I think that was a wo let’s cheer that love it when we do that when we get to celebrate welcoming new people into our church family we’re running our next exploring church membership afternoon next Sunday the 2nd of June from 1: to 400 P p.m. that includes lunch and this is a chance for you if you’ve never kind of taken that step of coming into membersip of the church just to come and to have lunch with us and to ask any questions you’ve got you’ll hear all about hear all about the history of the church about our vision um about leadership about our finances and how we use them um any question at all that you want to ask as well um do come to that if you haven’t yet taken that step of membership into the church that’s next Sunday the 2nd of June we do need to know how many people are coming so we know how many to cater for so do let us know on our website that’ be really helpful thank you we have love Wickam coming up that’s on Sunday the 9th of June um this is a great opportunity to get together with other churches and worship God together um and really important to note that there’ll be no meetings here on that Sunday so instead we’ll be meeting at the Rye at halfast 10 for an 11:00 a.m. start um do you bring a picnic along with you so we can eat together afterwards um and a key part of Love Wickam is all the prayer that happens building up to it so we’re going to be praying for our town through prayer walking um this is a great thing to do by yourself or with a group whatever works best for you so if you go to our website you’ll see all the uh guidance on how to do this where to where to walk how to map your walk and and mark off all the streets we really want to get every single Street in Wickham prayed for covered in prayer leading up to this great event so get out get walking get praying yeah and then the last thing to mention is that in August this year is the Catalyst Festival so catalyst is the group of churches that we’re blessed to be a part of and this is a chance for us to spend time away together as a church family gather with thousands of other Christians and to encounter God together and I know that um on a slightly damp uh Sunday morning in May camping is a bit of a hard cell but we will be camping together as a church family we’ve signed up for this um we would love you to join us in this and I know that from being at Christian festivals before actually powerful things can happen when we spend this time away together and then devote that to worshiping Jesus so if you’re not yet signed up for that do do that um all the information for that and about everything we’ve talked about this morning is on our website at kw. co.uk and there is a price break for that at the end of May so if you are thinking of coming uh do get booked in as soon as you can thanks okay we are continuing our Isaiah Series this morning and it is my delight uh to welcome up Ron who’s going to continue our series let’s make Ron feel really really welcome as he comes up thank you very much I love that song where we were singing this morning you worthy of it all Jesus is worthy of it all isn’t he in the first meeting this morning I had a picture where we wor during the worship of the Blue Planet suspended as it were or placed in Space by the Lord and the incense of praise and worship going out from the blue planet to him and uh he’s worthy of it all isn’t he so today I’m speaking on the God of Peace from the book of Isaiah I’m going to be reading from chapter n I’m going to start at verse two and I’m going to go through to verse 7 it’s a familiar passage you may recognize some of it as I speak it the people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of deep Darkness a light has dawned you have enlarged the nation and increased their Joy they Rejoice before you as people Rejoice at the Harvest as Warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder for as in the day of midian’s defeat you have shattered the Yoke that burdens them the bar across their shoulders the rod of their oppressor every Warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning will be fuel for the fire for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called wonderful counselor Mighty God Everlasting father Prince of Peace of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end he will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with Justice and righteousness from that time on and forever the Zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this it’s a familiar passage I’m sure that often gets quoted at Christmas time but we long for peace in our world don’t we we long to to see peace in the Middle East we hate to turn on the news and see the destruction and the deaths that are going on there the suffering we long to see peace between Russia and the Ukraine we long to see peace in the Sudan we long to see peace in many parts of the world we long to see it in our community now here’s a map of the world showing where there is conflict the dark red blood red is where there are major Wars going on right at this moment in red are the wars other kinds of wars that are going on different