30th August 2025 


Pray (ACts) 
Read (Hebrews 11v31) 
Message (Scott Woodburn) 
If your granny was a prostitute I suspect you'd do everything in your power to avoid discussing her profession. The Apostle had no such concerns when it came to telling the story of Rahab. She too was a woman of faith and without beating about the bush, Paul calls her "Rahab the prostitute". 
What was the story behind this? Joshua had sent out spies to find out as much as they could about the land and especially the city of Jericho (Joshua 2). Unfortunately the king of Jericho heard about Joshua's spies and sought to find the men and kill them. The spies had been lodging with Rahab but instead of handing her lodgers over to be killed, Rahab hid the spies on her roof. She went further still by telling the king that the spies had already left and that he should pursue them quickly. 
Rahab saved the life of the spies and she bought them time so that they could escape back to Joshua. Rahab was not an Israelite, she had not escaped from Egypt, she hadn't followed Moses and she had not travelled with Joshua. Why would this woman act the way she did? Remarkably, she had heard about the Lord and had come to believe in God's promises. Rahab was a woman of faith. 
Here is the whole story from her own mouth “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you, for the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. Now then, please swear to me by the Lord that, as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will deal kindly with my father's house, and give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.” (Joshua 2v9-13) 
When Jericho was destroyed Rahab and her family were kept safe. The spies suggested she hung a scarlet cord from her window which acted as a sign that she and her family were not to be hurt. Later she lived among the people of Israel in the promised land (Joshua 6v25). But don't be mistaken - Rahab wasn't a stranger, she was a woman of faith. 
In Matthew's Gospel we are told that her husband was called Salmon and their son was called Boaz (Matthew 1v5). We meet Boaz in the book of Ruth and just as his own mother had once been a stranger, Boaz treats another stranger called Ruth with kindness. Years later this family appear in the genealogy of Christ and we surely remember that the one who trusts in Jesus will never be put to shame. 
Christ didn't die to make good people better - the Gospel is life saving medicine for terminally ill sinners. Your granny may not have been a prostitute but she was a sinner. You may be seen as a fine upstanding member of your community but you are still a sinner. Who can be saved? Any and all who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sinner, regardless of your past the door to salvation has not been barred against you. Cast down the scarlet cord of repentance and faith and you will be saved.  
Pray (acTS)
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Q61. What is forbidden in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission, or careless performance, of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.
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29th August 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 16:1-36 focus v21-36)


Message (Alan Burke)


Sabbath is a gift to us from God. Here the Lord was teaching his people just that and its necessity. While keeping the food throughout the week would result in it begin full of maggots and smelling, on the six day they were to gather enough for two days because there would be no manna or qual on the seventh. But then the Sabbath comes and v27 some of the people went out to gather but found none. This wasn’t a complicated set of questions, they weren’t expected to be proficient in maths and English or maths and Hebrew and know all their three dimensional shapes, they just needed to trust in the Lord and not go out looking for the Manna. The Lord says to Moses because of the peoples actions, v28 “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? The Lord had tested his people, he was trying to teach them through it that he could be trusted and the need of the Sabbath. None of what here was a big ask but they still couldn’t do it.


Remember where this comes in the book of Exodus, for the Ten Commandments haven’t been given yet by God to his people and there is a reason because the Sabbath is a creation ordinance. What I mean by that is that it was given in creation for the pattern for life, six days to labour and the seventh to rest. For; By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (Ge 2:2–3). From creation, before the law was given God has set apart a day to be observed as a Sabbath. Look to verse 23…23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of rest, a holy Sabbath to the Lord. The day itself is holy. Holy meaning it is set apart, it is concentrated for a purposes and that purpose is to be God’s day. 


