28th February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Ezekiel 24 focus v15-27)


Message (Alan Burke)


Come to Jesus and your problems will be fixed, you’ll know peace, you will have physical wellbeing and financial security. There is a  perversion of the gospel that will tell you those things. Here we are confronted with a cost to following Jesus that I hope that I will never face but the Lord doesn’t promise that my problems will be fixed, that I’ll know peace, have physical wellbeing and financial security, he didn’t promise these to his prophet Ezekiel and he doesn’t promise them to us. As the day of judgement comes upon Jerusalem it was also the day that the Lord took Ezekiel’s wife from him. What would take place in Jerusalem happened at a distance, but the feeling of loss Ezekiel with the loss of his wife was acute. Every soul belongs to the Lord, it is his to give and his to take away and Ezekiel would have know this as he tells his prophet with one blow that he would take away the delight of his eyes (16). 


The language of what happens to Ezekiel’s wife is that of what happens in battle (1 Sam 4:17; 2 Sam 17:9; 18:7) although we are not told how Ezekiel’s wife would die only that she would. Ezekiel though in the midst of the loss of the delight of his eyes was not to mourn in the way that would have been customary, he would not wear sackcloth, lie on the ground, covering his head in ashes, he would not wail loudly, there would be no mourners who gathered, no waling for the dead. For Ezekiel the pain that he felt was not to be shown. He was to grown quietly, or literally he was to sigh in silence and he was to wear a turban on his head and sandals on his feet, the turban is a garment of celebration. 


So Ezekiel then speaks to the people the message that the Lord had given. His strange behaviour was to be a sign to the people of what was coming upon Jerusalem and the Temple. The life of his wife had come to an end and so had the temple and the worship that took place there. The people would now hear and know that the Lord had spoken, the temple which was the delight of their eyes would be lost to them. Not only that but all those whom they left behind, their sons and daughters and all those who were there. This was a punishment for the disobedience of the people, the Lord had warned them it would be thus (Lev 26:31). 


Yet the people would not weep or mourn just as Ezekiel had not wept or mourned, not because they did not want to but it was because of judgment that had come was just, it would be a confirmation to the judgment that they had refused to accept and believe. The history of the nation of Israel had ended, they had been rejected by the Lord their God because they had rejected him. There would be no mourning because it was the just judgment of the Lord God himself. 


Ezekiel lost his wife, he knew the pain of that, each soul is the Lord’s and it is his to give and take away. There are lot’s of times we struggle with the question why that comes as a result. The Lord though does not promise that we’re all going to live to a ripe old age, avoid ill health and heartache, he doesn’t say come to me and you’ll avoid such things but he does promise to deal with sin and that for all who come to him this is the only hell they will ever experience and will spend eternity with him where sin is no more. To have this hope we must turn from our sin, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, the only way to the Father, the one who has prepared a place for all who trust in him (Jn 14:1-6)


Ezekiel paid a high price for obedience to the Lord, and there is a cost for us in follow the Lord, for some the cost will be greater than others, for many they have been martyrs, many have lost family and friends, many have experienced persecution and pain, while we may not face such there is a cost in obedience. A cost that will be seen in our lives, as we live not according to our wants our wishes but according to the will of the Lord our God through Jesus Christ. 


If we think the cost is too great then remember the cost of our salvation, so that we would be made right with God, it was at the cost of his own son who laid his life down for us, who took the wrath that we deserve so that we who are his enemies might become heirs with Christ. The turning point in the days of Ezekiel was that God’s poured out his wrath, the turning point in the history of redemption is that he poured out his wrath on the only begotten son. If the cost to following him is to great know the eternal price you will pay is this is the only heaven you will ever know. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q19 What is the misery of that estate whereinto man fell?
All mankind by their fall lost communion with God, are under his wrath and curse, and so made liable to all miseries in this life, to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever.
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27th February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20v1-21)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


On Tuesday we considered the second commandment which calls us to shun the making of any carved images which we will end up bowing down to in worship. That seems straightforward enough and most of us could probably say that we have never done such a thing. But is that all there is to it? Can we move on?