parts of the world in Orange it’s what’s called minor conflicts and in the yellow it’s skirmishes and clashes but this does not include things like gang violence rape murders rampant Prejudice in England and Wales in 2223 there were 244 homicides involving a knife of of the sharp instrument it’s a pretty depressing picture but it’s the reality of the world in which we live in today so where is the God of Peace but there’s another side of the story and I’d like to try to illustrate that by acting something out now when we were having this uh building built in the early part of the 1990s obviously we needed to raise money to pay for it all and one of the ways in which my dear and late mother-in-law e who was a Founder member here at Kings decided to help to do her part she decided to get a cloth and to invite members of the church to write their names on the cloth and she would embroider them and you had to pay for the privilege and I thought as I Was preparing for today I felt the Lord reminded me about this cloth that this cloth over 30 years old is part of the heritage of King’s church high wikim and as the Lord Drew my attention to this I was also reminded at the same time of the story of Elijah and Elisha how Elijah the prophet and his prote Elisha work together and Elijah was due to ascend to heaven and Elisha wanted to have a double portion of Elijah’s Spirit which he did receive and then after that Elisha comes to the River Jordan and he takes Elijah’s cloak and he strikes the waters and he says where now is the Lord the god of Elijah well I want to symbolically use this cloth with a Heritage it represents for us here at King’s church highwick given all the conflict we see in the world giving all the conflict that we may see in our local community our I want to ask this question where now is the Lord the God of Peace now I’m going to give you the answer the answer is this that he’s here he is here he is here the thing is that God is here that Jesus is here but he’s here on his terms he’s not here on your terms he’s not here on my terms he’s not here on our terms he’s here on his terms the Prince of Peace is here there is a way to peace I am the way Jesus said but not on our terms Jesus path to peace is on his terms because he is the only one who can bring it the great Russian novelist Alexander ziton who suffer unjustly during the time of the Soviet regime he was placed in in the gulag in the prison system there he said this gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through States nor between classes nor between political parties either but right through every human heart and through all human hearts he was correct the blockage to the path to peace is the state of the human heart and only Jesus is the way to sorting it out because unless we get to the problem it will be like trying to cover the Grand Canyon with tissue paper Isaiah says here in verse two the people walking in darkness have seen a great light and those living in the land of deep Darkness a light has dawned has the light dawned for you sometimes the light dawns slowly just like a normal Dawn out in the world it comes slowly but sometimes the light comes quickly the dawning of the light can come quickly for me it came quickly one moment I thought well Jesus is like any other good great religious teacher yes I respect that he had some great things to say that was what I thought and then the light came on and I realized actually Jesus is the way he is the truth he’s the life and no one comes to the father except through him the light came on suddenly thing is this we need the light to Dawn to realize actually that the way to get out of the mess is only one way and it’s through what Jesus has done what Jesus has accomplished if we want to know the God of Peace then we have to come his way there is no other way to go you can try as hard as you like you can get all the self-help books out of water stones you can read all the stuff that people recommend that you can do but you will never find the way way to peace unless you meet with Jesus and give your life to him and this morning Susanna was encouraging us to to be wholehearted in that and that’s always a challenge isn’t it it’s so easy to kind of slip back a little bit a little bit a little bit a little bit so thank you for that encouragement to be wholehearted we want to be wholehearted because we want to experience the reality of the God of Peace I don’t just want to talk about it I don’t just want to hear about it I want to experience connection relationship with the God of Peace how about you do you but it’s on his terms dear friends it’s not on your terms you cannot set the terms and conditions to know the God of Peace he sets the terms and conditions now it’s the ultimate peace but it’s not a peace which is going to be Costless Isaiah writes for to us a child is born to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders this child is going to grow in wisdom he’s going to grow in stature he’s going to be called The Prince of Peace but it’s not a Costless peace it’s a peace that’s going to be very costly it’s going to cost Jesus’s life there’s