Elmwood United
Reformed Church
Sunday 2nd August 2020
"God is my Father"
Welcome: Claude
Call to Worship: Heather
Song "Abba Father"
Prayers: Herman
The Lord’s Prayer: Herman Jnr
Song "There is a Redeemer"
Bible Reading: Genesis 2:7-9, 15-18, 25, 3:1-13, 21-23
Read by Nigel
A condense version of Adam and Eve story taken from Genesis Chapter two.
The Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it commanding the man, not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
18 The Lord God decide it was not good for the man to be alone so he made him a helper
Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
the Lord God had made the serpent who was more crafty than any of the wild animals. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, apart from the fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, else we will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said, “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
When Adam and Eve heard the Lord God walking in the garden they hid. The Lord God called to Adam, “Where are you?”
Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
“Who told you that you were naked? The Lord God asked, Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
Adam replied, “Eve gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to Eve, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me into eating it.”
The Lord God made garments for Adam and his wife and clothed them, then exiled them from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
Song: All I Once Held Dear
Bible Reading John 15:5-17 Cynthia
John 15:5 -17 from the NIV Bible
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.
Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.
Talk We can say, "God is my Father" - bringing the two passages together, led by Nigel
John 14:19-20 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
Amazing, because of Jesus we are at one with him and with The Lord God our Father
Yet who can really call God, Father?’ And how do we know who they are?
Well my own view is they are Christian and a Christian is:-
Someone who follows Jesus and is always trying to put a smile on his face.
I know this is far too simplistic and has far too many theological holes
Yet within those words to be a follower of Jesus we must have made him our Lord
We believe He was and is God’s Son who The Way, The Truth and The Life
And to put a smile onto God face, we have to follow his commands
We know Jesus’ Father made his relationship with us when creating mankind
This is why we start by looking at the Adam and Eve Story
In telling Adam not to eat the tree’s fruit before he ate surely this means
Adam was created able to make choices thereby knowing that something’s were wrong
When God asked, “Where are you?”, and, “who told you were naked”?
This tells us God does not interfere with our freewill and expects us to keep to his ways.
What is this story telling us about mankind’s relationship with God?
First we were created by him and made as social animals needing to care for each other
We should be proud of our bodies, designed and formed by our Creator and Father
The relationship between a man and woman should make them as one
Second we have a purpose – caring for his creation that is we have work to do
Work is part of our natural existence, to eat and live we have to work
Third we ought to have a personal relationship with God.
Meet with him, talk with him and love him and let him guide us to live to his ways.
Fourth we have choices to make,
Our Father allows us the freedom to live without the desire to control us
We are given Freewill – That is to do what God wants us to do or disobey him
As God’s children we have a responsibility to our Creator to live to his purpose
For we now know there is good and evil and we have to choose accordingly
We will be tempted to do things that seem good for us but are not
Both women and men are easily persuaded to do the wrong thing
Fifth there will be a judgement on each of us in how we live our lives
We don’t like to admit our mistakes and like to blame others
We are wilful and desire knowledge and wisdom beyond that that we need
In how we live they will be consequences for we will be judged.
When Adam and Eve were being sent away God still cared enough about them
He gave them clothes to ensure that they survived
But he also said,’ The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil
Surely this would mean his companions, let’s call them angels
Would be able to choose to do good or evil and in doing so influence us to follow them
And so Satan the tempter more easily comes into focus
For me the story of creation is a parable to explain to a society some 3,000 years ago
That had limited knowledge of science and of God wanting to show his fatherhood.
That we all have choices to make in the freewill we have been given
That we will be tempted by spiritual forces to do both good or evil
So as God created everyone does that mean everyone can call God their Father?
We come now to God’s very own Son, Jesus, who was sent to tell us the truth
To be the way to know God and by accepting him join him in his home
To give us eternal life so we can eat the fruit that was denied Adam
To do this we look the words of Jesus when tells us, ‘I am the true Vine’
We are his branches, an extension of him and by living in him he will live is us
Not by us but in us, his thought, his ways helping us to know him and be like him
For then will want to do the things that Jesus would want us to do
We have been given the gift of God’s own Spirit to help us
And in doing so we will achieve many things that will please Our Heavenly Father
And when we don’t it is Jesus’ forgiveness that allows us to be his brothers and sisters
Jesus tells us, to remain in his love, and he then tells us how to remain in his love,
We do it by keeping to his commands. So it not what we do it is why we do it.
Just as he kept his Father’s commands and remained in his love.
He commands us to Love each other as he loved us
We are his followers, those that are within the vine, his brothers and sisters
A group of people who are sharing their love of him with one another.
Jesus tells us he knows who his True Disciples are and those who are not
Mat 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name
and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
So what makes a Christian? Someone who can truly call Jesus Lord
Who honours Jesus as the Son of The Father and who honours The Father
And How do we Honour The Father and Jesus his Son?
By carrying out his commands because you love them. This is the Why we do things
We Love the Lord God with all our Heart, mind, soul and strength loving others as ourselves
How do we show our love in our relationships including to Our Father in Heaven
My wife complained I didn’t by her flowers so I bought her some and I got a smile
I gave her some flowers the other day simply to say I love you and I got a big hug
I’ve heard people say I’m praying about what God wants me to do
Well my wife would tell me to just do what my heart tells me,
We have been given free will to decide how we live and what we do
Don’t wait to be told what to do, just do it, to show the love you have.
In showing our love we can’t get it wrong,
What makes us a Christian is in Making Jesus Lord of our life
Doing those thing that put a smile on his face
We have an inner spirit that Jesus knows us by
It is Jesus who makes that final decision if we are his follower.
And in him doing so, we can then truly call God our Father
O Lord Hear My Prayer
Prayers of Intercession: Claude
Song: I The lord of Sea and Sky
Final Blessing: Claude