Perspective - Adam


The Covenant - Paul



Gaze Upon Jesus - Rachel



Perspective
Ok so this morning I want to ask a question before we start. Put your hands up, who here has ever been on an aeroplane?

So a few weeks ago I went on an aeroplane and let me tell you the best place to sit is next to the window, because you get to look out. We were flying high up and I was looking out the window and I felt God speaking to me and I thought I’d share some of those thoughts with you this morning.


If you haven’t been on an aeroplane, this is what looking out the window looks like. This is a bit low, but what do you notice when you’re looking out? This is London, but what do you notice when you look at London from the aeroplane? There’s a river, yep. It’s small - that was the magic answer I was looking for. Yes it’s very small isn’t it? Can you see many people? No, you can see some buildings, and a couple of bridges but you can’t really see people.


Ok next question, who has ever been on a spaceship? Guys, come on, really! So this is also a picture of London but from the international space station. Yeah this shows London as well, that’s England, there’s Cornwall, that’s France. Ok so yeah the picture is from a slightly unusual angle but just turn your head, around 45 degrees and you’ll see it. Ok so what can you see from here? Can you see those buildings? No! Can you see people? No!


Ok next question. Has anyone here been to the moon? No, Alex has been to the moon apparently. Now this is the furthest man has ever been from Earth, so far and now you can’t even see London anymore. Not it’s bright lights, definitely can’t see buildings or any people!

I was really just struck as we were flying out and I was looking down. I though “wow God, you are so big!” These verse just really came to mind the Bible says: “When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

You know God is so big, the world is big but you know what’s bigger than the world, space, the universe and everything else that God created. On the other side of that you’ve got God saying in His word that he knows the number of hairs on our heads. We couldn’t even see the people when we’re on an aeroplane, do you think you could have counted the hairs on people’s heads?! This is how big God is! This is how big He is and we get the opportunity to come together and worship and just thank Him for the amazing things, for creation and just how big and how powerful He is!

The Covenant
So when Christ died, His blood was shed and at the last supper they learnt about His blood, partaking of His blood (through taking the communion), His blood being a new and everlasting covenant. This covenant is more than just a promise, that we can promise to one another, actually this is a contract. A covenant is much more than just a promise, this covenant, which is a contract from God to all who would believe, to all that would believe, this contract is written in Jesus’ blood, sealed there by the spirit, written by the hand of God.

This is a covenant guarantee, this is a contract that He entered into with us at the cross. It is there, life giving forever, for all who have received. So often when we walk in our lives, walking on our own, we have doubts, have you really forgiven me? Yes! Here is the covenant, this is the covenant for you, this is a covenant for me, it is eternal and it is forever and it is why Jesus went to the cross, so that this covenant would be ours. Let’s just set that in our hearts and spirits.

Lord thank you for the covenant, the guarantee that is sealed for eternity all the angels in heaven were amazed that he would do this for us, here it is written in our hearts forever amen.

Gaze Upon Jesus
I’ve just had a couple of pictures that I think fit together with where we were going in worship and there's normally a part in most action movies, where somebody can’t do something and they are like overcome by their circumstances and what’s going on around them and normally the hero says "no ignore that just look at me, you can do this, just look at me" and when they drown out everything else and stare into that persons eyes that’s when they can do it.

I also had a picture of when you’ve gone to watch, if you are a parent and you’ve gone to watch your kids at a performance and you are trying to catch their eye so that they know that you are there, cause that’s what they want isn’t it! Cath their eye so that they’ll see that you are there and when they do there is a massive smile on their face, and they are performing like it's just for you and there is something special in that.

And when Jesus is walking on the water and Peter steps out of the boat and is gazing at Jesus and is walking towards him and everything is going well and then he starts to look at the waves and the water and that’s when goes wrong and he starts to sink and Jesus is like, "why, why?!"

I just felt in that moment when we were singing about adoring Jesus adoring our living God our father, our bridegroom there was something in Him wanting to capture our gaze, that gaze between us and Him, that loving gaze that has so much communicated in it. I don’t know whether you’ve ever gazed lovingly into someones eyes but there is so much in that, that feeling of acceptance, of being fully known, and that actually, that feeling of wow I can almost do anything. Actually with GOD that is true! I don’t know what the plan is for the next song or whether we are going to sing that little bit again but I felt there is something about setting our eyes on Him, the lover of our souls, the one that knows us intimately and gazing in adoration, letting everything else fade away and letting Him capture our hearts, minds and souls.

Graham: Adam will lead us in response in song in just a moment but before we get there I just want Rachel to pray. For some of us the invitation this morning is to look to Him afresh, may be we’ve turned our gaze away, may be we’re not so secure at looking at Him and the invitation afresh this morning is to look to Him, to look to Him. To look and to gaze upon Him, to keep our eyes focussed on Him. But I just feel for some of you this morning, that is what you need to hear, may be there are some circumstances or other things that have crowded in and have got in the way of your gaze got between you and the Lord and His invitation afresh to you this morning is look at me, look to me. So if that’s you this morning I just want to encourage you, just lift your hands to to the Lord as Rachel prays and I’ll ask her to pray for you that the spirit of God would come on you, and fill you, fill you up afresh, not letting anything else get in the way and after we’ve prayed, Adam will lead us in a song as we bring our time of worship to a close.

Rachel: 
Lord Jesus, we thank you that we are fully known by you. We thank you that you are the bridegroom and we are your bride that you delight in. I thank you that you are the lover of our souls, Lord I thank you that you know us completely and intimately and everything single thing about us, and our past and our future and you delight in us.

We can never be loved completely except by you, you have known us, you will love as and continue to no matter what. Lord I thank you for that love, that great grace that you provide for us, father this morning would you capture our hearts would you help us to focus on you to focus on that gaze of love.

Lord I thank you that we are your children and that you are well pleased with us that you love and delight in us. Lord help us to drown out the things of this world and fix our minds, our gaze, purely on your loving accepting gaze. Lord would that churn up something deep in our ‘knower’ that we would know in a way that we’ve never known before, how loved we are.

Lord, that you would send your only son, that you would part and break off that relationship with him for that moment, when he carried our sin, what pain to be separated and that was, separated for us, that was your plan from the beginning in the garden, that was your plan for us and you would do it all over again, every single time! You chose us, you'll continue choose us no matter what.

There is nowhere we can go, there is no where we can hide from you because you know everything and yet love us so deeply. Lord would we know that!

Lord we pray against the lies of the enemy that we are not enough, not good enough, not smart enough, and the people that have told us that. We say that, that is a lie, you say we are free, we are chosen, we are your children, and we are bought / paid for with a price. Lord would we know these truths in such a really deep way this morning, as we gaze on you, would you show us your face, show us your glory! Amen