Our Larger Catechism helps us once again by outlining for us the duties required in the second commandment. The answer to Q108 states “The duties required in the second commandment are, the receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship and ordinances as God hath instituted in his Word; particularly prayer and thanksgiving in the name of Christ; the reading, preaching, and hearing of the Word; the administration and receiving of the sacraments; church government and discipline; the ministry and maintenance thereof; religious fasting; swearing by the name of God, and vowing unto him: as also the disapproving, detesting, opposing, all false worship; and, according to each one’s place and calling, removing it, and all monuments of idolatry.”


Many words once more but allow me to paraphrase them. The second commandment requires us to strive for purity in worship and to oppose all that is false. What is pure worship? God tells us in His Word. We have not worshipped rightly without prayer and thanksgiving in Christ’s name. Our worship is lacking if the Word is not read, preached and heard. We do well by observing the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. A fellowship that is structured according to Scripture brings glory to God and a church which takes seriously church discipline is a blessing to God’s people. There may also be appropriate times of fasting and calling upon the Lord as well as vows made unto God.


If this is pure worship then we must disapprove of anything which falls short. The worship of the Lord is a serious business and it is not our place to tell Him what He should like. Therefore if the love of preaching has disappeared from our church we must strive to correct this error, if we no longer come to the Lord’s Table because we don’t want to make visitors feel awkward we must repent of our sin and if the statue of Jesus in our graveyard has become a place for prayer and even if not, it must be torn down.


When the Lord called upon us not to make any carved images He was declaring the terms on which He was to be worshipped. Our innovations might come from a good place but the Lord is only worshipped rightly when He is worshipped according to His Word. This is the duty required by the second commandment - may we not be found wanting.  


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q18 Wherein consists the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of his whole nature, which is commonly called original sin; together with all actual transgressions which proceed from it.
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26th February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Ezekiel 24 focus v6-14)


Message (Alan Burke)


When we were young I doubt we thought too much about getting old, about how the strength of our hand would fail, we thought life would always be this way. It is hard to imagine things that we aren’t facing ourselves but time marches on and things don’t stay as they were when we were young. We can all make assumptions like this. The people of God had made an assumption that they were as safe, why because of the walls of Jerusalem that surrounded them. In addition the people were confident in the promises of the Lord, that they would be fine because they were his chosen people and the Lord had promised that one of David’s sons would rule forever (2 Sam 11-16). They ignored their sin and were deaf to the warnings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. Here the judgement is coming and the Lord as he gives it in parables speaks of the cooking pot that they themselves had used to speak of their security. 


But as the Sovereign Lord speaks again it is that of Woe, woe to the city of bloodshed. Jerusalem was called thus by the Lord for the moral and ritual abominations that it had done in the sight of the Lord. The Lord is now making it clear that this is about them.


The pot that had been placed on the fire was now left encrusted, there was no rescuing the pot. Like if you leave a pot on the hob for too long without any water on it would be a mess, but this cooking pot had the burnt remains of what was in it. What seemed like a sacrificial meal that was to be enjoyed is now fit for nothing but to be thrown out, it has been spoiled and unable to be salvaged. It would be emptied piece by piece, figuratively speaking of what would happen once the siege had ended, no lots would be cast because it was worth nothing but to be thrown out, and when emptied the pot it was still an encrusted mess, worthless and unusable.  If the people had missed what the Lord was saying through Ezekiel, it is now made clear in v9-12. The imagery returns to the cooking pot but the cooking pot is the city of bloodshed, Jerusalem. The Lord is the one who would pile the wood high, heap the wood, kindle the fire. The contents of the pot were charred, and then poured on the fire. Showing that there was no hope for Jerusalem and its inhabitants because of their moral and ritual abominations, then destruction was certain.


The pot in effect had been put in a furnace by the hand of the Lord, like a crucible in a refiners fire, so that the impurities would be removed. But the pot has frustrated all efforts of being refined, even the heavy deposits were not removed even by fire. What this is referring to is that Lord had began this refining his people with the first exile when his people were deported in 605BC then it happened again in 597 BC and now in 587 the Lord had had enough. In the 18 years that had passed since the cleansing had began the people were obstinate in their sin, they would not turn from moral and ritual abominations. The defilement of his people was such because of their moral and ritual abominations that the deposits on the pot had not removed. 