What does this mean for us, after all the sabbath to the Jews is our Saturday. For the Christian the Sabbath is no longer a Saturday but on the first day of the week, in Mark’s gospel (16), Luke’s gospel (24) and John’s gospel (20), each one records how Jesus rose on the first day of the week. In Acts 20 we learn how… 7 On the first day of the week they came together to break bread, the first day. Revelation 1:10 speaks of that first day as the Lord’s day (9-11). The sabbath had been on the last day after creation was completed, now the Christian Sabbath is the first day of a new creation, it is the day that we come together as the people of God to worship him, it is the day we set aside as a holy Sabbath rest, and it is a foretaste of the eternal Sabbath rest that awaits all the people of God (Hebrews 4:9-10).


The Lord from the beginning has given his people a sabbath, for our good and his glory. The culture that surrounds us no longer sees the need of a day for rest and worship and if we are honest we prefer to be able to do what we like on the Sabbath, like the Lord is spoiling our fun if we have to actually rest and worship. The Sabbath though was given to bless his people, the Israelites struggled and we struggle with it to, we find it hard to understand, they found it hard to understand, but God himself has given it to us and observes it for it wasn’t only the people that rested on the Sabbath here it was the Lord himself. From Genesis to Revelation God has set aside one day a week as a holy day, for those who do not observe the sabbath the onus is on to justify why from the scriptures, why the sabbath does not matter, why it should no longer observe it. If we do not observe it as such then why? 


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Q 60. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
A. The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy.
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28th August 2025 


Pray (ACts) 
Read (Hebrews 11v29-30) 
Message (Scott Woodburn) 
Have you ever heard the phrase "between a rock and a hard place"? It means that you are caught in a difficult situation with trouble on both sides. For the Israelites who left Egypt the rock was the Red Sea and the hard place was the advancing Egyptian army. On one side was death by drowning and on the other was death by sword, spear and arrow. 
Things were so bad that the Israelites complained to Moses “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” (Exodus 14v11-12) 
It's extraordinary that despite witnessing the plagues, the pass over, the cloud and fiery pillar these people quickly turned to faithlessness. It is incredibly easy to judge them and pretend that we would never make the same mistakes but truth be told we are often just as faithless as the Israelites. 
Despite their pleas Moses was clear “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14v13) 
What followed was yet another miraculous intervention by the Lord. Moses reached out his hand and the Lord sent a strong wind which divided the Red Sea and created a path for the Israelites to safely follow. As the Egyptians gave chase, the Lord commanded Moses to stretch out his hand again. This time the waters returned to their normal position and the Egyptian army was destroyed. 
Forty years later (after much rebellion and wandering) a new generation of Israelites would be called to follow an unorthodox approach. The Lord told them that He had given them the city of Jericho which in turn opened the way to the promised land of Canaan. They wouldn't take the city with military might, instead they were to march around the city walls once a day for six days. Then on the seventh day they were to march around the city walls seven times. Joshua 6 tells the whole story but needless to say the end result was the destruction of the walls and city of Jericho. The people accepted all of this by faith. 
Faith believes God even when the situation seems bleak and faith willingly accepts that our God is able to do stunningly miraculous things. In this faithless generation we would love to see walls falling and seas parting but perhaps you have missed an even greater miracle in your own home? The Lord is able to take a spiritually dead sinner like you and give you a heart of flesh that willingly receives Christ by faith. Without the movement of God, no one would seek Him, no one would want Him and no one would be saved. Instead He tears down the hard walls that surround our hearts and He parts the waters of sin. 
We are recipients of God's miraculous saving grace and yet sadly still often respond with faithlessness. We must repent today of our hard heartedness and eyes which often look back to Egypt. May God forgive us and remind us of His miraculous deeds. In response as exiled pilgrims we fall silent before Him (Exodus 14v13) in faith and fear (Exodus 14v31).  
Pray (acTS)
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Q59. Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?
A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week, ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.
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27th August 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 16:1-36 focus v13-30)


Message (Alan Burke)


The people were hangry, the Lord though provided again miraculously in abundance for his people so that they would know that he is the Lord. The quail came and covered the camp in the evening and dew in the morning that left thin flakes like frost. They called it manna meaning what is it. Look down to v 31, because this was bread like wafers made with honey, they had sweet bread every morning, they might not have had the honey nut cornflakes or the coco pops or Frosties, but this was sweet wafer like bread, some of you are porridge people, every morning, you might add a bit of sugar or salt, but the Lord was providing not just something bland but something enjoyable for the people and it could be baked or boiled. 


