Stop Playing at Meetings

I was pleased to hear that Peter said this was only the third difficult chapter in Amos

because I was pretty convinced that the last four have been pretty challenging

and tonight I think is the toughest.

So we're in chapter 5 and we're with Amos,

who is a southern prophet from Tekoa, which is down in the southeast near Bethlehem.

And he's gone north. He's preaching to Israel.

He is in every sense of the word a missionary who has crossed cultural lines

in order to bring God's word to bear on a local population.

It is about 760 BC.

And as Amos is preaching, the God of the universe is roaring at Israel in judgment.

Now week one we learned that there was a combination that unlocked Amos for us.

Can anyone remember how we get into Amos?

It's encouraging.

8351, brilliant.

8351.

And we start with eight oracles of judgment.

Six are to the surrounding enemies of Israel.

And God is basically judging them for what in effect are war crimes.

Massacring people and performing heinous acts.

The seventh oracle of judgment is to Judah.

And God is judging Judah for their disobedience, that they have God's law,

and yet they've decided to trample over it and disobey anyway.

At this point, Israel is loving Amos until we get to verse 6 of chapter 2,

at which point God's cross has turned on Israel themselves.

And it's a catalogue of enormous problems.

The two main ones being hypocritical worship and social injustice.

They're not loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.

In fact, they're hardly loving him at all and just keeping up appearances.

And at the same time, they're trampling over the poor in Israel.

We then get three sermons of rebuke.

And this is the third one we're in tonight.

We started with Mike in chapter 3.

And it was a very bleak chapter.

It was a very bleak chapter indeed.

But there was one ray of hope where God speaks about his remnants.

And I think he speaks about it in rather peculiar terms in verse 12.

This is what the Lord says.

As a shepherd rescues from the lion's mouth only two leg bones or a piece of an ear.

That's what he's saying about the remnant.

Just there's a little bit left that God is going to preserve and rescue.

And then last week in chapter 4 with Ian,

we had this wonderful sermon that was giving us a real way into chapter 4.

And again, it was another bleak chapter.

But we did see God's fatherly heart disciplining Israel in order to get their attention.

He talks about all the ways in the past that God had tried to get his people to return to him.

And yet they would not come.

And so after the three sermons of rebuke,

we get five visions of judgment, which we'll start next week with Graham.

And then we get one oracle of salvation.

And I have to say, Amos is tough going.

It is tough, tough going.

In fact, it's a bit like being a child on a long car journey.

And every mile, you ask your parents, are we there yet?

And the parents go, we're not there yet.

In fact, we're not going to be there for quite a while.

It was like when I used to drive down to Bournemouth, where I lived from Aberdeen.

And you get below Birmingham and you think we're nearly there.

You're not nearly there.

It just gets busier and the roads get more boring.

Until you finally arrive in Bournemouth, which is a wonderful place to live.

And so every week from going through five and then six and then seven and then eight,

we're going to go, are we there yet?

And the answer will be no, but we will get there in the end.

We will get to the end of chapter nine.

And I promise it will be worth it.

And if it isn't, Neal will give you a full refund

for all the sermons that you turned up to.

And so we come to this, which is the third sermon that Amos has preached.

It's kind of like the story of the new preacher who went to a new church

and he stood on the pulpit on his first Sunday and said,

please could you open your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter two, verse 12.

He read, live such good lives among the pagans

that though they accuse you of doing wrong,

they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits.

The congregation were absolutely spellbound.

They greeted him at the door with warm handshakes,

saying how much they've been utterly edified by his teaching that morning.

The next Sunday he gets up and he says,

please would you turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter two,

verse 12, live such good lives among the pagans

that though they accuse you of doing wrong,

they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits.

Everyone looks a bit permused,

but they're greatly edified by his teaching

and greet him warmly at the door afterwards.

Week three, he says,

please open your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter two, verse 12.

People start to look concerned.

And then week four,

please open your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter two, verse 12.

Finally, one of the women in the congregation

grabs him at the door and says,

thank you for your teaching,

but is there more in our Bibles than 1 Peter chapter two, verse 12?

You seem to be preaching that every week.

To which he said,

my dear sister,

I'll keep preaching it until you start doing it.

And then we'll move on to the rest of the Bible.

That's kind of like what Amos is doing.

The three sermons are in fact very, very similar.

He is chastising God's people, Israel,

for their hypocritical worship and their social injustice.

He's holding those two up again and again and again.

