McPhail Baptist Church

July 12th, 2020

Prelude: "Arioso" (J.S. Bach)

Sue Sparks

Favourite Hymns 

Ernie and Lynda Cox 

 Come, Let us Praise The Lord

Come, let us praise the Lord, with joy our God acclaim,

His greatness tell abroad and bless his saving name.

Lift high your songs,

Before his throne to whom alone all praise belongs. 

Our God o matchless worth, our King beyond compare,

The deepest bounds of earth, the hills, are in his care.

He all decrees,

Who by his hand prepared the land and formed the seas.

Come, hear his voice today, receive what love imparts;

His holy will obey and harden not your hearts,

His ways are best;

And lead at last, all troubles past, to perfect rest.

The Summer Days Are Come Again

The summer days are come again; once more the glad earth yields,

Her golden wealth of ripening grain, and breath of clover fields,

And deepening shade of summer woods, and glow of summer air,

And winging thoughts, and happy moods of love and joy and prayer. 

The summer days are come again; the birds are on the wing;

God’s praises, in their loving strain, unconsciously they sing.

We know who giveth all the good that doth our cup o’er-brim;

For summer joy in field and wood we lift our song to Him. 

He Leadeth Me, O Blessed Thought

He leadeth me, O blessed thought, O words with heavenly comfort fraught!

Whate’er I do, where’re I be, still ‘tis God’s hand that leadeth me. 

Refrain: 

He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me!

His faithful follower I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me. 

And when my task on earth is done, when by thy grace the victory’s won,

E’en death’s cold wave I will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me. 

"The Yellow Secret" 

Rev. Steve Zink

“Jesus is Lord”

 (Rom 10:9)

Print Version of "The Yellow Secret"

Special Music: "Great is Thy Faithfulness"

Terri-Ann Wint and Ernie Cox

_________________________________________________________________________

Luke 7:26-50  (RSV)
36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
40 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”


2 Corinthians 13:14  (NIV)

14 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

_______________________________________________________________________

"A Defining Benediction"

Rev. Ernie Cox

G.K.Chesterton once made the observation that if you ever happened to find yourself in the position of having to rent a room from a landlady, it would be best not to ask her first about the food, or the furniture, or would she mind if you came in late at night, or would you be allowed to have anyone in your room?

                             

No, said Chesterton, it would be best not to ask her those questions at all, but instead, look her straight in the eye and say to her, “Madam, what is your view of the universe?”

And let me suggest to you that Chesterton’s point is well-taken, because if the landlady’s view of the universe is such that the world for her is a cold, uncaring, unfeeling place, filled with people who will always treat you unfairly, where no one can be trusted, and we’d all be best to look out for number one—if that is how the landlady views her world, and her life is defined by those beliefs, then you can be sure she’s not going to let you have the TV on late, you are not going to be allowed to have anyone in your room, and you had better not come in late!

I think that’s the point Chesterton was making.

I suppose it’s true to say, that all of us have a certain defining world-view that we carry with us throughout life. Louis Armstrong, who knew firsthand just how terribly racist his world could be, nevertheless he could look out on that world and sing, “Then I think to myself, what a wonderful world.”

I’ve always loved what someone once wrote of Robert Frost and his view of the world, that “he accepted the world’s contradictions without being crushed by them.” 

And that’s a good view to have of the world, isn’t it. Because the world gives us many contradictions, such as how can people be so cruel, and yet, how can people be so kind? How can life be so wonderfully beautiful at times, and at other times, so dreadfully sad and terrible?

              

And if the landlady doesn’t learn to accept these contradictions but instead is crushed by them, then you can be sure her defining attitude toward life will not be a positive one, and she’ll inflict her warped view of life upon others.

Scott Peck tells us that if we want to be emotionally healthy, we must believe that,“The world is a good place to live in, despite its many pitfalls.” In other words, we need to have a defining view of life, that is positive and affirming and healthy.

