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WELCOME
SONG Love lifted mehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryS-njDaV_s
1. I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,But the Master of the sea heard my despairing cry,From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.o Refrain:Love lifted me!Love lifted me!When nothing else could help,Love lifted me!
1. All my heart to Him I give, ever to Him I’ll cling,In His blessed presence live, ever His praises sing,Love so mighty and so true, merits my soul’s best songs,Faithful, loving service, too, to Him belongs.o Refrain:Love lifted me!Love lifted me!When nothing else could help,Love lifted me!
Prayer
Children’s Talk What is the best Ice Cream Shop in Inverness? Miele’s Gelateria! It’s not just Ice Cream – it is GELATO. BUT – do you know how to get to Miele’s? If I set you loose from MacDonalds – would you be able to get to Miele’s Gelateria to buy a lovely cone? Now, in case you are wondering, I won’t let you take your mobile phone with you in case you try to cheat and look up the directions. I wonder how many wrong turns you might take before you eventually found Miele’s? Indeed, you might NEVER get to Meile’s…Can you think of a BETTER way of finding Miele’s?YES – ASK for directions – ask for HELP.If I was with you I could have told you how to get there – or your parents would have been able to help if you had asked them.Now… this may come as a surprise to you, but God has plans for us to live the best, and fullest life possible in this world. We don’t have a clear roadmap for doing it ourselves. Only with God’s help giving us the turns as we go, can we navigate life successfully.
Children’s Song One more step along the world I gohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jhAzbdKq6U
One more step along the world I go,One more step along the world I go;From the old things to the new,Keep me travelling along with you:And it’s from the old I travel to the new;Keep me travelling along with you.
Round the corners of the world I turn,More and more about the world I learn;All the new things that I seeYou’ll be looking at along with me.And it’s from the old I travel to the new;Keep me travelling along with you.
As I travel through the bad and good,Keep me travelling the way I should.Where I see no way to go,You’ll be telling me the way, I know.And it’s from the old I travel to the new;Keep me travelling along with you.
Give me courage when the world is rough,Keep me loving though the world is tough;Leap and sing in all I do,Keep me travelling along with you:And it’s from the old I travel to the new;Keep me travelling along with you.
You are older than the world can be,You are younger than the life in me;Ever old and ever new,Keep me travelling along with you:And it’s from the old I travel to the new;Keep me travelling along with you.
READING 2 Peter 3:8-98 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
SERMON GOD’S MERCIFUL WILL
Peter is looking at how RESTRAINED the Lord is here in verses 8-9. God’s is holding back the establishment of His kingdom so that the many billions may have a longer, and hopefully better, opportunity to hear the gospel, and come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.There is no doubt concerning the certainty of the second Coming of Jesus Christ. Since God promised another intervention of His physical presence in human affairs, the Second Coming must take place. Therefore Peter gives us two factors which explain why God is delaying the intervention of His coming for as long as He likes. First, God completely transcends time, so the Lord counts time differently than we do, since time is of no consequence to Him. The second reason the Lord’s return seems to be so long in coming is that God is giving time for as many people as possible to come to repentance so that they can be saved.The day of the Lord is coming though. God always keeps His promises. He is always on time!I. GOD’S TIME TABLE [For the Second Coming], 8.II. GOD’S PATIENCE [with Man], 9a.III. GOD’S WAITING for Repentance, 9b.I. GOD’S TIME TABLE [For the Second Coming], 8.In verse 8 God’s eternal perspective on history is contrasted with the short-term expectations of human beings. God does not count time in the same way that we do. Peter quotes Psalm 90:4, “For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.” We need to grab hold of this concept. We believe in the eternal God Who has no beginning and no ending. A hundred years, a thousand years, a thousand millenniums are all the same for the Creator of time and space.Time only seems long because of our finite perspective.
A man was taking it easy, lying on the grass and looking up at the clouds. He was identifying shapes when he decided to talk to God. “God,” he said, “HOW LONG is a million years?”God answered, “In My frame of reference, it’s about a minute.”The man asked, “God how much Is a million dollars?”God answered, “To Me; it’s a penny.”The man then asked, “God, can I have a penny?” God responded, “Sure! Just give Me a minute.”
We can be optimistic about the future because God will replace our world with a new one. In that new heaven and new earth we will experience blessed fellowship with our Creator for eternity (Rev. 21:1-4). Even now, Jesus is preparing a place for those who love Him where “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying” (Rev. 21:4).
Jesus is preparing a place for us and preparing us for that place.If God has made this world so fair,Where sin and death abound,How beautiful beyond compareWill paradise be found! Montgomery
II. GOD’S PATIENCE [with US], 9a.The second reason the Lord’s return seems to be so long in coming is found in verse 9 is that God wants as many people to be saved as possible.
God is not only in control; He is always on time. Scoffers attempt to make us believe God has fallen asleep or He is inept or He does not keep His promises. Jesus promised His Second Coming and has not yet come, He was either lying or is incapable of keeping His promise.
But God is always on time. He is never delayed by outward circumstances or by others. He is always in control. His motive is always love. He so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son. And it’s because of His love for the world that Jesus has not yet returned.
The delay is not a cause for complaint but a sign of God’s grace by which He bears with sinners. God’s love is made clear in His long-suffering.
III. GOD IS WAITING for Repentance, 9b.The reason God is delaying that last day is His patience and concern for us that we might be saved.
Ezekiel records the Word of the Lord, ” ‘Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’ says the Lord God,’ and not that he should turn from his ways and live?'” (Ezek. 18:23).
The reason for God’s waiting is both negative and positive .God is being patient because He does not want any to be lost, but wants all to come to repentance.
Coming to repentance indicates that it may take time for us to repent. God continues to deal with each person as long as there is the possibility for a person to repent and come to faith in Jesus.
IN CLOSINGUnlike us humans who must always adjust our plans, God’s sovereign determination of all history is unchanging. Peter concludes, the Lord has not returned for the simple reason – it is not yet the Father’s time. And the reason it is not yet the Father’s time is because of His long-suffering. God is not willing that any should perish but desires that all should come to repentance.But as sure as night follows day, “ .”As Habakkuk prophesied:”The vision will still happen at the appointed time.It hurries toward its goal.It won’t be a lie.If it’s delayed, wait for it.It will certainly happen.It won’t be late.” (Habakkuk 2:3)
PRAYER
Hymn O God, our help in ages pasthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssr-Ga3Mz6Q
1. O God, our help in ages past,Our hope for years to come,Our shelter from the stormy blast,And our eternal home;
2. Under the shadow of thy throneThy saints have dwelt secure;Sufficient is thine arm alone,And our defence is sure.3. Before the hills in order stood,Or earth received her frame,From everlasting thou art God,To endless years the same.4. A thousand ages in thy sightAre like an evening gone,Short as the watch that ends the nightBefore the rising sun.5. Time, like an ever-rolling stream,Bears all its sons away;They fly forgotten, as a dreamDies at the opening day.6. O God, our help in ages past,Our hope for years to come,Be thou our guard while troubles last,And our eternal home.
Benediction
Urquhart & Glenmoriston Parish Church 