Explorers Family Service

Welcome, too, to those tuning in online. We know there's many tuning in online as well, as we all pray God's blessing on our time together.

So we're going to begin our worship by singing to God's praise.

And our first singing is Psalm 67, and the tune is Selma.

We're going to sing the whole of this psalm.

It's a psalm, it's a prayer, and it's a great prayer to have, that the Lord would be with us as we meet together, and on all his people today as they gather to worship.

Lord, bless and pity us, shine on us with thy face, that the earth thy way and nations all may know thy saving grace.

We're going to stand to sing to God's praise.

Amen.

Let people praise.

Let people praise.

Let people praise.

Let them praise.

Let them praise.

Let them praise.

Let them praise.

First pour.

The earth.

The earth.

The earth

Are you shall unit.

God find your honor.

God shall bless things send.

God shall us bless, men shall live near

until our status end.

Amen.

Well, we're going to come to God and pray now,

so we'll bow our heads in a word of prayer.

Our gracious Father in heaven,

we thank you for this, your day.

We thank you to be able to come in and worship together,

to sing these words of praise.

And they are really a prayer that we offer up

in song to you,

for they remind us of what we do

as we come to worship.

We come to know that you are here with us

as we meet.

And we pray, Lord, that you will indeed bless

and pity us and shine upon us

with your face anew today,

that we will know your goodness and your love

and your mercy towards us,

that you have been so good to us in so many ways.

We thank you for the week that we have had

and the beautiful weather we have enjoyed.

It's been a reminder to us, Lord,

of the beauty of your creation

as we see the sun rise and set in all its glory.

A reminder to us as well, Lord,

that you are the one who has made all these things,

that you are the one who keeps all of these things,

that every day and every moment of every day

is a time appointed by you.

And so we thank you for this time of worship.

We thank you for our family service together

as we give thanks for all of your goodness to us

even over this past year,

especially thinking of the Explorers and the Sunday School

and all the work done with our young people.

We do rejoice, O Lord,

in coming together here as a people.

We rejoice, O Lord,

in seeing so many coming together to worship you.

And we do thank you for all who helped

to make these things possible,

for all the volunteers and helpers

who have resumed Explorers over this last year

and who have helped with Sunday School over the past year

and indeed many years,

for all who have prayed for the work

and for all who have helped over the past number of years, Lord,

for all the work done among your young people.

We thank you for it all.

And we pray for those who have helped, Lord,

that you will encourage them and strengthen them

as they continue to do so much for our congregation.

And we above all pray today for all our young people.

We thank you for every one of them

and every family and home represented here.

We do give you thanks, O Lord,

that together we can come and praise your name

and give thanks for all that you have done for us,

especially through your own Son, Jesus Christ.

We thank you that you sent him into this world,

that he would be a saviour for it.

And may we know him as our saviour.

And as we come to your word today,

that you would bless it to all of us together,

here in the church and also in the hall next door as well,

that you would be with us, Lord,

as we open up your word and share from it

and hear of the greatness of your love,

that God so loved the world

that he sent his own Son.

So may that be blessed to us all.

We do pray for all our families and our friends

and communities at this time.

We especially remember those who maybe are unwell just now

or in hospital or recovering at home.

We pray, Lord, that you will surround them and help them

and be near to them day by day.

We especially give thanks, O Lord,

for Willie Graham being back in the hospital in Stornway

after a time away on the mainland.

And we thank you for the progress he's made.

And we pray that you will continue to watch over him

and more again, the family too,

as we commit them to you.

May your hand be over them

and upon all who need you in different ways at this time too.

Hear all our prayers, Lord,

and guide us in our worship

and give us hearts that are filled with thankfulness

for all of your goodness

as we ask it all with the forgiveness of our sins.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Well, in Explorers, you've been doing a lot over the last year.

It's been great to see the Explorers group

starting again over the past year.

It's great to see so many of you here today as well

and families sitting downstairs and upstairs as well together.

And today as we think of that word, Explorers,

what is it called to mind?

When you think of the word Explorer or Explorers,

what comes to your mind?

Well, as I was thinking about that this week,

something that came to my mind was

Explorers are people who go on journeys.

You often think of Explorers maybe in the past

who went to far off lands and explored new places

and sought to find maybe new parts of the world

or exploring for new resources

or different things like that.

You think of them maybe getting all their gear together

and maybe going on a ship,

sailing to a far off place

and searching for new lands.

Something else that's called to mind

was maybe people who go exploring,

looking for treasure.

Does anybody have a metal detector?