Then in v13-14 the Lord lays out that their impurity is lewdness, but it is more, the Hebrew word has many meanings, crime, evil, immorality, wickedness. You could sum it up by sing because of their sinfulness, its corruption and how the Lord had tried to turn them from it yet they would not turn then his wrath had come upon them. Their confidence had been where they dwelt, in who they were, in promises they had not understood not in the Lord and so they would face woe, they would face his wrath until it had subsided. Their time of judgement had come, he would not have pity, he would not relent, they would be judged  according to your conduct and your actions, declares the Sovereign Lord. 


They had ignored the warnings given by the Lord God. The Lord through Peter gives us a warning of how; …in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” (2 Pe 3:3–4). Judgement is coming. The Lord had been patient with his people, he was long-suffering but no more, his patients had run out. The Lord is long suffering towards us but there is a day coming, repent now while it is the day of salvation, the people of God though there would be many more days but the day of his wrath was upon them, today it may be upon you and all of us should know that the day of the Lord’s judgement will come like a thief in the night (1 Thes 5:2). And when it does the fire of the wrath of God will come. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q17 Into what estate did the fall bring mankind?
The fall brought mankind into an estate of sin and misery.
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25th February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20v1-21)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


What is the second commandment? It is “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20v4-6)


Images are powerful things which have a tendency to capture our minds once they enter. What do I mean? Who can forget the image of a protestor in Tiananmen Square standing bravely in front of an onrushing tank or the flames pouring from the World Trade Centre in the seconds after another plane crashed into the side of the building or the mangled wreckage of Princess Diana’s car as it was removed from a Paris tunnel?


Images are indeed powerful and in the second commandment the Lord commands us to not give ourselves to the making of images in heaven above or the earth beneath. Does this mean that your grandson’s crayon drawing must be removed from the fridge door? By no means. The Lord concerns Himself in the second commandment with our worship and adoration. As a father knows his child so the Lord knows us. He understands what we are like and He knows that our hearts are easily captured.


You might think you are above all such things but consider your own heart for a moment. Do you remember your frustration when your new car was scratched accidentally in the B&M carpark? What about your anger when granny’s will left more “stuff” to your cousin than you? Or the time you spoke angrily to your granddaughter when she dared touch one of your precious items?


Objects can take over our hearts and we can make images out of mundane things. The Lord warns us against our natural instincts. We are not to be in the business of carving images which we will later worship, we do not need lavishly decorated church buildings in order to be closer to God and we certainly don’t need a painting of Jesus to hang over our bed.


The Israelites had witnessed the Lord’s mighty work and yet they quickly set about shaping a golden calf. Brothers and sisters, be careful of your heart, it is easily captured by the visual and objects can sometimes claim a place they do not deserve. One day our faith will be turned to sight, in the meantime do not make any graven images.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q16 Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression? The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.
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24th February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Ezekiel 24 focus v1-5)


Message (Alan Burke) 


In what seems like a lifetime ago I use to be an assistant in a church in Larne. I’d make the journey every day and there was a man that could be seen standing at the side of the dual carriageway on the way into Larne warning all who approached. He had it on a hi-vis jacket that could be easily read as you drove past. If my memory serves me right the warning or rather the message on his hi-vis jacket was “Ye Must Be Born Again”. He was trying to share the truth of the gospel where he was. The best effort I’ve ever seen was back in 2000 when traveling in the US someone had a billboard on their lawn that said “The wages of sin is death, repent before payday”. In my time in the east I use to get the bus past Albert bridge Congregational which had Jesus said “Ye must be born again” and Albert Bridge Gospel hall was covered in verses. We have all seen messages like that dotted around the province and most people are so accustomed to the message that they filter it out. Ezekiel had been warning the people of the coming judgment, of the necessity of repenting so that they may live for six years but the people had ignored the message and as we pick up today in chapter 24 the promised judgement was upon them. 


They had dismissed the coming judgement of the Lord in a sense as nothing but a fairy story, but the Lord's judgement was real and they would face it. Here the Lord gives three parables through the prophet and it is that of a cooking pot. The people had been full of self assured confidence, not only because they were the people of God but also during Zedekiah’s reign they had upgraded the fortifications of the city. In chapter 11v3 we are told;  3 They say, ‘Will it not soon be time to build houses? This city is a cooking pot, and we are the meat.’ Eze 11:3. What they were saying is that they were as safe, why because of the walls of Jerusalem that surrounded them. 113 years earlier the walls had withstood the attack of the Assyrians and had since been upgraded (2 King 18:17-19:36). In addition the people were confident in the promises of the Lord, that they would be fine because they were his chosen people and the Lord had promised that one of David’s sons would rule forever (2 Sam 11-16). 


