Song 1 – Only a Holy God

Hear God call you to worship:

I call you by your name,
   I name you, though you do not know me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other,
   besides me there is no God;
   I equip you, though you do not know me,
that people may know, from the rising of the sun
   and from the west, that there is none besides me;
   I am the Lord, and there is no other.
    (Isaiah 45:4b–6)

Let us worship our God together!

Song 2 – Joyful, Joyful / King of Heaven

Song 3 – Come Thou Fount

How often we wander, and how much we are indebted to God’s grace! 

It’s so good to humble ourselves before the Lord and remember the ways we have broken against his will and wandered off track… and also to remember how willingly he takes us back into the fold, again and again. He is the one who left the ninety-nine for the one; He is the one who sought us while we were still strangers, even enemies; He is the one who has paid for our sin and calls us to live for him! 

In light of his great and unshakeable love for us, we come before him now in confession by reading the prayer on the screen together. 

Confession of Faith
Holy God,
Tender and gentle,
Magnificent and eternal,
Shepherd and King,
You are our God;
there is none like you!
Thank you that you hear us
when we call to you.

You are perfect and holy,
And you call us to be perfect and holy too.
But time and again,
we fall short of your glory
and we sin in thought, word and deed.

Lord Jesus, 
we pray that you would continue to
mould our stubborn and wandering hearts
to be true worshippers of you.
Renew your Spirit in us.
Help us to live for you
with our every thought, word and deed,
until you take us home or come again.

In your name we pray,
Amen.

Assurance of Pardon

Hear the words of Jesus from John 10:27–28:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Let us pray.

Song 4 – Lord I Need You / Nothing but the Blood

Our welcome team members will pass an offering basket during this song.

For information about giving online, please visit ucclife.fi/give or follow the QR code on the screen. You can also speak to our pastors or leaders for more information about giving and generosity. You can also ask the welcome team for more info on giving online, or giving specifically towards out Stewardship Campaign.

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen

A warm welcome to all, and especially to any visitors joining us today – if you’d like to get connected or find out more about UCC, please see our digital visitors card or speak to us after the service!

If you have children, they are welcome to join our Sunday school classes! 

The Scripture reading for today is taken from the book of 1 Samuel 6:1 – 7:2. Hear the Word of God:

^6:1 The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. ² And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us with what we shall send it to its place.” ³ They said, “If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty, but by all means return him a guilt offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why his hand does not turn away from you.” ⁴ And they said, “What is the guilt offering that we shall return to him?” They answered, “Five golden tumors and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines, for the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. ⁵ So you must make images of your tumors and images of your mice that ravage the land, and give glory to the God of Israel. Perhaps he will lighten his hand from off you and your gods and your land. ⁶ Why should you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? After he had dealt severely with them, did they not send the people away, and they departed? ⁷ Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two milk cows on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home, away from them. ⁸ And take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart and put in a box at its side the figures of gold, which you are returning to him as a guilt offering. Then send it off and let it go its way ⁹ and watch. If it goes up on the way to its own land, to Beth-shemesh, then it is he who has done us this great harm, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us; it happened to us by coincidence.”

¹⁰ The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. ¹¹ And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. ¹² And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. ¹³ Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it.¹⁴ The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord. ¹⁵ And the Levites took down the ark of the Lordand the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the Lord. ¹⁶ And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.

¹⁷ These are the golden tumors that the Philistines returned as a guilt offering to the Lord: one for Ashdod, one for Gaza, one for Ashkelon, one for Gath, one for Ekron, ¹⁸ and the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both fortified cities and unwalled villages. The great stone beside which they set down the ark of the Lord is a witness to this day in the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh.

¹⁹ And he struck some of the men of Beth-shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck seventy men of them,^[a] and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great blow. ²⁰ Then the men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall he go up away from us?” ²¹ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you.”

7:1 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. ² From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

This is the Word of the Lord.

Approaching a Holy God
-1 Samuel 6:1-7:2

1. Fear and Escape from God’s Holiness (vv 1-12)

2.Reverence and Reception of God’s Holiness (vv 13-18)

3. Dishonour and Provocation of God’s Holiness (vv 19-7:1)

Song 5 – Only by Grace

Song 6 – Christ Be Magnified

Our Father in heaven, 
hallowed be your name;
your kingdom come;
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread. 
And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who have sinned against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. 
For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.

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