And he's going to keep preaching it until Israel do something about it.

And so in chapter three, God is roaring.

And in chapter four, God is roaring as Amos preaches,

tells the people where they're going wrong.

But in chapter five, the tone changes remarkably.

And we move from God roaring at his people

to almost like Amos conducting Israel's funeral.

It's almost like we've got a picture of what it will look like.

It seems to be a little bit too late.

We're getting out of a window into Israel's future funeral

with Amos standing at the front of the chapel,

giving the eulogy.

Let's read the first three verses.

Hear this word, Israel.

This lament I take up concerning you fallen is virgin Israel,

never to rise again,

deserted in her own land with no one to lift her up.

This is what the sovereign Lord says to Israel.

Your city that marches out a thousand strong

will have only a hundred left.

Your town that marches out a hundred strong

will have only ten left.

There's been a death in Israel and Israel has died.

And it's been reduced to about a tenth.

That it seems that as Amos stands and speaks,

the lament pours out of his mouth.

And I guess it's very similar to when Jesus speaks

in Luke 19 verses 41 to 44.

Luke 19:41–44

So he approached Jerusalem and saw the city.

He wept over it and said,

If you, even you, had only known on this day

what would bring you peace.

But now it is hidden from your eyes,

the days will come upon you

when your enemies will build an embankment against you

and encircle you and hem you in on every side.

They will dash you to the ground,

you and the children within your walls.

They will not leave one stone on another

because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you.

It's that same idea that it's too late.

That's really where we're coming to in Amos chapter 5.

Amos 5 · chapter mention

And Amos chapter 5 is the very center of the book.

Amos 5 · chapter mention

And if you write Hebrew,

which I'm sure all of you do,

you put the most important thing

right in the middle of your book.

So though this is the third sermon he's preached,

this is the very knob of everything that Amos is about.

And it's long, but I want us to see six key themes.

And hopefully this will just give us a framework

if we go back and look at Amos in the week.

So the first thing we see is that sin is catalogued.

Let me read verses 4 to 6, 7 and 10 and 12.

This is what the Lord says to Israel.

Seek me and live.

Do not seek Bethel.

Do not go to Gilgal.

Do not journey to Beersheba.

For Gilgal will surely go into exile

and Bethel will be reduced to nothing.

Seek the Lord and live

or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire.

It will devour them

and Bethel will have no one to quench it.

There are those who turn justice into bitterness

and cast righteousness to the ground.

Verse 10.

There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in courts

and detest the one who tells the truth.

You levy a straw tax on the poor

and impose a tax on their grain.

Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,

you will not live in them.

Though you have planted lush vineyards,

you will not drink their wine.

For I know how many are your offenses

and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent

and take bribes

and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Therefore, the prudent keep quiet in such times

for the times are evil.

And it's the same sins that he's bringing up again and again

and it's hypocritical worship.

Look at verse 5.

There are three place names that are mentioned.

Bethel, Gilgal and Beersheba.

And these are all important places in Israel.

But they're also chronological.

So when Jeroboam, son of Nebat,

Jeroboam I sets up Israel as an independent kingdom

away from Judah,

he sets up two special places where he has a golden calf.

One Dan in the north,

one Bethel in the south.

And God says,

this is happening,

but don't think Bethel will save you.

Don't think this recent relic will give you anything.

And then he mentions Gilgal,

which is the first place that Joshua

and the 12 tribes celebrate

when they get into the promised land.

God says,

don't even think Gilgal will save you.

Don't even think Gilgal will afford you any protection

when my judgment comes.

And then he says,

don't even go to Beersheba.

Now Beersheba is all the way back in Genesis 21.

This is Abraham,

the very father of the nation,

who forms a treaty with Abimelech there

and calls on the name of the Lord as the Lord eternal.

God says,

don't even go to Beersheba.

The only place.

Don't go on some pilgrimage

to all the historic relics of Israel's past

because they're all empty.

They're all dysfunctional now,

just like your worship has become.

Don't retreat to religious observance,

he says.

Retreat to me.

Seek me and live.

Turn to me.

The very thing that he was trying to do

in all of chapter four.

I've sent this to you and that to you

and this happened

and it was all so you'd return to me.

And so God says,

don't whatever you do

go on some religious tourist route

through your history.

Seek me.

Seek me because your worship is hypocritical.

It's been the case throughout all of Israel's history.

This quote from Isaiah 29 picked up by Jesus.