They were deaf to the warnings of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they thought of themselves as a crucial part of the plans of God and their confidence was an arrogance. Now though the judgment was upon them. This first parable they would have interpreted positively but what was to come wouldn’t allow for that, they were secure and that he would protect them in spite of their sin. 


The imagery is of a pot being placed on the fire, with choicest pieces of meat. Normally cooking pots were made of clay but this pot was made of copper as v11 makes clear. So the pot is there, filled with the choices meat sitting on the fire, brought to the boil and cooked. The pick of the flock alludes to an animal without spot or blemish. This is the kind of animal that the Lord required to be sacrificed by his people, not only is it the choice pieces but the best of the bones. This is a sacrificial meal, one that would have been enjoyed, something akin to a fellowship offering. They would have seen themselves as the pick of the flock for they were not taken in the exile. At this stage it is not told to the people that Jerusalem is what is meant by the oracle that has been given by the Lord. But as chapter 24 continues it is clear that Jerusalem is facing the judgment of the Lord. 


There is a warning to us as the people of God in this, if we know and love the Lord, if you have repented and believed then know your sin still matters to God. His people assumed that their sin did not matter, that the Lord would see them safe, that they need not to worry because the Lord needed them to fulfil his promises. But let’s be clear, sin matters to the Lord, we cannot expect the blessing of the Lord if we ignore our sin, if we dismiss it, if we belittle it, —- Romans 6 “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?” (Ro 6:1–2). For all those who love the Lord they want to sin no more.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q15 What was the sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein they were created?
The sin whereby our first parents fell from the estate wherein thy were created, was their eating the forbidden fruit.
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22nd February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20v1-21)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


I grew up in East Belfast during the 1980s and was very aware that I was a Protestant. I had no real idea of what that meant but I was sure that I was right and I was a good solid Prod. It might therefore surprise you that in my family home we had multiple smiling buddhas. They were little ornaments that sat around the house and I think that’s all they were. None of us were buddhist and the little ornaments were purely for decoration. I have no idea what happened to them but they weren’t brought to Ballynahinch and for that I am glad.


The Ten Commandments leave us no room for idols on the mantle piece or in our hearts. What is forbidden in the first commandment? The WLC answers “The sins forbidden in the first commandment are atheism, in denying, or not having a God; idolatry, in having or worshiping more gods than one, or any with, or instead of the true God; the not having and avouching him for God, and our God; the omission or neglect of any thing due to him, required in this commandment; ignorance, forgetfulness, misapprehensions, false opinions, unworthy and wicked thoughts of him; bold and curious searching into his secrets; all profaneness, hatred of God; self-love, self-seeking, and all other inordinate and immoderate setting of our mind, will, or affections upon other things, and taking them off from him in whole or in part; vain credulity, unbelief, heresy, misbelief, distrust, despair, incorrigibleness, and insensibleness under judgments; hardness of heart; pride; presumption; carnal security; tempting of God; using unlawful means, and trusting in lawful means; carnal delights and joys; corrupt, blind, and indiscreet zeal; lukewarmness, and deadness in the things of God; estranging ourselves, and apostatizing from God; praying, or giving any religious worship, to saints, angels, or any other creatures; all compacts and consulting with the devil, and hearkening to his suggestions; making men the lords of our faith and conscience; slighting and despising God and his commands; resisting and grieving of his Spirit, discontent and impatience at his dispensations, charging him foolishly for the evils he inflicts on us; and ascribing the praise of any good we either are, have, or can do, to fortune, idols, ourselves, or any other creature.”


That was a big paragraph but well worth our time and attention. Atheism which denies the existence of God must go. We cannot worship the Lord and also give our adoration to other so called gods. Wicked thoughts about the Lord must not be allowed to stand. Turning our backs on the Lord  (apostatising) breaks the first commandment and praying to anyone or anything other than Almighty God is prohibited - you should not pray to your “guardian angel” nor should you ask Saint Christopher for protection on your travels. Having a favourite Christian teacher who becomes the lord of our faith and conscience is outlawed and stamping our feet when God’s ways are not our ways is not a path we should not walk.