This was a gift of God to his people, new every morning, fresh every day, all they are being asked to do is to trust his provision towards them, to learn to trust him, and there is a sense that they should have already learnt but the Lord is patient with them. They were to gather what they needed, keep none of it until the morning. What the Lord was doing in this was testing his people whether or not that they would have faith in his provision and they couldn’t even trust him that he would provide for him.


While they were to only gather what they needed and to eat it all that day they had a backup with all the livestock that they had and had a big BBQ in the wilderness the people or rather some couldn’t even trust the Lord that they would be provided for. Look to what comes in v20, for some paid no attention and kept some of the manna until morning. They couldn’t obey the simple instruction, like if you cant follow the simple things how are you ever going to follow the big stuff, the Lord knew how they would respond before he tested them but still provided. 


For those who kept the food until morning they experienced the consequences. It was full of maggots and began to smell. Again are we so different, maybe we are, maybe you are told something and on the first time you are good at hearing and responding, doing what you are told, sadly though I’m still like I was as a child and many of us are, I find it hard to hear and listen even when I know the consequences. Often we’ve been told, we know and understand but we do our own thing anyway just as the Israelites did. 


God here provides in abundance, he was providing for his people even though they had failed to trust him, that the condition of their hearts known to him, he shows that wherever they are that he will provide for him, he tested them, but it wasn’t so he could point the finger, that he could pounce on them when they failed, no it wasn’t that. God was testing his people to teach his people he could be trusted, the Lord could have given them enough at the beginning of the week to do them but he didn’t, he did it daily, so that they could learn that he would provide for them. And he does the same with us, he tests, gives us trials, puts temptations in our way to help us to learn to trust in him, to shape us to the people he wants us to be. 


In all of this, the daily provision the Lord’s prayer comes to mind. The fourth petition says, give us this day our daily bread. Alright you might have an intolerance to wheat, you might need gluten free, but there Jesus teaches us to pray for our daily bread, it is a physical request not a spiritual request. We are to pray for our daily bread, for what we need. The Israelites were to gather enough for each day and double on the sixth day for the Sabbath and he was teaching his people through it that h would provide for their daily needs, day by day. What we are asking God in this petition is that he would give us those daily necessities for life in this life. But what is more he gives us the only thing we truly need, not the necessities of daily bread but of salvation through his Son.


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Q58. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself.
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26th August 2025 