going to be a show trial despite being innocent he’s going to be whipped within an inch of his life he’s going to be nailed to a cross and somehow that Indescribable wonderful relationship and fellowship that he has with the father is going to be broken my God my God why have you forsaken me it’s not a Costless peace it’s a piece that’s going to cost him everything but he opens the way for us to know the God of Peace it’s the ultimate peace it’s peace with God unless you have peace with God you ain’t got peace you will be forever Restless forever unsatisfied now the other day in fact I think it was yesterday out of the blue I think I’ve might have been brushing my teeth I can’t remember but I wasn’t spiritual I wasn’t praying I wasn’t thinking of God or anything like that and suddenly out of the blue this song came into my head that I hadn’t heard for years and years and years and I remembered a couple coule of lines in every circumstance of life you are with me glorious father and I have put my trust in you and I can’t remember any more [Music] words you know in every circumstance of life you are with me glorious father and I have put my trust in you the thing is this when you are in a relationship with the God of Peace you know that whatever your journey through life is going to be you do not do it on your own you do it with the God of Peace that’s where my peace comes from it comes from God himself so do you know the God of Peace do you live in the good of being connected and in relationship ship with the God of Peace or have you drifted a little bit from that well the Lord is encouraging you to return the thing is God Is Not passive sometimes we have this idea that God is passive we pray nothing seems to happen and you know things can go wrong even after we’ve prayed we get we don’t get the result we want and so on we think God’s not listening he’s not here he is passive the thing about God is this he is not passive he’s not sitting in heaven twiddling his fingers sending the old the odd bolt of lightning and anger here and there is that your idea of God in verse seven Isaiah talks about the Zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this in John’s gospel when Jesus goes to the temple and he sees the buyers and the sellers and he gets cross and he overturns their tables and chases them out of the temple the disciples have a a moment of light a light bulb moment and they remember what it says in Psalm 69 where it says Zeal for your house has consumed me and other words my love for your house burns in me like a fire far from being passive God is anything but before you speak a word God knows thoroughly what you’re going to say he upholds the universe by his word of power he opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing joy and I were on holiday recently seems like a long time ago you know what it’s like don’t you you go on holiday of a great time then a week later did you you know life kicks in doesn’t it and you think did we ever go on holiday well we did here’s a picture that I took when we were on holiday and it’s of The Sparrows the Lord spoke to me through this The Sparrows at breakfast time they would come and they would snap up all the little crumbs that were left lying around they would have a great time they had a fantastic breakfast I’ll tell you that and then later on I took a little video clip and there are The Sparrows again this time they’re down by the pool hey guys let’s go let’s go to the pool there’s nobody about can have a bath and a splash and they were having a a whale of a time down by the pool every day in a drink and so on and as I was watching that I felt the Lord reminded me of things that he said about The Sparrows he said this are not Two Sparrows sold for a penny yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your father’s care and even the very hairs of your head are all numbered so don’t be afraid you’re worth more than many sparrows now Jesus also said something else about The Sparrows later on he said this are not five sparrows sold for two pennies so work out the maths here you can buy two for one penny or you can buy five for two pennies so what does that tell you you get one free one is thrown in so not even he says um yet not one of them is forgotten by God indeed the very hairs of your head are all numbered praise God don’t be afraid you’re worth more than many sparrows now the sparrow is the most widely distributed wild bird in the world there are reckoned to be 1.5 billion sparrows in England alone there are reckoned to be 50 million sparrows not one of them is missed by our heavenly father God is far from passive the problem with passivity is not the Lord’s guess where it lies the problem of paity is usually with us there’s a rather tragic scripture in the book of Isaiah where the Lord is remonstrating with his people where he says this now what I want you to do is just picture God’s body language here as a as a person he says this all day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people who walk in ways not good who say keep away don’t come near me for I’m too sacred for you so picture here