Anybody ever used a metal detector?

Sometimes you see people going out on a beach.

There's some people putting up their hands.

They go out on a beach

and they take a metal detector

to see if they can find something on the beach.

Maybe long lost treasure,

it's their hope.

But usually it's just a rusty bit of metal

or something like that we find

when we go out treasure hunting.

But it's this idea of exploring,

traveling, traveling, searching,

looking for something

or looking for somewhere, some place.

Exploring, it's exciting,

it's rewarding

and it's something that many people love to do.

And I hope that's something

that everyone who's been coming

to the Explorers,

to Sunday School,

but also to church week by week.

That's something that we love doing

because it's exciting,

it's rewarding

and we love to be together

to worship God above everything else.

Because above all,

as we explore

and as we come to Explorers,

what we want to be doing

is hearing and seeing

and exploring something

that's really precious,

really special,

and that's the love of God.

And that's what we're going to be thinking

about today in our service,

the love of God.

Like John 3, 16 says to us,

for God so loved the world

that he gave his only son

that whoever believes in him

should not perish

but have eternal life.

That's going to be the theme

of our service today,

that verse.

But what do you think of

when you think of love?

What does love mean?

Many people have different ideas

of what love means.

Some people will say,

I love ice cream.

I love chocolate.

I love to play football.

But is that really love?

And is that a deep love

like we want to explore?

How would you describe love?

Well, children were once asked,

children between the age of four and eight,

a group of them were once asked

to say and describe,

what is love?

And they came up with a number

of different answers.

One child said,

love is when you go out to eat

and give somebody most of your chips

without expecting anything in return.

You ever go out for food

and you have somebody with you

and they help yourself too,

all your food,

and you just happily give it to them

and you don't expect anything in return.

That's a kind of love, isn't it?

Somebody else said,

love is when mum gives dad

the best piece of the meat.

Maybe mum will take the little scraps

that are left over,

but she'll give to dad

the nice chunky bits of meat.

One child described love in that way.

Another person said,

love is when your puppy licks your face

even when you've left them alone all day.

Does anybody have that?

When maybe you come home from school,

the first thing that happens

is the dog will jump into your lap

and start licking your face.

Even though you haven't been with them all day,

there's this idea of love.

So think about that.

What is love?

How would you answer that question yourself?

Well, if we really want to know what love is,

the place that we have to explore and look to

is the Bible, God's word.

Because God not only tells us what his love is,

he shows us what his love is.

And that's what this verse is all about,

that God tells us about his love,

but that he also shows us his love.

There was one other answer I want to share with you

that the children gave to that question,

what is love?

One child said this,

God could have said magic words

to make the nails fall off the cross,

but he didn't.

And isn't that a good description of what love is?

God could have saved Jesus on the cross.

He could have taken him down off the cross,

but he didn't.

Because he gave him his own son

that we might have eternal life.

And that's a very precious love.

And that's what we're going to explore here in the church.

And as you go through to the tweenies in a moment as well,

we'll be exploring more of what the love of God is.

And that's our prayer that we will all come

to know the love of God.

Well, before we go on,

we're going to sing in a moment in Psalm 100,

but before we do,

we're going to say the Lord's Prayer together.

So let's say the Lord's Prayer.

Amen.

But we're going to sing together again now to God's praise.

We're going to sing in Psalm 100.

Psalm 100.

We'll sing together in that psalm.

And during this singing,

the tweenies can go out to the hall then.

So Psalm 100.

And the tune is Carlisle.

Shout to the Lord with joy,

all who to earth belong.

Adore the Lord with joyful hearts

and come to him in song.

We'll sing the whole of this psalm.

We stand to sing to God's praise.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

functions everywhere in impossible to respond.

Amen.

setzen appry to the Lord with joy,

all who do e'er beyond.

Amen.

And the tune is all you're at,

and with joyful hearts and grant

where you are at,

with joyful hearts and grant

and grant to him in song.