Brothers and sisters, as we consider these things I think we realise the foolishness of those who boldly claim successful obedience to the whole Ten Commandments. The law is rightly used when it shows us our sin and causes us to run to Jesus. How often have I neglected my duty before God! How often have I failed to trust Him! How often have I sought to put Him to the test!


In response to the first commandment let us pray, “Father God, we thank you for the obedience of Christ, without it we would be lost. Jesus had no other gods before your face and we ask that you would keep us from idols, unbelief and all manner of false gods. When we are at our best we are unprofitable servants only doing our duty but even so Lord God, sanctify us and keep us from all sin not least against your first commandment. May we have no other gods before your face. For Christ’s sake, amen.” 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q14 What is sin? Sin is any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God.
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21st February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Genesis 2:17, ch3 and Hebrews 2:14-18)


Message (Alan Burke)


Maybe you have watched the film Braveheart, that moment in the film where William Wallace portrayed by Mel Gibson gives a stirring speech to the assembled armies, saying that “…you have come to fight as free men and free men you are, what will you do with that freedom, will you fight”. And then… “They may take our lives but they may never take our freedom.” People talk a lot about freedom, the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants. Freedom is the condition of being free, and I am free to walk round Crossgar running a key down the side of every car I fancy leaving a big scratch. 


The truth is though man, humanity, people, the human race what ever way you want to put it, the truth is that none of us are born free, you may be thinking but isn’t this a free country, we are all free if we wanted to go jump on car roofs, there would be consequences of course but we are free, aren’t we? No we are not free biblically speaking. Each and everyone of us, whether we like to accept the truth are not are born as slaves to sin, we from the moment of conception were sinners (see amongst others Rom 6-8, also Jesus words Jn. 8:34 and 1 Jn 1:10). 


But there was a time in human history where people could be described in the truest sense as being free, having true freedom and that was our first parents Adam and Eve. The one thing that God asked for was obedience (Gen 2:17). God here entered into a covenant of life with Adam also known as the covenant of works, basically if Adam obeyed he would live. The covenant obligations for Adam was simply not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For when he would eat of it he would surely die. The death that God spoke of here was a warning to Adam that the consequence was that of physical as well as spiritual and eternal. 


They were free, not like William Wallace shouting freedom in the film, in reality we don’t know if the real William Wallace said anything of the sort, it not the freedom I have to walk round Crossgar running a key down the side of every car I fancy leaving a big scratch, because the truth is that because of what happened, none of us are free we are slaves to sin. Whereas Adam and Eve were completely free to choose, to either to obey or disobey, God gave our first parents Adam and Eve the ability to choose with absolute freedom of will, God invited man to accept his word, It was not thrust upon him. 


They had the liberty, the freedom to follow the path of obedience that led to life, or the path of disobedience that led to death, they were truly free, they could not be forced to obedience or disobedience, this was the condition that they were made by God and the Devil could not force them do to what he wanted them to do, he could only tempt them. He could only speak to them to persuade them tot do what he wanted them to do out of their own desire. Adam disobeyed, he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (3:6) and death came. First spiritual death which we see in Genesis 3:8-10 for Adam that day died spiritually, hiding himself from God, no longer was their relationship, their was alienation, strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Eph 2:12). Adam and Eve had become the living dead. The relationship now ruined, had brought alienation, no longer could man enter the presence of God. While Adam and Eve were still physically alive death would come (3:19), he would return to the dust of the ground. 