Pray (ACts) 
Read (Hebrews 11v23-28) 
Message (Scott Woodburn) 
Four hundred years after Abraham came another great figure in the history of redemption called Moses. In Hebrews 11 we are told that Moses' parents were individuals of faith. The Apostle doesn't tell us their names but from the testimony of Exodus we know them to be Amram and Jochebed (Exodus 6v20). They believed in God's covenant promises and as a result they hid their baby boy Moses for three months. 
Why was this necessary? The Israelites were in captivity in Egypt and growing in number each year. In an attempt to keep them under his boot, the Egyptian Pharaoh ordered that all Israelite baby boys were to be killed. Amram and Jochebed knew the promises of God and so feared the Lord more than they feared Pharaoh (v23). The life of Moses was saved and he would providentially become an instrumental figure in God's plan of redemption. 
The faith of his parents was passed down to Moses and even though he grew up as a member of the house of Pharaoh he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter (v24). It would have been so easy for Moses to fit in and become like the Egyptians but instead he chose to be mistreated with the Israelites rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin which cannot last (v25). 
Paul describes this as Moses seeing the "reproach of Christ" as greater wealth than all of Egypt's treasures (v26). What does this mean? "Reproach" means criticism and Christ's reproach came when He took on flesh and willingly submitted Himself to the demands of the Law and finally the cross. He was mocked and scorned and beaten and tried - Christ knew reproach in every way. Moses could have avoided it all. He had been raised in Pharaoh's home and it would have been so easy to become part of Pharaoh's family turning his back on the Israelites and the promises of God. 
Yet Moses was a man of faith and he desired a heavenly reward over and above earthly treasure (v26). He swapped comfort for reproach. Eventually Moses murdered an Egyptian and had to flee but as he ran he wasn't afraid of Pharaoh for in the wilderness he met with the invisible God (v27). 
Moses was keeping the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro when he saw a bush that was burning but not destroyed. From that bush the Lord spoke to Moses and told him "I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3) 
The Lord would send Moses back to Egypt where he would stand against Pharaoh and eventually Moses and the people would sprinkle the blood of lambs over their doorposts so that the Angel of Death would pass over them and not take the life of their firstborn (v28). This event was called "the Passover" and as time moved on the Passover meal would be replaced by the Lord's Supper which the church of Christ still enjoys today. 
The Apostle's treatment of Moses is breathless - in just a few verses the life of this extraordinary man is highlighted and yet so much is left out. There is no mention of the Egyptian plagues, no mention of Moses receiving the law and no mention of Moses striking the rock in the wilderness and water gushing out. Countless books have been written about Moses and endless sermons have been preached. He lived an extraordinary life that is worthy of study and contemplation. 
But what stands out in these verses is the simple truth that Moses was a man of faith who came from a family of faith. Amram and Jochebed defied one of the most powerful men in the world because they feared the Lord much more. Moses shunned the riches and comfort of Egypt because he longed for a reward that was permanent rather than fleeting. To Christian parents and grandparents - show your little ones the inestimable value of faith in Christ. Teach them how special the Lord's Day is. Sing your hearts out alongside them in church. Guide them through the Bible and help them listen to the Word read and especially preached. 
To Christians everywhere - be thankful for those who have walked the path before us. Consider their lives and imitate their ways and never ever forget that everything this world has to offer is fleeting but Christ and His promises are more valuable than gold.  
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Q57. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it.
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25th August 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 16:1-36 focus v1-12)


Message (Alan Burke) 


Have you ever heard of the term hangry? Some of you no doubt will have while others of you may be scratching your head. Hungry is a term that is used to describe when someone is irritable or angry because they have not ate. Maybe you’re one of the kind of people that can last for hours without food or maybe you’re a grazer either way we know from our own experience that we can all get hangry and there are some people in our lives that we know we need that as meal times approach they need to be fed. Today we pick up and the people have God have left Elim where they had a foretaste of what the Lord had ahead of them and they have now gone a little further and they come to the desert of sin. It’s not that it was aptly named because of the sin of the people for it actually has nothing to do with the English word sin rather the desert of sin is called that because it is in the region of Sinai.


Look what they accuse Moses and Aaron off, why they are grumbling, it comes in verse 3, 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” Bitter slavery is what they experienced in Egypt, they cried out to the Lord and they have forgotten that. They long for the pots of meat that they ate, all the food they wanted. Now I can’t imagine that things were that good in Egypt, I doubt their meat pots were filled with all that they could eat, but they are looking back longingly, it would be better in their mind to have died in Egypt. Do we hear just how tragic this is, they are telling Moses and Aaron we’d be better off dead than here or as slaves in Egypt. They were saying that they wished they had never been saved by the Lord.


They had it hard didn’t they? It was so tough for the Israelites in the wilderness, no food, the poor Israelites were starving, it’s not like they left with nothing to eat. Look back to chapter 12:38, do you see what we are told there, not that there was a mixed multitude that went with them but also, do see that, as well as large droves of livestock, both flocks and herds. They had plenty to eat, fried eggs were on the menu, they could make cheese with the milk, they could even have a big BBQ in the wilderness, they could have been filled. 