For the Lord with joyful heart

And come to Him in song

Know that the Lord is God

He made us as His own

We are the sheep for whom He cares

And strength of His sorrow

And tired His games with grace

His torches with thankfulness

Your praises gladly sing to Him

His name forevermore

For God the Lord is great

His love is ever sure

His constant truth and faithfulness

Through every age endure

We're going to read some of God's word together

John 3 verse 16 to verse 21

John 3:16

John 3 verse 16 to verse 21

John 3:16

If you've got the order of service

It's in the middle of that

John 3 verse 16 to 21

John 3:16–21

For God so loved the world

That He gave His only Son

That whoever believes in Him

Should not perish

But have eternal life

For God did not send His Son

Into the world to condemn the world

But in order that the world

Might be saved through Him

Whoever believes in Him

Is not condemned

But whoever does not believe

Is condemned already

Because he has not believed

In the name of the only Son of God

And this is a judgment

The light has come into the world

And the people love the darkness

Rather than the light

Because their works were evil

For everyone who does wicked things

Hates the light

And does not come to the light

Lest his works should be exposed

But whoever does what is true

Comes to the light

So it may clearly be seen

That his works have been carried out

In God

There's a wonderful passage

Especially John 3 verse 16

John 3:16

It's a very famous verse

A verse that so many people

All over the world know

But the question often is

Do we know the love of that verse?

Do we know the God of that verse

And the Son that He gave

To show His love?

Because when you think about

How do you show someone

You love them?

There can be many ways

We can perhaps try and show

Our love to people

Sometimes it's by doing

Nice things for them

So we think about everybody

Who helps and volunteers

With explorers and Sunday school

On a week to week basis

Why do they do it?

Well it's because

First of all they love God

And then they love other people

They love you

Who come to the Sunday school

And explorers

And they want to share with you

That love of God

So that's a good way

To show someone

That you love them

Sometimes it's by saying

Nice things

People enjoy hearing someone

Saying nice things to them

But perhaps the most common way

Of showing that you love someone

Is by giving them something

Giving them something special

And so how do we think about

God showing His love to us?

He has spoken to us

Through His word

But above all

He has done something for us

He has given someone for us

And that's what this verse tells us

God loves His people so much

And He wanted to show His love

And to show His love

He sent His Son into this world

And even if for a moment

We explore that verse itself

John 3.16

It tells us so much

And there's a few questions

We could ask of that verse

Who is this verse about?

Do we think first of all

It's about ourselves?

If we do

We're maybe starting at the wrong place

Because this verse

Is all about God

For God so loved the world

It's a verse about God

What does God do?

Well it tells us here

He loves

God so loved the world

God loves

Who does God love?

He loves the world

He loves His people

He loves all His people

And then it goes on

And what did God do

To show His love?

He gave His only Son

Can you imagine

Giving somebody else

The most important thing

In your life?

Maybe a special toy

Or something that

You feel is just for yourself

Can you imagine

Giving that away

To somebody else?

It would be very hard to do

And yet God showed

His love for us

That He gave

His only Son

To this world

What must we do

Then in return?

If you get something

From someone

Something nice

From someone

What do you do in return?

You should give thanks

To that person

Well God wants something

In return for us

Because He gave His Son

That we might believe

That we might believe

Believe that Jesus

Is the Son of God

And what do we get

When we believe?

We get this promise

Of eternal life

A wonderful promise

That God gives

To all of His people

No matter what comes

Our way in this world

No matter what difficulties

We might have

As we journey on

Through this world

As we explore all the things

Of this world

We have the promise

That when we believe

In God's Son

Jesus

That He will give us

Eternal life

Isn't that a wonderful promise?

Isn't that a wonderful love

That God has shown

To us?

Now you might think

To yourself

Well why did God

Have to send His Son?

What was the problem?

Was there anything wrong?

Well yes

Because the verses

There go on to speak

About darkness

And light

There were those

Who were in darkness

They didn't want to know God

So God sent His Son

As the light

Of the world

Is anyone scared

Of the dark?

Dark can be scary

Can't it?