The Lord says,

these people come near to me with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship of me is based on merely human rules.

They have been taught.

That could be a summation of everything we're going to see

in Amos chapter five.

It was fine.

People were going to church.

People were offering sacrifices.

It looked pretty good on the outside,

but inwardly it was completely rotten

and they were in grave danger

because the tail was wagging the dog

and the process of bringing sacrifices

had far exceeded

and become more important

than the purpose for which they did it.

And so in the summer,

I was doing a wedding in Bordeaux

and Bordeaux has got wonderful churches

that you can go and visit.

It's actually built on swampland

so they never have the bell tower

connected to the cathedral

because when the bell rings,

the bell tower moves,

they all fall over

and they don't want it affecting

these huge church buildings they have.

But actually,

if you went to every single church

and Aileen loved the holiday

because that's pretty much all we did in Bordeaux,

you would think that you worship God

with a camera,

wearing shorts,

reading a guidebook in a different language

because in all these churches,

that's all that was going on.

It looked like real

church buildings

in which there should be

great worship of God

but all there was

was full of tourists

with selfie sticks

taking pictures in front of other people.

It was all appearance without substance,

empty form with no faith

and that's what God is saying.

Your worship is hypocritical

and your past will not save you.

And it's the precipice

over which we all stare

because we can all retreat

to just playing a role,

just keeping up appearances,

just going through the motions.

God says,

there's a funeral coming

because you will not turn to me

and have life.

The second thing he picks up

is social injustice again

and there's a real catalogue again.

There are those who turn justice

into bitterness.

People came looking for justice

but they were trampled down

and now the bitterness just grew

because what they deserved

they did not get

and righteousness was cast to the ground

like it was worthless.

People hate the courts,

verse 10.

The magistrate who was going to give justice

had become like the traffic warden

and the people that were told,

the people who told the truth

were just told to shut up.

Shut up.

Every time somebody said,

no, this is what God says.

Shut up.

Shut up.

We don't want to hear.

They tax the poor.

They make them pay extortionate amounts

for their grain.

It's meant that they've all got mansions

they can live in

but God is very clear

you will not live in them.

You've stored up all this money

to build a very grand nine bedroom house

but it will remain empty.

Though you may have boarded off plot

you will never live in it.

And they've got extensive vineyards.

They're thinking we can have

some real vintage Merlot

from these wonderful vines

but the problem with Merlot

is it takes time to mature.

And God says,

well, you may harvest

and you may trample

but you will not drink

because there's a funeral coming

because

you haven't worshipped me rightly

and you've oppressed the poor.

And so 12a is the verdict

for I know

how many your offences

and how great

your sins.

Your sin is excessive

and it is

extensive.

Their sins are catalogued.

And verse 13

has one of two interpretations

therefore the prudent

keep quiet in such times

for the times are evil.

Some commentators say

the times are so evil

that it's not worth

saying anything.

So saturated in sin

is Israel culture.

But some people go the other way

and say,

well, when God does judge

all this sin

everyone's mouths

will be stopped

because there'll be

absolutely no excuse

for the way that they've carried on.

Hypocritical worship

and social injustice

the sins catalogued

which were the sins

that God catalogued

in chapter 4

the sins that God catalogued

in chapter 3

and the sins that God catalogued

at the end of chapter 2.

And so what do we learn?

That these two things

really matter to God.

These are the things

so close to his heart

that we worship him

with all our heart, soul, mind

and strength

and that we love

our neighbor as ourselves.

Our neighbor being

those like us

and those not like us.

Those at the very bottom

of the rung

of society.

There is one little ray of hope

and we see that mercy

is offered.

Look at verse 4

the end of verse 4

seek me and live.

Verse 6

seek the Lord and live.

Verse 14

seek good nor evil

that you may live.

Verse 15

hate evil

love good

maintain justice.

In the courts

perhaps the Lord God Almighty

will have mercy

on the remnant of Joseph.

These verses

are like patches

of blue sky

amidst a mounting

murky sky.

The nation

will be judged.

That's already said

the funeral

will happen.

Israel will be

carried off

by the Assyrians

and they will never return.

But God holds out here

to the individual

a chance

to the repentant

to be part

of the remnant.

He's holding out

mercy

to the individual.

He says

the ship

is going to sink

but there is room

in the lifeboat

if you will

but turn to me.

90

will be killed

from those

who march out

from the town

but there will be

10 left

and you can be

amongst those 10 left

if you will turn.