                                

And I want to give you one that comes straight from the Bible—and I’ve called it “A Defining Benediction.” It comes from the last verse of 2 Corinthians, chapter 13, where Paul writes: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Let’s take the last one first: “The fellowship of the Holy Spirit.” And in particular, I want to think about that word—fellowship.                        

                                                       

                                                             I

I have a lovely little book written by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, with the title, God Has A Dream.

And in that book he points out that in Africa when you ask someone “How are you?” the reply you often get is in the plural even when you are speaking to just one person. In answer to the question, “How are you?” an African will often answer, “We are well” or, “We are not well.” 

        

Tutu points out that if the man answers “We are not well,” he himself is probably quite well, but what he’s saying is that his grandmother or his grandfather is not well, and so he is not well either. And so, writes Tutu, “We need other human beings in order to be human.” 

Someone once said that “The difference between watching a televised church service and going to church is almost like the difference between watching slides of your girlfriend and spending an evening with her.”

That’s a novel way of putting it, but there’s truth in it, because in our own situation, as much as the attempt to replicate our church service through the medium of what we call The McPhail Weblog seems to be appreciated, it’s not the same as getting together in our church where we are able to greet one another with handshakes, smiling faces and warm embraces, and the caring inquiry of how we are doing. 

Someone has said that the best moments of our lives are when we are in relationship with each other. And if that is true, then some of those best moments will take place in the fellowship of the Church.

                                                           II

In the second place, let’s take the first phrase of our defining benediction, “The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

               

If like Chesterton’s landlady, we’ve had little experience of grace in our own lives, then we’re unlikely to be gracious with others. That was the problem with Simon in our passage from Luke chapter 7. 

                                    

Jesus is visiting Simon the Pharisee’s home for dinner, and at one point in the evening Jesus tells a lovely little parable about two debtors who couldn’t pay their lines of credit, and so the creditor wrote off the debts, one for about 500 dollars, the other one for about 5,000 dollars.

“Which one will love him most?” ask Jesus. And Simon says, “Well, I suppose, the one who had the bigger debt.” We can imagine Jesus thinking or saying, “You suppose, Simon? What do you mean you suppose? I mean, isn’t it obvious, Simon, that the one who has the larger debt cancelled, will love the moneylender more?”

                

You see, there’s some reluctance in Simon’s answer, because he feels so morally superior to the sinful woman in the story,that he knows nothing of what it is to be forgiven, because he doesn’t think he’s in need of  forgiveness, and so, he knows nothing of grace. 

One of the  weaknesses in evangelical Christianity has been the inordinate attention given to what Paul Tournier calls, “Moralism.” Tournier writes that, “Moralism constitutes an infantile regression within the churches.”  Moralism leads directly to what can be  very ungracious attitudes on the part of some Christians toward other Christians whose lives do not appear to measure up.

            

Mary Ann Cross, who went by the pen name George Eliot, grew up in an evangelical household. She remembered how she would see this kind of moralism, a lacking in grace, in some of the religious people around her.  

She writes about that in that wonderful novel Adam Bede. Arthur brings Adam’s wife to ruination, but when he insists in seeking Adam’s forgiveness, Adam refuses. Arthur says to Adam: “Perhaps you’ve never done anything you’ve had bitterly to repent of in your life Adam, if you had you would be more generous.”

What is it that Jesus said to Simon? “He who has been forgiven little, loves little.” Poor Simon doesn’t understand what grace is, because he’s completely blinded by self-righteousness. 

The great theologian Paul Tillich points out that out of all the people in Simon’s house only Jesus was able to help the woman, whereas the self-righteous people in Simon’s house couldn’t help her at all. Tillich goes on to make the point that the self-righteous couldn’t help the woman, and neither can they help us. 

                                                

Children turn away from self-righteous parents. Parishioners turn away from self-righteous ministers. People turn away from self-righteous churches. And why, asks Tillich? “Because what people need is love which is rooted in forgiveness, and those who are…self-righteous cannot give this.” Whereas Jesus did. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the second thing. 

                                                                  III

To conclude, let’s take the second phrase in our defining benediction, “The Love of God.”