When all the lights

Go off

When it's a really dark night

It can be a scary time

When there's nothing

But darkness

And it can also be

Dangerous

It's dangerous

Because maybe you can't see

Where you're going

Now I don't know

If you know

What I used to do

Before I became a minister

But I used to be

An engineer

And working on ships

At sea

In a way

Exploring

Different parts of the world

Seeing many different

Parts of the world

And I used to work

In the engine room

And the engine room

Was huge

A really huge place

The engine and the ship

I mean you think

Of a car engine

It's maybe about this big

Well the engines

And the ships

I used to work on

Were the size

Probably of the church here

Almost as wide

As the middle section

You're sitting in

Probably as high

As up to the ceiling

Of the church

They were huge

And the engine room

Was massive

So there was

Different floors

To walk around

The engine room

And one night

When I was in the engine room

I was on duty

It was late that night

I was in the engine room

By myself

Just going around

Checking all different things

And the place

Was full of light

The place was bright

And really noisy

You had to wear ear defenders

Because there was

So much noise

And then all of a sudden

The place just went

Into darkness

A problem with the engine

Made it stop

And because the engine

Stopped

Everything else stopped

There was no light

There was no power

The ship couldn't move

There was nothing

We could do

I was lucky

I had a torch

Always carried a torch

Because you never knew

When this could happen

So you could find

Your way around

But for a moment

There's panic

There's fear

All of a sudden

You go from a place

That's full of light

To complete darkness

And it can be very scary

Now we were lucky

We weren't near land

It could have been worse

And we managed

To get the power back

But it just reminds us

How often

We can think

Everything's okay

Everything's fine

But something comes along

And that's what

That scares us

That leaves us frightened

But that's what

This verse reminds us

That God has shown

His love

In that

Even when there's times

When there's darkness

When we're scared

By trusting in Jesus

He has given us

Light

He has given us

The way

To go

God has shown

His love

To us

In this way

So it's a wonderful thing

That God has shown

His love

Now we're going to move

And read

The second part

Of the Bible reading

And that's in

Ephesians

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

Chapter 3

We've seen how

God has shown

His love

We're now going to see

The strength

Of His love

And again

In these words

That we read

In Ephesians 3

There's a sense of

There's a prayer

Here for us

What Paul

Is praying

For his people

He says there

In verse 14

For this reason

I bow my knees

Before the Father

From whom

Every family

In heaven

And on earth

Is named

That according

To the riches

Of His glory

He may grant

You to be

Strengthened

With power

Through the spirit

In your inner being

So that Christ

May dwell in your hearts

Through faith

That you

Being rooted

And grounded

In love

May have strength

To comprehend

With all the saints

What is the breadth

And length

And height

And depth

And to know

The love

Of Christ

That surpasses

Knowledge

That you may be

Filled

With all the fullness

Of God

Now to Him

Who is able

To do far more

Abundantly

Than all that we

Ask or think

According to the

Power at work

Within us

To Him

Be glory

In the church

And in Christ

Jesus

Throughout all

Generations

Forever

And ever

Amen

Well we move

From exploring

The verse

In John 3

There

John 3

John 3:16

Verse 16

To exploring

Another part

Of God's word

This passage

In Ephesians

Again it's full

Of the love

Of God

And this prayer

That Paul has

For his people

That they may

Being rooted

And grounded

In love

May have the strength

To comprehend

With all the saints

That's everyone

What is the breadth

And length

And height

And depth

Of his love

What kind of things

Do you measure

There's different kinds

Of things

That we measure

In our

Day to day lives

For example

Many people

In this week

Were preparing

Baking

For having next door

After the service

I met one girl

In the co-op

Yesterday

He was buying

Ingredients

For baking

When they went

Home

And what do you

Use when you're

Baking a cake

You want to

Follow a recipe

And you want to

Make sure that

Everything's measured

Right and correct

So you measure

Everything out

Whether it's the

Flour

The sugar

The milk

Whatever it is

And you'll use

Things to measure

So you might

Use a spoon

Or a jug

Or a cup

And you'll put

The right measurements

Into the baking

That you're going

To make

You measure

Everything

So that it's

Correct

But I wonder

If we could

Measure

God's love

Or how

Would we

Measure

God's love

In that way

Well we think

Of measuring

For baking

We think of

Things that we

Use

For example

A cup

It might say

Put two cups

Of flour

Into the cake

So you measure

Two cups

Can we measure

God's love

In that way

By using

A cup

Well we explore

Another part

Of the bible

Psalm 23

And this psalm

Speaks about

God's love

For us

When the lord

Is our shepherd

And he says

I shall not want

And in that psalm

It says

My cup

Runs over

My cup

Is full

Of God's love

It flows

Over

You can't measure

God's love

With a cup

If you think

About building

Something

Maybe you're

Building a shed

Or a den