Their issue was a lack of trust in the Lord. Whenever we grumble as believers, when we complain, we are basically saying God you haven’t done enough for me, what you have given me doesn’t live up to what I expect of you. Our grumbling and complaining can complain about our spouse, our kids, the job that you have, could be any number of things, that show we aren’t content with our lot. Sadly when we are not content, ever grumbling we are showing the condition of our hearts, they are known to the Lord but we are revealing our hearts to others by our attitude. What we need to do is to look to what the Lord has done for us through his Son, the salvation that he has brought us, why are we grumbling when this for us will be the only hell we ever experience and we have something so much better that awaits us where we will dwell with our Lord for all eternity.


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Q56. What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?
A. The reason annexed to the third commandment is, that however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment.
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23rd August 2025


Pray (ACts) 
Read (Hebrews 11v22) 
Message (Scott Woodburn) 
Jacob's son Joseph lived until he was 110 spending the rest of his days in Egypt. Additionally he was blessed by seeing multiple generations of his family. But as each of us knows, death cannot be avoided. Joseph knew that his death was about to arrive and so he spoke words of truth to his brothers. The family at this stage were well settled in Egypt but Joseph reminded them that God’s promise still stood. 
Joseph said “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Joseph had done well in Egypt. The Lord had blessed him with much favour and yet in his bones, Joseph knew that God’s plans for his people would not be fulfilled in the land of the Sphinx. One day God would visit His people in Egypt and bring them home. 
Joseph wouldn’t live to see the glorious day but regardless he looked to it by faith. He made his brothers swear that they wouldn’t leave him in Egypt. After his death he was embalmed and placed in a coffin but one day Jospeh wanted his remains to go to the land of promise. He impressed upon his brothers “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” 
We can only imagine what Joseph’s life was like. The Scriptures paint a vivid picture but our minds are limited and time travel to see for ourselves is impossible. Regardless, we have much in common with Joseph of which we can be sure. Joseph was a man of faith who died without seeing the fulfilment of God’s promises. He died in a foreign land without setting foot in the land of promise ever again. Yet his faith did not waver and he was filled with a righteous anticipation that all things would be as God had promised. 
I have no idea about the when, where or how of my death. I could currently be in the final year of my life or I might see my 100th birthday. Equally, the Lord may return before I breathe my last. As we gaze into the future we do not have all the information but with eyes of faith we can be sure that the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. 
At death we can be sure that our souls will be made perfect and go to be with Christ. During the intermediate state (the time between our death and resurrection) we will know unspeakable joy. At the second coming of Jesus we can be sure that our bodies will be raised imperishable and reunited with our soul. In eternity we can be sure that we will dwell with Christ forever in a world without sin. 
None of this is “pie in the sky” nor should we be pitied for believing idle tales. God has promised and it will be so. Like Joseph, we believe even though we do not yet see in full, but a day is coming when our faith will be turned to sight. Until then we cling to the promises of God. On occasion we will cry “I believe, help my unbelief” (Mark 9v24) but even so the Lord will remain faithful and He will preserve us until we cross the finish line. What a day that will be! We'll be finally home! Come quickly Lord Jesus! 
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Q55. What is forbidden in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known.
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22nd August 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 15:22-27 focus v27)


Message (Alan Burke)


Where we are is in the wilderness, with fickle people who as the end of ch 14 told us they feared the Lord and they believe in the Lord and his servant Moses (14:31) well it’s now three days later, the Lord hadn’t lived up to their expectations and they are grumbling. Moses cries out to the Lord, he answered and the bitter water is made sweet. Now we are told of a decree and law, a state and a rule that the Lord makes for them. Initially here this is to do with the commands and the decrees that he has already given them, to give head to all that he has instructed them. The Passover, the Feast of unleavened bread, the consecration of the first born. The passover and feast of unleavened bread were to be yearly reminders the consecration of the first born would if it hadn’t already happened it would in the coming days where the women who were pregnant gave birth, where the animals gave birth, just because they were saved didn’t mean life didn’t have its normal routines and the people would have to do as the Lord commanded them. 