God’s saying all day long I have held out my hands here’s God he’s coming and he’s hel holding out his hands to you what’s that saying to you if God is holding out his hands to you surely it’s saying welcome surely it’s saying acceptance surely it’s saying I’m here surely it’s saying let’s get close surely it’s saying if we get so close I’ll hug you so God is Not passive God is active and he’s active because he loves us he is the God of Peace and he wants us to be in relationship with him and to experience the peace that he brings which is not dependent on circumstances we know what circumstances are like sometimes circumstances are woohoo pay rise Hallelujah new car thank you Jesus bought a new house lovely thank you Father birth of a new child wonderful great fantastic if life was only like that all latest Hol off we goo but we know it’s not always like that don’t we there’s bereavement there’s disappointments we lose the job we have a Health crisis our family go off the rails and so on and so forth but God wants us to know peace through the good and the bad because his peace is not dependent on either his peace is eternal Everlasting and it’s dependent on who he is and where he is it’s dependent on the fact that he reigns he rules the supreme ruler of the kings of the earth and so our peace is dependent on him and who he is and we need to keep coming back to that place as well because we can just gradually drift away and lose something of that pieace but God says no come back he holds our H his hands out to us saying no come come I will restore because that’s who I am I restore I redeem I make good again his hands are outstretched our danger is this you know and in Isaiah’s day the people said I’m too they had their nose you know I’m too sacred for you is their response we might not say that but we would say I know better than you we might say uh I’m too sophisticated for this I don’t believe in all that kind of stuff or we might say well maybe tomorrow I might if I feel like it while God is holding out his hands say no come come don’t don’t make it ditch your excuses which are many and varied they change from day to day but here I am I’m the God of Peace and I want to welcome you into that which I can give you which is my peace see you think as well God acts in an unexpected way in verse four Isaiah talks about for as in the Day of midian’s Defeat so what’s that about in the Day of midian’s Defeat feet well it harks back to the Book of Judges under Gideon when Gideon was the judge and there was a vast midianite Army camped against the Israelites and Gideon tried to ra well he raised this Army but the Lord said no you’ve got too many I don’t want as many as that cut the Army back so he cut them back right to 300 men and even then they had to have a light in a jar and smash the jar and so on but the point was this that God wanted the the weakness to reveal something of his strength where do we see that where do we see the ultimate sign of weakness which actually was Victory we see it surely as Jesus died on the cross as he hangs there at his weakest point and remember that after Jesus resurrection on the road to Emmas when Jesus Drew alongside the two disciples the disciples said we had hoped we had hoped that he was going to be the one why did they say that they saw that because they looked at the cross and what did they see they saw defeat but actually the reality was this there was Victory so for as in the Day of midian’s Defeat it’s going to be what’s going to be happening on the cross in that seemingly dark place of defeat is going to be the victory of Christ over death it is finished Jesus says and the turn curtain is torn into two to make the way open that you and I can come freely into the knowledge of the God of Peace and the experience of him and the reality of what it is to know peace with God so my question to you this morning is this do you know do you know the God of Peace do you live in the good of that peace do you are you settled in the peace of God that passes all understanding because that’s what God wants to give you not just head knowledge but experience it in the reality of your life yes the world is in a mess and I don’t understand most of what is going on and often I puzzle as to why things are happening out in the world why God allows things and I’ve puzzled many times over the the Holocaust where you know six million people many of them Jewish people were uh murdered by the Nazis and I think why what’s that all about and I don’t understand I’ve been over to aitz I’ve been over to D I’ve read books and and I’ve sought to understand and I don’t understand and there are many things in this world I do not understand and I ask why is this happening why do you allow it father I don’t know evil regimes now in our world that seem to prosper why is that happening I don’t know I don’t understand but I do know this the purposes of the Lord will be fulfilled and no one can thwart them no one can derail God’s plans and purposes for his Cosmos and even when it looks bleak even when it looks at its darkest God’s purposes will never be thwarted they will never be