Sunday, 24th April 10.30 am Order of Service

Good morning,

Sorry this is so late in the week. I am attaching and appending the Order of Service for this Sunday morning.

I look forward to seeing you in Church.

Yours,

Hugh

U & G Sunday 24th April 2022 10.30am

WELCOME

HYMN Dear Lord and Father of mankind

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.

O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with Thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love!

Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm.

PRAYER

Children’s Address. God is in control

Preparation: Beforehand, prepare at least two things to happen when you point a remote control in that direction.. Get the person in charge of the lights to put on and off the lights when you point the remote at them. Get the organist to play a short song when you point the remote at him.

Good morning boys and girls. [Pull out the remote control.] I’m sure that all of you recognise what I have with me this morning. It is a remote control. We have remote controls that can turn on our TV, change the channels, and turn the volume up or down. I have a remote control on my key chain that can unlock my car door. Just about anything you think of can be made to work by remote control. I’m told you can even put your heating on in the house by remote control.

Do you think I could make those lights dim with my remote control? (Point the remote control at the lights and the usher hits the dimmer switch.) Wow, that was great wasn’t it? Do you think I could get that organ over there to play a song with my remote control? (Point the remote at the piano and the pianist begins to play.) Hey, this remote control really works, doesn’t it? Hmm….I wonder if I could make all of you young people sitting over there stand up with my remote control? Hey, this remote control is really great. If I lay my remote control down over here, do you think I can get it to do anything? You are right, I can’t. Before my remote control can do anything, it has to be in my hand.

Did you know that you are like a remote control? You are. God has some special things for you to do in your life — some really special things. But the only way you can do them is if you are in God’s hand. To do what God wants us to do, we must place ourselves in God’s hands. God can use us to do some very special things this week.

Song Be still and know that I am God

Be still and know

That I am God

Be still and know

That I am God

Be still and know

That I am God

I am the Lord

That healeth thee

I am the Lord

That healeth thee

I am the Lord

That healeth thee

In thee, O Lord

I put my trust

In thee, O Lord

I put my trust

In thee, O Lord

I put my trust

READING Isaiah 37. Prayer & God’s Assurance

When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord. 2 He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. 3 They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them. 4 It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard.

Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”

5 When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah, 6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard—those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. 7 Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.’”

8 When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah….

Hezekiah’s Prayer

14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: 16 “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.

18 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. 19 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 20 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, Lord, are the only God.”

Sennacherib’s Fall (verses 21-30)

God’s Assurance – then the enemy dies

31 Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah
will take root below and bear fruit above.

32 For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant,
and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

33 “Therefore this is what the Lord says concerning the king of Assyria:

“He will not enter this city
or shoot an arrow here.
He will not come before it with shield
or build a siege ramp against it.

34 By the way that he came he will return;
he will not enter this city,”
declares the Lord.

35 “I will defend this city and save it,
for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!”

36 Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! 37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.

38 One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.

SERMON Isaiah 36:1 – 37:7 Dealing With Fear – God can be trusted

In these chapter we have a thrilling rescue that remind us, if we needed reminded, that God can be trusted!

Chapters 36-39 are the only chapters of history written in prose. The question is being posed: will Judah (will we) find her safety in God, or in the world?

Satan’s Tempts us to Fear Background = King Hezekiah of Judah decided he would not pay tribute to Shalmaneser, the Assyrian King. Shalmaneser doesn’t like this, so he decides to invade Judah. Hezekiah then pays him the tribute he wants, but Shalmaneser still decides to attack. The Assyrian army has destroyed the towns of Judah – 46 fortified cities have been captured, 200,000 people have been taken into captivity, and the army comes to the gates of Jerusalem. That’s enough to make anyone fearful. But Why would Hezekiah be tempted to be fearful? What was he facing?

Physical threats:

1.The Northern kingdom, Israel, fell to Assyria 19 years before these events. This was a nation that had defeated Israel.

2. All the cities of Judah had fallen (vs.1). Jerusalem is the only city left that hadn’t fallen.

3. The army is right outside the city (v.2). They looked out from the city walls & see the hundreds of thousands of soldiers right outside the city.

Emotional Discouragement – Intimidation

4. Three high ranking officials have come from the enemy king.

In 2 Kings 18:17 – The king of Assyria sent his supreme commander, his chief officer and his field commander with a large army, from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.

5. vs.5 – They are accused of having no strategy or strength. 6. vs. 6 – They are hoping for Egypt to help, but they are told Egypt will not help, but in fact will actually harm the Jews

7. vs. 7 – They are told even God is against them. Do you ever feel like God doesn’t even like you? Why would the Assyrians say God was against them? Hezekiah had torn down his altars that people had wrongly built.

8. vs. 8 – The Jews had no skilled cavalry – The Assyrians mock them – saying they will give them horses to fight with if they could come up with the men to ride them.

9. vs. 10 – They claim that God had sent the Assyrian army – they were there in response to God’s will

10. vs. 14 – They said Hezekiah was being deceitful with the people. They said he was just giving the people a false hope.

11. vs. 16 – They were given great tempting promises if only they would give in. Often Satan makes the wrong choice look attractive. If only we bend the rules a little.

12. vs. 18 – They say that God is powerless against the Assyrian army.

Peer Pressure In vs. 13 we see them trying to incite the people of Jerusalem against Hezekiah. Did Hezekiah have a reason for fear? We might certainly think so. But let’s look as his response.

II. Hezekiah’s Security

1. Hezekiah found strength in memorials of God’s faithfulness – As the army sends their messengers, they come to the same field where Ahaz met Hezekiah a number of years ago.