In once sense it seems utterly hopeless, our first parents left the entire creation in a mess, the fall had come, if we look at the world around us, or even examine ourselves in an honest light, all the injustice, pain, suffering, sin, and evil can be traced back to this single moment in history. This single moment when God's creation was transformed from being "very good" to being utterly ruined. But in the midst of all of this, God preached the gospel to the Devil there in the garden of one who would come to crush his head, while he would only bruise his heal (Gen 3:15). There was hope even though we became the living dead, a hope in the one who would come. Hebrews 2 reminds us  “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil”. (Heb 2:14). Thanks be to our gracious God for the salvation he has brought.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


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Q13 Did our first parents continue in the estate wherein they were created?
Our first parents, being left to the freedom of their own will, fell from the estate wherein they were created, by sinning against God.
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20th February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20v1-21)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


Can I ask you a personal question? Does the Westminster Larger Catechism (WLC) play any part in your Christian walk? No? That’s okay. No judgement here. But can I gently suggest it becomes part of your devotional life? The attention the WLC gives to the Ten Commandments is abundantly helpful for us. We can incorrectly look at the commandments and see a list of easily achievable standards. Instead of running to Jesus we then rest in our own arrogance believing that we have mastered God’s moral law. If I’m ever tempted to believe in my own greatness, I read the WLC and realise anew just how far short I fall. Even on my best day I am but an unprofitable servant.


Question 104 of the WLC asks “What are the duties required in the first commandment?” To which we might reply “Well I don’t worship any false gods and I didn’t buy that smiling buddha in Dobbies.” But here is the answer as given by the WLC “The duties required in the first commandment are, the knowing and acknowledging of God to be the only true God, and our God; and to worship and glorify him accordingly, by thinking, meditating, remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing of him; believing him; trusting, hoping, delighting, rejoicing in him; being zealous for him; calling upon him; giving all praise and thanks, and yielding all obedience and submission to him with the whole man; being careful in all things to please him, and sorrowful when in anything he is offended; and walking humbly with him.”


Do you see the scale of what we owe to God? We are to know Him and worship Him accordingly. He is to be at the forefront of our minds and He is to shape every aspect of our lives. We are to be zealous for the Lord, obedient unto Him, quick to repent and humble in our walk. There is so much more to the first commandment than we have previously thought. I think we can describe our right response as the fear of the Lord. This doesn’t mean that we run away from God as if He is a monstrous tyrant. Instead the fear of the Lord is as the WLC states, “remembering, highly esteeming, honoring, adoring, choosing, loving, desiring, fearing” Him.


I’m tired of being a man who always believes that I’ll get around to things tomorrow. I’ll read those books tomorrow. I’ll be a better husband tomorrow. I’ll get back to the gym tomorrow. I am an unprofitable servant but even so, I want to walk rightly before the Lord in thankful fear with no other gods before His face. When? Tomorrow? By no means. May I (and you) know the work of the Holy Spirit as He cleanses us from our nonsense and works righteousness in us. When? If not now, then when?


Pray (acTS)


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Q12 What special act of providence did God exercise toward man in the estate wherein he was created? When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him, upon condition of perfect obedience; forbidding him to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, upon the pain of death.
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19th February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Hebrews 1:3, Genesis 45:5 and Acts 1:16)


Message (Alan Burke)


We all try to make plans, we like to know what we are doing and prepare for every eventuality. Boys if any of are boy scouts then you will know the boy Scout motto, ‘Be Prepared’. Most of us have heard of it, ‘Be Prepared’. It’s something we all do without really thinking of it, we try to be prepared. Think of how you have the spare tyre in the car, that means you are prepared in case you get a puncture. Or all the back up files for things that are stored on our computers, the treasured photos that we make sure there are multiple copies off. Even the fire blankets we have in our kitchens, the fire extinguishers that are dotted around many buildings. None of us can be sure of what is going to happen so we prepare for the unknown. None of us know, but God does!


Today as we think of God’s works of providence I want you to imagine that you have just built a house, you have got the carpets down, every room is decorated, the garden looks lovely. Does it stay like that? No. It doesn’t take long before the dishes are stacked beside the sink, the hob needs cleaned, the oven has cheese burnt to the bottom of it after you made yourself cheese on toast, the dust starts to gather, you start to see the cobwebs, then the kids draw on the walls, the grass starts to grow, things break with wear and tear. You don’t just stop when the house is built you have to give it continual care to keep it. 


What is God’s providence? God’s providence is his continual care and direction over all that he has created, just as we continue to care for our homes the Lord God continues to care for his creation. And he does this in two ways. Firstly he preserves all that he has made secondly he governs all that he has made. Hebrews 1:3 speaks of how he preserves all that he has made. V1-2 is a summary of the person and work of the Lord Jesus and then in verse three, we are reminded how He, the Lord Jesus Christ, upholds all by the word of his power. The thrust of what is being said here is not only that God though the his Son create the world but that he sustains it, he upholds the world, he preserves the world, he maintains, helps, protects, sustains it all. Secondly He governs all that he has made Genesis 45:5, Acts 1:16. 