disrupted his purposes will come to pass pass verse 7 Isaiah says of the greatness of his government Christ and peace there will be no end that dear friends is where we’re heading despite appearances he will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom establishing and upholding it with Justice and righteousness from that time on and forever I don’t understand and never will understand things that are going on in the world but I do do know where the cosmos is heading recently I had uh we were encouraged this morning weren’t we just now to keep your eyes F focused on Jesus well the other week maybe a week or two ago I was doing just that uh I had some time to reflect and I was just thinking about Jesus and uh and I had a picture of him that I’d like to share with you it was a very personal picture so I saw Jesus sitting on some very lush green grass and he had a white robe on it was a beautiful day it was just perfect and I was sitting beside him leaning up against him but not as I am now I was a boy in that picture and as I was leaning up against him a big Shaggy wolf appears comes up to Jesus and when it approaches him it sticks out his head and then it licks his face and then it sits down lies down beside him on the other side and Jesus strokes The Wolf like you would a puppy and he looks at me and smiles and I look at him and I look in his eyes and what I see is beyond human description it’s unfathomable it’s Indescribable but what I also see is I see a profound love Isaiah says in chapter 11 the wolf will lie with the lamb the leopard will lie down with a goat the Cal and The Lion and the yeling together and a little child will lead them I am so glad that that’s where we’re heading I’m so glad that jesus’ purposes will be fulfilled and you know what dear friends as well you and I are part of the Fulfillment of God’s plans he will see the joy of his he will he will see Joy it says of Jesus after he has suffered and the joy is you and me that as we come to know him as we come to experience the God of Peace then we become the answer to the world strange as that may sound why because the God of Peace if you’re born again if you have the spirit of God within you then you have the God of Peace living within you you have the God of Peace in your heart you have the God of Peace in your mind you have the God of Peace in your actions and yes there’s a dark and dying world out there but we have got the God of Peace and we can bring the message of the gospel of peace to the dying world out there and that is a challenge I realize and I realize we’ve got our imperfections and our I know all that because I know the state of my own heart so you know we’re not talking about Perfection but nevertheless the God of Peace is living within us isn’t he and what is Jesus saying to each one of us I believe he’s saying this you know dear friends the boat is a safe place to be you can sit in the boat it’s good it’s comfortable there are other disciples in the boat with you Oho comfy isn’t it but Jesus says this just like happened to Jonathan when he was doing this spin class Jesus says this get out of the boat just get out of the boat but that’s scary yes it is scary get out of the boat and step on the water and maybe this week maybe even today may even in the next hour the Lord may say to you get out of the boat because you are a are a messenger Sent From Heaven itself sent by the God of Peace in order to bring the good news of my salvation to others that’s a challenge dear friends but we have the Holy Spirit to help us so do you know the God of Peace or are you sitting on the fence please I would encourage you get off get off the fence it’s not a happy place to be we have the message of peace with God there can be no lasting peace until we have that and God is active not passive you know and I love I love this cloth it’s part of the Heritage here of kings and many people had their names embroidered on it some are gone to be with Jesus now some are here and uh it’s Ordinary People isn’t it Ordinary People here we are ordinary people being changed by Jesus why to change the world one step at a time well the Lord bless you keep you make his face shine upon you and give you peace amen thank you so much Ron uh we’re going to respond let should we stand together Church I love the challenge in that I also love the comfort in that and I believe there’s an invitation for us to get close to God here so why don’t we close our eyes if you’re happy to do that couple of things I think there’s a response here for anyone who’s never had that moment of saying yes to Jesus Ron talked about the light coming on maybe this is the morning for you the moment for you where the light has come on maybe it’s been a gradual kind of turning on of the light or maybe this morning just as Ron spoke the truth of who Jesus is is revealed to you it says in Acts 4:12 salvation is found in no one else for there’s no other name under Heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved it’s only through Jesus he’s the way the truth and the life it’s just why we have our eyes closed here if you know you’ve never had that