Ahaz is given promise by God that God is going to win the battles for them.

Isaiah met Ahaz at this same field where Hezekiah’s men meet the Assyrian army. Surely Hezekiah must have thought back to God’s faithfulness in the past and gained strength for the present.
In our lives, we need to continually remind ourselves of the faithfulness of our God. It is easy to be forgetful. I Cor. 10 tells us the events of the OT are written down for us as examples. How has God proven himself in your life before? Trust him to work again for you today and tomorrow and the next day!

2. Hezekiah finds strength in humbling himself and worshiping. In 37:1-4 – Hezekiah responds to the threats by immediately turning to God. Casting all our cares on him, for he cares for us. He sees himself unable to win the battle. He doesn’t start with a pep talk to the troops. He falls on his face before God for help. That’s where each of us should spend much more of our time. 3. Hezekiah gains strength from the encouragement of others. In vs. 7, we see Isaiah gives the promise that the king will leave the city and be killed at home. In verse 9 we see the king of Egypt coming to offer help. When we are struggling and turn to God, so often he gives us encouragement and hope from others.

III. Be prepared for Satan’s attacks to continue Vv 9-13. Even when the king sees he is losing his hold, he continues to threaten. Satan will continue to attack us, even when he knows he is fighting a losing battle. And he roars like a lion, seeking to devour us.

IV. In spite of continued attacks, God can still give the victory. Once again Hezekiah responds to threats by turning to God. Read 14-20. He appeals to the power of God, the honour of God, the uniqueness of God, the triumph of God As a result of Hezekiah’s faithfulness, Jerusalem is spared.(33 – 38).

The Assyrians will not come into the city… They will depart… The people of Israel will have plenty of food to eat… God provides them with a miraculous deliverance.

So… How do we respond to threats? Are we fearful? Or do we trust in the Lord? Let’s learn from Hezekiah to always turn to God when we are tempted to fear. Our God is big enough to handle any problem that might come our way!

(Isaiah 37:5-38) BUT… How Can We Face Problems

What do we do when we are in a jam? Well, what did King Hezekiah do in the midst of his problems? We need to seek Godly advice – He sought the advice of Isaiah. He took Sennacherib’s lies, threats and accusations to God’s man to ask Isaiah to pray.

Interestingly enough, Isaiah does not pray but responds immediately with a word from the LORD: “Do not be afraid of what you have heard – those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! I am going to put a spirit in him so that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword” (vv. 6-7). God will not be mocked.

Prayer – Then Hezekiah does something very significant– he prays. Sennacherib sent a letter giving one final ultimatum to Hezekiah. In response Hezekiah takes the letter and spreads it out before the LORD and prays (see 37:16-20).

This is a beautiful prayer. Did you notice that Hezekiah does not make petition so much as he acknowledges God for who he is? God’s purpose in your trials is to get you to focus on Him. This is what we are to do when faced with the personal attacks of Satan.

This is what we are to do when the enemy infiltrates our families and relationships and sets about to divide us with his lies. Spread out the matter before God like Hezekiah and present it to the Lord acknowledging that he is Supreme, that he is Almighty, that he is more than able to handle all that we present to him in prayer.

“This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask – we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 Jn 5:14-15).

This is what Jesus promised us: “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:13-14).

God’s victory over the enemy This event in Judah’s history has an amazing conclusion. In answer to Hezekiah’s prayer Isaiah receives a word from the LORD and two other significant events take place.

He carries you in your weakness – First of all, part of the message that Isaiah gives promises sustenance. In the first year the people will eat what grows by itself in the fields. The second year they will eat what grows from that. Then in the third year the people will be planting crops again (vv. 30-32). That is a sign that God will carry them in their time of hurt and healing. Then they will stand on their own feet again. We can claim this promise too: God will carry us in our weakness for he loves to be strong in those times. Isaiah said this, “For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this” (v. 32).

b) His power over the enemy – Secondly, we see God’s direct hand in their deliverance.

“Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning – there were all the dead bodies!” (37:36)

Jerusalem could not put 2000 men on horses but God himself, as the angel of the LORD, wiped out 185,000 enemy soldiers. If God can do that what is there that God can’t do?

Challenge George Mueller believed in Jesus Christ as one who answered prayer. While sailing off the coast of Newfoundland in extremely heavy fog, Mueller came to the steamship captain and said, “Captain, I need to tell you that I must be in Quebec on Saturday afternoon.” The captain told him that it was simply not possible, due to the weather conditions. Mueller said, “Very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way, for I have never missed an engagement in fifty-seven years. Let’s go down to the chartroom to pray.” Again, the captain protested, saying, “Mr. Mueller, do you realise how dense the fog is?” “No,” replied Mueller, “my eye is not on the dense fog but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life.” The captain then told how Mueller knelt down and prayed one of the simplest prayers he’d ever heard. When he finished, the captain himself started to pray. But to his surprise, Mueller put his hand on the captain’s shoulder and told him not to pray. “First,” he said, “you do not believe God will answer, and second, I believe He has. Consequently, there is no need whatsoever for you to pray about it. Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been even a single day that I have failed to get an audience with the King. Get up, Captain, and open the door, and you will see that the fog is gone.”

The captain got up, opened the door, and sure enough, the fog was gone. And George Mueller made his appointment for Saturday afternoon in Quebec. This is a fantastic story. Does God actually do these things? We wouldn’t know, we don’t ask. I challenge you this morning to ask. I invite you to spread out your concerns before the LORD and acknowledge that he is God and that he is greater than your problems.

PRAYER

Hymn Father I place into Your hands