God governs all creatures, actions, and things from the greatest to the least, all his creatures, and all their actions. What this means is that the Lord God is in control of everything, everything that happens in whatever situation we find ourselves in, This is the Bible’s clear teaching that God governs all his creatures and their actions from beginning to end. We see that in Genesis 45:5. We are all familiar with the story of Jospeh, while the jealously of his brothers was manifested in how they not only conspired to sell Jospeh into slavery God sent him ahead of them, God sent him to Egypt not them. Another striking example of God’s governing is found in Act’s chapter 1:16. We all know how Judas’ betrayed our Lord and Saviour, for thirty pieces of silver, but at the same time it was according to Scripture. God is governing of all creatures, and their actions from the greatest to the least. God ordains the means as well as the ends of human events without violating human freedom and responsibility. He ordained the death of His Son our Saviour so that we who are sinners might become his very children, in his providence he uses the actions of sinful people for his Glory and his purposes. 


His providence does not only include good and pleasant things but things that are far from good and pleasant, in his holy, wise and powerful way, he governs all. This is one of the hardest concepts to understand, much less accept, is the absolute sovereignty of God. He is not only King of all kings. He is Ruler over every molecule, every quantum of energy, every event, and every outcome. He governs all the nations of the earth whether they recognise His rule over them or not, to direct and guide them for His purposes for history in Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:9-10; Psa. 67:4; Prov. 16:9).


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q11 What are God’ s works of providence?
God’ s works of providence are, his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving, and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. 
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18th February 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 20v1-21)


Message (Scott Woodburn)


I have done my best to outline the vast importance of Christ’s active and passive obedience. Why? Because the Christian should never believe that they are saved or stay in God’s good books by their works. We are called to follow the Lord and obey Him but we should never rest on the quality of our works. The child of God is justified by their faith in Christ and His obedience should be the pillar of our Christian walk.


Even so, we move from guilt to grace and then gratitude. As I often say, our daily cry should be Soli Leo Gloria, to God alone the glory. But what does the everyday Christian life look like? You’ll probably be sick of hearing me say that the Christian life for the average believer isn’t one that is filled with mission teams and victorious moments. The ordinary Christian will wake and be called to love their family and go to a job that perhaps they hate. The highlight of a Christian’s week might simply be a Friday doughnut and a nice lie in on Saturday.


Nevertheless, each Christian is called to follow the Lord in thankful gratitude which flows from the Gospel of grace and in this the moral law of God is of much use. Where do we find God’s moral law? It is outlined in the Ten Commandments. There isn’t a Christian who will keep the commandments perfectly and they are not a path to salvation. Instead the law shows us our sin and God’s holiness, it acts as a restraint to sin and it shows us what pleases the Lord.


Therefore, as we remain thankful for the obedience of Christ and as our guilt drives us to the grace of God from which flows our gratitude, we would do well to meditate upon God’s “ten words” with the first commandment declaring you shall have no other gods before the Lord God Almighty (v3).


We may never bow before a wooden statue and we have no intention of converting to a false religion but we are exceptionally good at flaunting other “gods” before the face of the Lord. Like what? As Christians we can often value our career more than the Lord, we declare that family comes first and sometimes we look in the mirror and see ourselves as the supreme being of the universe. None of this is good. There have been moments in my life where I have acted like an atheist in all but name. I praise God on Sunday morning but act like He doesn’t exist the rest of the week. I tell myself that I’m able to cope, I’m wiser than all and I am in complete control of my destiny. I am a practical atheist, I am a fool. God have mercy.


It is the Lord who has taken us from slavery and set us free (v2) and therefore we owe the Lord much more than an hour’s half hearted praise on a Sunday morning. Brothers and sisters, we are guilty of bringing other “gods” before the face of the Lord. May we turn to Him for grace and tear down the idols that crowd our hearts. In gratitude may we respond rightly to the Lord who declares “you shall have no other gods before me.”    


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC


Q10 How did God create man? God created man male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures.
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