moment before where you said yes to Jesus I just want to encourage you could you do that just just raise your hand right now if you want to do that this morning if you know this is the moment where you want to say yes to Jesus Jesus I believe you’re Lord just raise your hand and I want to pray for you okay thank you thank you if there’s anyone else if you know this moment is for you thank you okay why don’t you just keep your hand raised if you want to you put your hand down if you like but just pray this prayer with me well everyone else just has their eyes closed Jesus I believe that you are Lord and I turn away from other things and I want to accept you as the Lord of my life today I give my life to you just as you do that know the favor of the Lord on you his hand is on you he’s with you he’s alongside you and I pray the Lord would fill you with his holy spirit right now if you just said that to him this morning I pray he’d fill you with his Holy Spirit and he’d help you to live for him Lord fill my brothers and sisters here with your Holy Spirit I pray for more Revelation throughout this week of who you are Jesus thank you Lord thank you thank you Lord and I think there’s a response for for all of us here actually Jesus Is Right Here alongside us do you know that that the God of Peace is right here with you he knows everything you’ve experienced in your life he knows everything you’re facing right now and he is alongside you and I believe he wants to give Comfort here this morning so just just know the presence of God with you right now and I also believe he wants to stir Hearts again to who he is this morning this is the lion of Judah this is The God Who tore through death who walked away from the grave he’s not a passive God he’s here with you this morning and he wants to stir Hearts this morning to see him again for who he is so I pray you do that father right across this room that you’d fill us with your Holy Spirit and where there’s been a kind of apathy towards you Jesus I pray that you’d put in us a a Zeal a deep Zeal and a passion for you Jesus I pray you’d stir that in us this morning Lord God that we’d have a passion for you that we’d have a passion for the world around us that we’d have a passion Lord for the people around us who don’t yet know you and I pray we’d have a confidence in you that we carry the truth that the world needs to know Lord fill us with your Holy Spirit stir your church this morning if you know you need to be stirred this morning and you know your heart is kind of burning to know Jesus more why don’t you lift up your hands we’re going to worship him in a moment just but just use this as an active moment of saying yes to Jesus Lord fill us with your Holy Spirit we don’t want to be a passive church we don’t want to be an apathetic church we want to be a church that’s Burning For You Jesus we know you’re the way the truth and the life well Lord fill us with your Holy Spirit give us a deep passion for you stir us again to see you Holy Spirit reveal Jesus to us we pray fill us with your spirit thank you Lord set us on fire for you thank you Jesus thank you Lord amen amen let’s use this time of worship now to press in close to Jesus he’s here he loves you [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heart s [Music] again name of jus [Music] PR is [Music] is your name is power your name is your is break every stold shine through the sh sh [Music] the I just want to speak the name of Jesus the fear and all anxiety Every Soul help ped by pre I speak Jesus your name is power your name is your name [Music] is break every stold shine through the Shadows like a your name is power your name is healing your name is break every stronghold shine through the Shadows the [Music] light shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the Holy Name Jesus shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness over every Heaven me Jesus for my family I speak the Holy Name Jesus shout Jesus shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the trees Jesus in the darkness over at me and Me Jesus for my family I speak the Holy Name Jesus cuz your name is power your name is healing your name is life break every stronghold shine through the Shadows but like a fire your name is power your name is healing your name is light break through the strong shine through the Shadows [Music] iy your name is power your name is healing your name is [Music] life I break every stronghold shine through the sh burn like a fire I just want to speak the name of Jesus over every heart and every mind because I know there is peace within his presence I speak [Music] Jesus one more time oh I just want to speak the name of Jesus over every heart every cuz I know there is peace within your presence I speak [Music] Jesus over Darkness and over conflict and over suffering and over pain and over hurt we speak the Glorious name of Jesus we speak the powerful name of Jesus we speak the Eternal name of Jesus we speak the the the joy filled name of Jesus Jesus you’re the God of Peace Jesus you’re the god of comfort Jesus you’re the god of healing and where we see the opposite