You can be

like the hind legs

of the deer

rescued from the mouth

of the lion.

There is

mercy

even amidst

the darkness.

There is

hope

beyond

the exile

for those

who will repent.

and I guess

as we

come to the

New Testament

when God

is very clear

that he will

judge the world

in justice

by the man

he has appointed

Jesus Christ

there is still

that hope

for those

who will look

to the son

and receive

eternal life.

There is mercy

offered.

There is still

space

for grace

and we see

this right

in the middle

of the chapter

and dotted

throughout it.

then look

with me

at verses

15 and

16

verses

16 and

17

therefore

this is what

the Lord

almighty

says

there will

be wailing

in all the

streets

and cries

of anguish

in every

public square

the farmers

will be

summoned

to weep

and the

mourners

to wail

there will

be wailing

in all the

vineyards

for I will

pass through

your midst

says the

Lord.

I don't know

if you were

aware but

Wednesday was

back to the

future day

which in

back to the

future 2

Marty McFly

goes forward

to the

21st of

October

2015

and there

was this

real thing

about

did they

get it

right

was the

movie

accurate

to where

we are

now

some of

it was

right

none of

us have

got a

hoverboard

yet

but we're

ever

hopeful

and so

what we

get here

is like

back to

the future

we get

this snapshot

of what

it will

be like

on this

day when

God

visits

and it's

terrifying

there'll be

wailing in

all the

streets

George

Street

Princess

Street

Ferry

Road

everybody

is crying

it's a

scene of

utter

desolation

in

St.