There is also a future element to this, prophetic element. For it looks to what the Lord would give to his people, for in the future he would give them commands and laws as his people, they would lay out what the Lord required of them and in preparation for that he tells them this now. For later in the book of exodus in chapter 19 when the Israelites arrive at Sinai that the law is given to Israel so what is it here, well it acts prophetically to what the Lord would give his people, the Law that would come at Mount Sinai, obedience to the Lord their God is a non negotiable. 


In all of this the Lord wants his people to hear his voice, to obey it, to be transformed into a holy nation. This transformation involves more than simply being a redeemed people, it means living in response to what the Lord has done. For this is only the first stop on their journey, they would be quick to grumble but the Lord wanted them to carefully listen to his voice, do what is right, pay attention. Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments (Jn 14:15). There are lots of people in this world who call themselves Christians and they might confess him with their lips but they are not living in obedience to him, they are not listing carefully to their voice, they are not paying attention to his command and living to keep his decrees and they are all to quick to grumble. We though are to try to keep his commands, all of them. We are to follow the word of the Lord. 


The Lord had been gracious to his people, they didn’t deserve the salvation that they received, and they grumbled, yet the Lord took them from Marah to Elim. It is a glimpse for them of what is to come, the land flowing with milk and honey. There at Elim the Lord provided his people everything they needed and a foretaste of what was to come. For the believer we live in the now and not yet. We like the Israelites have been saved by our Lord and God all through what he has done. We have been redeemed by Christ Jesus, his blood that was shed for us. And we live between the first advent of Christ and the second advent of Christ when he will come again to judge the living and the dead. When we face Merah, times of bitterness remember only one step along the way, there will be Elim’s but ultimately we are being taken not to the promised land but to glory, to dwell with our heavenly Father in the new heaven and the new earth. There will be many highs and lows along the way in the Christian life but what lies ahead is far better that makes the Eilm’s along the way look like a run down service station in the sticks where you can even get an ice cream on a hot summers day. 


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Q54. What is required in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, word, and works.
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21st August 2025


Pray (ACts) 
Read (Hebrews 11v21) 
Message (Scott Woodburn) 
There will come a day that every one of us will die. I do not state this fact to annoy you or to ruin your day - I state it because it is true and it is essential that we face death by faith. Jacob knew that his day was coming and stressed to his son Joseph that he was not to be buried in Egypt. Jacob wanted to go home to Canaan and be buried in the promised land.  
This in itself was an act of faith. Jacob was away from the land and his family had not yet possessed it but still Jacob wanted to be buried in home soil. He knew in his bones that the Lord would be faithful to His Word and one day the descendants of Israel would inhabit the land of promise. Jacob’s eyes may now have grown dim but they still shone with faith.  
He told Joseph of the promises of God, how the Lord had appeared to him at Luz and promised to multiply his descendants and give them the land as an everlasting possession. Such was his confidence in this promise that Jacob wanted the sons of Joseph to share in it. He claimed Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh as his own and although the land was far away, Joseph’s sons would have a share in it.  
This was a bitter sweet moment. Jacob’s life was coming to a close and he remembered his beloved wife Rachel whose death caused him much sorrow but at the same time he had once believed that he would never see his son again and yet in this moment Joseph and his two sons were at his bedside. Jacob invited his grandsons near to receive a blessing and so Joseph brought his sons to his father with the eldest Manasseh to Jacob’s right and the youngest Ephraim to his left.  
Years before Jacob had also drawn near to his near blind father. In that moment he had used deception to receive the blessing. He had taken matters into his own hands despite the promise of God that the older would serve the younger. There would be no deception in Jacob’s tent, he crossed his hands and laid his right hand on Ephraim and his left hand on Manasseh. 
This displeased Joseph for Manasseh was his firstborn and custom dictated that he should have the place of prominence, but Jacob had come full circle. Gone was the trickery of his youth and now he understood that the ways of the Lord were not our ways. Israel with eyes of faith gazed into the future seeing that Manasseh would be great but his younger brother would be greater still. 
All of this would come to pass. The descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh would be great in number. They would have a share in the land. Joseph’s descendants would have the town of Shechem and he himself would one day be buried there. Every promise of God was yes and amen. It had been a long road for both father and son. Many years of heartache, imprisonment, strife,sadness and death had come upon them both but in this tender scene of blessing we see a mature and wise Jacob (now called Israel) blessing the sons of righteous Joseph. Israel’s life was coming to a close but his tired old eyes were filled with faith. 
Brothers and sisters, each of us will one day die and it is of vital importance that we face it by faith. Israel summed up his life in this way “Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their sojourning.” (Genesis 47v9) 
Perhaps you feel the same? Life has hurt and bitterness creeps upon you. Child of God, may the Lord soften your heart. His ways may seem beyond our comprehension but the Lord is working out His plans in our lives. Every promise of God is yes and amen in Christ and the one who believes in Jesus knows the richest of blessings. Live and die by faith regardless of your troubles for the one who gains Christ, will lose nothing.
Pray (acTS)
Sing
WSC
Q53. Which is the third commandment?
A. The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
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20th August 2025