of those things Jesus we pray that you would move mightily move mightily in our own lives move mightily in our nation move mightily in our world Lord God we speak the powerful name of Jesus Lord would your kingdom come would your kingdom come and would your will be done thank you Jesus thank you you’re Sovereign over all things your kingdom come we pray thank you Jesus amen amen amen I’d love us to end our time together this morning by praying for Ron and his family many of you know that Ron is struggling with C struggling with battling against cancer right now fighting against cancer right now and is being treated for cancer and so I’d love us to get around Ron and joy and the family and to pray for them to surround them so Ron and joy could you would you mind to move out into the kind of aisle there if you’re happy to do that and family could you get around as well and then we want to surround you with well the prayers of the church Steve get in here Andy Becky if you’re around let’s let the family in and get close we want to surround you in prayer [Music] [Music] this is a family that love Jesus and that shine with the light of Jesus we spoke to Ron about preaching do you know Ron was desperate to preach today this guy loves to preach the word of God because he loves Jesus just where you are just start to pray for Ron and for joy and the family just just start to pray your best prayers for healing for the peace and the presence of God and then I’ll lead us in prayer but you start just where you are just start to [Music] pray thank you Jesus thank you [Music] Jesus more of your presence Lord I pray right now that Ron and Joy would know the presence of God presence of God on them right now and the family as well Lord they know the presence of God on them right now thank you that you’re here you’re not distant you’re not passive Lord that Ron would know the presence of God right now I pray you’d fill his body with your presence Lord soak him in your presence fill him with your Holy Spirit Lord God thank you Jesus thank you Lord and I want to pray for my brother the run I want to pray for total wonderful healing Lord in jesus’ name we lift him up to you and say Lord Heal him in your mighty name cancer be gone in the name of Jesus be gone in jesus’ name be gone in jesus’ name be healed in jesus’ name and I pray God of peace and comfort would you come would you draw close I pray Lord God that they’d know your comfort and your peace a peace that passes understanding right now for Ron and for Joy for the family Lord God who are here maybe family watching at home as well I pray Lord God the peace of God to come the peace that passes all understanding to come and do them good Lord thank you for your presence Jesus I pray they would know right right now right throughout this week they’d know the presence of God on them Lord Jesus they see lights on the runway that show who you are Lord surprises that show the kindness and the grace and the compassion of God lord fill them with your Holy Spirit I pray presence of God the peace of God the comfort of God lord strengthen them I pray the joy of the Lord will be their strength Jesus with the Jo the joy of the Lord be their strength right now for Ron and joy Lord Comfort them with your joy in your presence Lord lift their eyes to see you in all this they’re facing right now I pray that you lift your their eyes to see you the god who’s Seated on the throne reigning over all things and the God who draws close Lord fill them with your Holy Spirit total healing and the peace in the presence of God and we ask that Lord in your mighty name amen amen do them good Lord amen [Music] [Applause] amen amen okay dra our meeting to a close now um if you responded earlier on when Rich was uh asking if anyone wanted to give their life to Jesus um we just want to celebrate with you we would love to pray with you and just encourage you um for that step so if that was you do come down to this prayer space and introduce yourself we’ just love to stand with you and if you need any prayer for anything else at all come down to the prayer space if you’re online um go to our website and uh click on the request prayer button and someone will be in touch yeah and the last thing to say is if you’d like to give to the work of Kings knowing that everything we do as a church is made possible by the generous giving of the church you can do that in a couple of ways you can do it on our website if you’re in the room there’s also offering beles at the back um and on giving just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who’s given to our gift day over the past few weeks I can tell you now that the total given to gift day is £3,750 and 82 it’s a fantastic amount of money and we’re going to use that to do some good in the name of Jesus in this town so thank you so much for giving to gift day uh do hang around for teas and coffees um so good to be with you today have a fantastic week thank you thanks [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] n [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] ah [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]