Andrew

Square

and

Charlotte

Square

people are

crying in

anguish

look at

it

end of

verse

16

the

farmers

will be

summoned

to

weep

no one

bothers

farmers

if ever

you've

listened to

an episode

of the

archers

the only

remarkable

thing that

happens is

that nothing

remarkable

ever happens

because farmers

just go about

their field

tilling and

sowing and

harvesting

they just get

on with it

but it's so

serious now

that the

farmers are

joining in

even they've

got wind

of what will

happen

and the

mourners

to

wail

these

professional

mourners

that people

would call

in to

help

bring a

bit of

theatre to

a funeral

they're not

playing a

role

they're

wailing

for real

and in

vineyards

these places

synonymous with

celebration and

joy

no one

is laughing

there's no

good times

everyone

is

terrified

why

because god

has arrived

the holy

god has

passed

through their

midst

he threatened

it in

chapter 4

verse 12

therefore

this is what

i will do

to you

israel

and because

i will do

this to

you israel

prepare

to meet

your god

and he's

arrived

and it's a

scene of

utter

desolation

as a

holy god

meets a

sinful

people

it has

not gone

well for

them

and rather

than be

great joy

it's resulted

in great

loss

that a

holy god

and sinful

people cannot

mix

we see it

in isaiah's

life in

chapter 6

when he

sees the

lord seated

on the

throne

this is

the holiest

man

amongst

god's

people

and what

does he

say

woe is

me

for i'm

a man

of unclean

lips

john

on the

island

of

patmos

who

meets

the

risen

jesus

and he

turns

around

and sees

him

and he

says i

fell on

the

ground

as though

dead

and if that

was what it

was like for

those two

people just

imagine what

it's like for

these people

when their

god visits

while they're

playing in the

slurry of

their own

sin

and look what

this god is

like in verse

eight

he who made

the pleiades

and orion

who turns

midnight into

dawn and

darkens day

into night

who calls for

waters of the

sea and pours

them out over

the face of

the land

the lord

is his name

with a blinding

flash he destroys

the stronghold

and brings the

fortified city

to ruin

this is the

all-powerful

god visiting

his people

and they've

not been

ready

and they've

not been

excited by

his coming

they haven't

worshipped him

rightly

and they

have not

loved their

neighbours

themselves

and it's

all lost

but it's

of great

surprise to

them

verses 18

to 20

woe to

you who

long for

the day

of the

lord

why do

you long

for the

day of

the lord

that day

will be

darkness

not light

it will

be as

though a

man fled

from a

lion only

to meet

a bear

as though

he entered

his house

and rested

his hand

on the wall

only to have

a snake

bite him

will not

the day

of the

lord be

darkness

not light

pitch dark

without a

ray of

brightness

and so

you can

see them

they're all

looking for

the day

of the

lord

this will

go well

where is

raul

we bought

some sacrifices

and some

tithes

this morning

the day

of the

lord will

be great

for us

and god

gives them

a reality

check

and he

says you

think it's

going to be

great

it won't

be great

you think

it's going

to be

light

it won't

be light

it'll be

darkness

because

your

complacency

has deceived

you into

thinking that

you're safe

and you're

not safe

look at

verse 19

isn't that

the ultimate

example of

out of the

frying pan

into the

fire

it will be

as though a

man fled

from a

lion only

to meet

a bear

you think

you've

escaped

you've

not

escaped

there's

a bear

waiting

for you

as the

lord meets

you in

your sin

as though

he entered

his house

the house

that final

place of

safety

and what

did he

do

he rested

his hand

on the

wall

to catch

his breath

and there

was a

snake

to bite

him

this is a

real reality

check for

Israel

that they

think that

God could

have nothing

against them

that when

he comes

it will be

sheer light

and sheer

delight

and it

won't

it'll be

darkness

and devastation

as a

holy God

meets

his sinful

complacent

people

who have

failed

to be

failed

with the

great blessing

he's shown

them

to be a

blessing

and a

light

to the

nations

verse 21

is where we

really get

the rub of

the green

look at

what God

says

look at

all the

words

he uses

to describe

how infuriated

and against

all their

worship he

is

I hate

I despise

your religious

festivals

your assemblies

are a stench

to me

even though

you bring me

burnt offerings

and grain offerings

I will not

accept them

though you bring

choice fellowship

offerings

I will have

no regard

for them

away with

the noise

of your songs

I will not

listen to the

music of your

hearts

but let

justice roll

on like a

river

righteousness

like a

never

failing

stream

God

peels

back the

mask of

Israel's

religious

life

and he

says this

is an

utter

abomination

rather than

being pleasing

and acceptable

to me

it actually

just riles

me to

hatred

when you

gather as a

church it

is like a

stench

in my

nostrils

look what he

says about

the harp

now who

could not

like the

noise of

a harp

blink

blink

blink

blink

blink

blink

there's

nothing

that could

be bad

about that

but what

does he

say I

will not

listen

to the

music of

your harp

this instrument

synonymous

with joy

and God

says I

want nothing

to do

with it

because it's

empty

it's

hypocritical

you're going

through the

motions

you're so

busy

in religious

activity

and yet your

heart is not

inance

it's like

you're wearing

a wedding ring

as a sign

of your

marriage

and yet you

are conducting

adulterous

relationships

in every

postcode

of the

city

it's just

simple and

ritual

without any

substance

at all

and look

what God

says in

verse 24

this is what

he's after

which is where

it links

with Psalm

51 that

Peter read

for us at

the beginning

but let

justice

roll on

like a river

righteousness

like a

never failing

stream

you are

exhausting

yourself in

religious

activity

but what

do I

want

I want

justice

and

righteousness

and I

want it

to flow

I want

it to be

this constant

cycle

this thing

that is

always

prevalent

in your

lives

justice

right

living

towards

your

fellow

man

and

righteousness

right

living

before

God

that's

what I