Pray (ACts)


Read (Exodus 15:22-27 focus v25-26)


Message (Alan Burke)


Many years ago I use to work in a clothes shop in the Maiden city on Ferryquay Street. It was a wee independent shop which has gone the way of the Dodo and been replaced by a Concern Book shop. My boss was one of those guys who was great at customer service, they would come in with their grumbling and usually he would find some way to placate them and as soon as the customer was out the door he’d be cursing their name. Even in customer service where the customer is always right we might be good to someone’s face but when their back is turned it is another thing entirely. As we read this passage before us the actions of Moses are commendable, he doesn’t have grumbling customers but the people of God looking for a drink and instead of doing what they do and grumbling, biting back he cries out to the Lord. It’s hard to do what we know is right when we are getting it in the neck as Moses was. 


The people were taking aim at him even though it was the Lord who had brought them to this place. Notice what Moses does, he didn’t complain, he didn’t grumble back at the unthankful people, he didn’t “say you think you know it all, if you can do a better job you lead everyone”, he could have seen the red mist but he didn’t do what we often do just like the people and grumble right back he instead cried out to the Lord. The People responded with grumbling, Moses responded by crying out to the Lord, he knew that what he needed to do in all was to have faith in the Lord, to look to him to seek his guidance. Moses cried out is reminiscent of how the people cried out because of their slavery in Egypt (Ex 2:23). There the Lord hear the cry of his people and here the Lord heard the cry of Moses in the midst of this. The Lord hears the cries of his people in the midst of what they face, if they are coming to him in faith, looking for his help, he hears and he answers. 


That is just what the Lord does here. For the Lord showed Moses a piece of wood and he threw it the water and it became sweet. Do you remember the first plague the Lord used the staff of Moses to turn the water of the Nile to blood, Moses in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials struck the nile with the staff (Ex 7:20). There is a connection with what is taking place as the people are in the wilderness and what had taken place. You might not see that connection but look down to verse 26, where the Lord warns his people that if they pay attention to him he will not bring what he brought on the Egyptians, the Lord is doing the opposite of what he did to the Egyptians, he is showing his mercy. 


The people had grumbled, Moses cried out to the Lord. So here’s a wee question for you, what is your go to response in this life, grumbling or crying out to the Lord. Are you the kind of person that will be on the telephone giving off about what you’re facing, grumbling about what you don’t like, what has been said to you, or are you crying out to the Lord asking for help for what you’re facing, for help to accept the things you might not like or wisdom to know what to do, are you crying out to the Lord for help for forgive that person for what has been said to you? What is it, your response in this life, grumbling, or crying out to the Lord?


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q52. What are the reasons annexed to the second commandment?
A. The reasons annexed to the second commandment are, God’s sovereignty over us, his propriety in us, and the zeal he hath to his own worship.
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