 A long-standing Christian in speaking of God, said, “I loved Him, because that’s what we’re supposed to do as Christians. I served Him, but I didn’t really like Him.”

The problem that many have with God, is not that they don’t believe in Him, but that they have a difficult time believing in a God who is love, mostly because they look around the world and say to themselves, “How can there be a loving God and the world be as it is?”

After observing the suffering and dying children on a children’s ward in a hospital, and watching his own child slowly die, one of the characters in Peter Devries novel The Blood of The Lamb says, “Prove to me there is a God, and I really will despair.”

In other words, for some people it is easier not to believe in God, because essentially what they are saying is that they are disappointed in God. They really do believe in Him, or at least they want to believe in Him, but they can’t, because they’re disappointed in Him, and as someone has said, “You can’t worship a disappointment.”

Well, no, we can’t worship a disappointment. But I choose to align myself with all those millions of faithful and resolute persons who in spite of their own disappointments, in spite of their own tragedies and suffering, still believe deeply in God and His love.

“God, Thou art Love! I build my faith on that...” wrote Browning, “It were too strange that I should doubt Thy love.”

                             

Chesterton is right, you see. Stay away from the landlady or anyone who believes the world is going to hell in a handbasket, that the bad guys are always winning, that we have to look out for number one, because if we don’t, no one else will. Run from that kind of person, because as Fosdick once said, This is not a world where selfishness rules,  but a place where selfishness ruins.”

It is not only in the rose,

It is not only in the bird,

Not only where the rainbow glows,

Nor in the song of woman heard,

But in the darkest, meanest things

There alway, alway something sings.

The wonderful thing about the Christian story, is that it tells us God is love. And if God is love, then you and I are asked to love others on His behalf. For how else can people come to believe in God’s love, unless we take the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit to others.  

THANKS BE TO GOD. AMEN.

Hymn: "Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah"

Sue Sparks

1. Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land.

I am weak, but Thou art mighty;

Hold me with Thy powerful hand.

Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, 

Feed me till I want no more,

Feed me till I want no more.

2. Open now the crystal fountain,

Whence the healing waters flow;

Let the fire and cloudy pillar

Lead me all my journey through.

Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,

Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.

Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.

3. When I tread the verge of Jordan,

Bid my anxious fears subside;

Death of death, and hell’s destruction,

Land me safe on Canaan’s side.

Songs of praises, songs of praises, 

I will ever give to Thee;

I will ever give to Thee.

Announcements

In Sympathy: Our sympathies are extended to the family of Gordon Noble, who passed peacefully into God’s nearer presence, early Friday morning, July 10. Gord suffered for the past few years with a form of Leukemia. He was 88 years of age. A private graveside service will be held Saturday, July 18, at the Pinecrest Cemetery. 

Bursary Announcement: Post-Secondary students, returning and new students, are reminded that bursary funds are available for the first semester of College or University.  Applications are available from Lynda Cox. Email: lyndagracecox@gmail.com

Weblog Holiday Shutdown: Steve and Ernie are taking a two week break from the McPhail weblog beginning July 20. This means there’s won’t be a blog for two Sundays, July 26, and August 2nd.  

Offerings: We are excited to now offer an e-transfer option for McPhail offerings. If you would like to make use of this option, offerings can be sent via online banking to offerings@mcphailbaptist.ca If possible, please include your envelope number in the memo line. A special thanks to Steve Sparks and Samantha Helman for setting this up for us! For those who would prefer mailing in their offering, funds can be sent via post to: McPhail Baptist Church, 249 Bronson Ave, Ottawa, ON. K1R 6H6 We are deeply thankful for your ongoing support of this ministry! 

Benediction

Ernie and Lynda Cox 

Postlude: "When In Our Music God is Glorified"

Sue Sparks

When in our music God is glorified, 

And adoration leave no room for pride, 

It is as though the whole creation cried, 

“Alleluia!”

How often, making music, we have found

A new dimension in the world of sound,

As worship moved us to a more profound

“Allleluia!”

Let every instrument be tuned for praise!

Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise!

And may God give us faith to say always,

“Alleluia!”