want

I don't

want your

offerings

I don't

want your

sacrifices

I don't

want your

harp

quartet

I'm not

bothered

how many

offerings

you bring

because until

you get

those two

things right

it's utterly

useless

and you're

wasting

everybody's

time

and you're

just storing

up judgment

for yourself

and so we

look at our

lives and

could we

say that

my life

is a

constant

flow of

justice

where I

am

passionate

about

loving those

that God

loves and

this special

place he

has in his

heart for

those that

are poor

and downtrodden

is there

this constant

desire to

help them

in and

through my

life

and what

about how

I walk

before God

is there

this constant

desire that

I will live

life before

an audience

of one

knowing that

he sees

all and

longs to

be glorified

in all

because until

I get those

two things

right church

attendance

doesn't matter

the songs I

sing don't

matter if

my heart

is not right

before him

it is

possible

for God

to hate

the fact

that you're

going to

church if

you go to

church wrongly

to not

accept the

songs out

of your

mouth if

it is just

brubble

and froth

with no

substance at

all

so by the

time we get

to the end

of the old

testament

and Israel

has gone

from bad

to worse

and has

been in

exile

and Judah

is back

in the

town but

they're

miles away

from where

they would

be

God just

says I

wish someone

would shut

the temple

door

put out the

fires on the

altar because

it's

abominable

to me

this has

not gone

well for

Israel

neither will

it go well

for us

it's just

bubble and

froth with

no substance

let me finish

with this

verses 25

to 27

did you

bring me

sacrifices

and offerings

for 40

years in

the wilderness

people of

Israel

you have

lifted up

the shrines

of your

king

the pedestal

of your

idols

the star

of your

God

which you

made for

yourselves

therefore I

will send

you into

exile beyond

Damascus

says the

Lord

whose name

is God

almighty

here's the

question

did the

people of

Israel bring

sacrifices

and offerings

to God

in the

wilderness

oh yes

they did

because they

had this

tent of

meeting where

they could

go and

offer them

but here's

what's in

view

that Israel

did all

these things

they got up

in the morning

they unzipped

their tent

and they went

and did their

religious duty

before Yahweh

who had

brought them

out of Egypt

the problem

was is when

they went

into their

tent at night

and the

flaps came

down

then out

from under

the pillow

came the

gods of

Egypt

sack off

your king

Kaiwan your

idols and

your star

gods

do you see

how duplicitous

they were

we'll worship

gods

but we'll

keep these

as well

and so I

wonder as we

come into

land

that we're

here tonight

and we're

singing trust

and obey

there's no

other way

to be happy

in Jesus

we're singing

all that

thrills my

heart is

Jesus

he is

everything

to me

but I

wonder what

the reality

will be on

Monday morning

what idols

we'll bring

out from

behind up

from under

our own

pillows

whether it

will be

materialism

and we'll

be ogling

the Amazon

catalogue

I wonder

where our

security will

be found

whether it's

in the God

who's revealed

himself

or whether

it's in the

bank statement

that drops

through the

door on

Tuesday

morning

and here's

the thing

the people

in the

wilderness

thought they

were getting

away with

it and they

weren't

God says

I saw you

pull those

idols out

and let's

be clear

he sees

the idols

that we

cleave to

and cling

to

and he

finishes by

saying you'll

go into

exile into

Damascus and

it's all your

own fault

I gave

you

everything

but you

still chose

to worship

me wrongly

and oppress

the poor

I was preaching

at Kirk

Liston this

morning

and I was

trying to

challenge them

about this

Old Testament

idea of being

blameless

we read of

Noah and

Job and

David being

blameless before

the Lord

blameless doesn't

mean they were

sinless

it just

meant that

their insides

were the

same as

their outsides

that the

reality of

how they

love God

in their

hearts

seeped out

into every

area of

their lives

and I

wonder if

that's the

challenge

coming to

us from

this chapter

is to put

away hypocrisy

to put away

going through

the motions

out of

religious duty

and to

let Jesus

take his

right place

in our

hearts

that it

might

transform

every area

of our

lives

and it

might make

a real

difference

to our

neighbours

wherever they

might be

God

catalogues

their sin

they're

terrified by

his presence

he extinguishes

their light

on the day

of the Lord

he says

I hate

your worship

and I

saw your

idolatry

we read

in the

New Testament

that many

people come

to Jesus

on the last

day and

say Lord

Lord

we prophesied

in your

name and

we even

healed people

and Jesus

says away

with me

I never

knew you

the same

reality seems

to be there

so let's be

very careful

as we listen

to these

words

that we

don't leave

here

without

having our

whole lives

committed

to and

connected

to the

Lord

Jesus

who makes

our worship

acceptable

and transforms

our lives

that we might

love what

God loves

and do

what God

calls us

to do

let's pray

Father God

was so

challenged

that Israel

was just

playing at

it

they were

privileged as

your people

and yet

walked away

and rebelled

in such a

complacent

way

and Lord

we thank

you so

much

that you've

given us

so much

you've given

us your

word

you've given

us your

spirit

you've opened

your eyes

to you've

opened our

eyes to your

son

Father you've

placed us in

a church and

yet we're so

conscious

we're so

conscious that

we're tempted

to just play

and go through

the motions

we're tempted

to just do

the little bit

that we need

to do in

order to keep

up appearances

and so Lord

I pray that

your spirit

would so

glorify your

son in our

lives that he

might transform

everything about

us

that we might

worship you

rightly

wholeheartedly

that we might

be those that

are blameless

and Father

that we might

love justice

Father whether

it's the taxes

we pay or the

people we walk

by on the

streets

Father may we

not just turn a

blind eye

but Lord may we

love what you

love and as a

God who loves

them may we

love them and

help them and

serve them also

we pray this in

Jesus name and

for Jesus sake

Amen