Or something

Like that

And you're

Working on it

Whoever's

Working with you

They'll want

To measure

The bits of wood

To cut them

To the right size

Of the windows

So that they'll

Fit in the space

For the windows

What do you use

To measure that

You'll use

A measuring tape

Won't you

To measure

The length

Of all of these

Things

But can we

Measure

God's love

Do you think

We could get

A measuring tape

And start measuring

God's love

Well we explore

The bible

And it tells us

We can't

Because in another

Psalm

Psalm 108

It says that

God's love

Is higher

Than the heavens

You couldn't

Measure it

Because it just

Goes on

There's no end

To it

So you couldn't

Use a measuring

Tape to measure

God's love

Does anybody

Like sport

Does anybody

Like running

Do you go

To athletics

Well if you're

Running races

They'll probably

Use a stopwatch

To time you

To see how long

You take

To run the race

Maybe you're

Trying to keep

A track

Of your PB

And beat it

Week by week

You use

A stopwatch

So do you think

We could measure

God's love

By time

To time

God's love

For us

Use a stopwatch

To time God's love

Well again

We look in the bible

We explore the bible

And it tells us

That God's love

Is from everlasting

To everlasting

It's no beginning

It's no end

So there's no end

To it

It's not

He's going to love us

For an hour

Or a few days

Or even a few years

It's an everlasting love

So we can't measure it

With a stopwatch

When we think of that

Verse we had at the start

God so loved the world

That he gave his only son

How do you measure

A love like that

You can't

You can't even

Put it into words

So often

It's a love

That's beyond

Understanding in many ways

But what the bible

Helps us to do

As we explore the bible

Is to know

This love

Even though

We can't

Measure it

We can know it

By believing

In the lord

Jesus Christ

And that's

Paul's prayer

Here

In Ephesians

That's what he's

Asking them

To pray for

That they may

Comprehend

That means

To know

And experience

With all of

God's people

The breadth

The length

The height

The depth

Of God's love

It's

Enormous

It's beyond

Measuring

It's but just

That we would

Know

This love

And we know

This love

Through

Knowing

Jesus

God's son

Because

Through faith

In him

This love

Is ours

It's for you

It's for you

It's for me

Through faith

We cannot

Measure it

Because it's

Beyond us

But we can

Know it

Because God

Has shown it

To us

It's a

Wonderful

Love

Well there's

One other

Aspect of

God's love

That we want

To think

About

And for that

We're going

To read

Another part

Of the

Bible

And it's

Some verses

From Romans

Chapter

Eight

Romans

Chapter

Eight

We're going

To read

From verse

Thirty

One

Down to

Verse

Thirty

Nine

Romans

Eight

Verse

Thirty

One

To

Verse

Thirty

Nine

What

Then

Shall

We

Say

To

These

Things

If

God

Is

For

Us

Who

Can

Be

Against

He

Who

Did

Not

Spare

His

Own

Son

But

Gave

Him

Up

For

Us

All

How

Will

He

Not

Also

With

Him

Graciously

Give

Us

All

Things

Who

Shall

Bring

Any

Charge

Against

God

Select

It

Is

God

Who

Justifies

Who

Is

To

Condemn

Christ

Jesus

Is

The

One

Who

Died

More

Than

That

Who

Was

Raised

Who

Is

At

The

Right

Hand

Of

God

Who

Indeed

Is

Interceding

For

Us

Who

Shall

Separate

Us

From

The

Love

Of

Christ

Shall

Tribulation

Or

Distress

Or

Persecution

Or

Famine

Or

Nakedness

Or

Danger

Or

Sword

As

It

Is

Written

For

Your

Sake

We

Are

Being

Killed

All

The

Day

Long

We

Are

regarded

As

She

To

Be

Slaughtered

No

In

In

All

In

All

In

All

These

Things

For

I

Am

Sure

That

Neither

Death

Nor

Life

Nor

Angels

Nor

Rulers

Nor

Things

Present

Nor

Things

To

Come

Nor

Powers

Nor

areas

Nor

Depth

In

moment

Are

Freffers

Now there's some maybe big words in that passage that you can't understand.

And if you've got any words and you're not sure what they are, there's a space there in one of the questions.

Words I didn't understand.

So if there's anything you don't understand in these words, write them down and maybe ask someone after the service.

But there are many words that we can understand in this passage.

And especially we see how the love of God is shown to us here.

It says there in verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Now when you think of exploring, people going to many different parts of the world, exploring.

Many of them had to face all kinds of difficulties.

It might have been wild animals, for example, that were dangerous and they didn't know what they were.

And they scared them or chased them at different times.

It may have been jungles, really thick with trees and plants growing up and it was really hard to get through.

You think of all kinds of places that people went.

Some went to the North Pole and the South Pole.

And they faced storms and snowstorms there.

All kinds of things.

All kinds of dangers and challenges.

And in these kinds of situations, maybe you can become separated from people who are with you.

Maybe you lose people along the way because it's so dangerous.

Well, this passage is reminding us that as we explore this world, as we go on and journey in this world,

and as we think about what God has done for us, we know that there's maybe many dangers and troubles that will come our way.

But it tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

So there's this wonderful reminder for us in these verses.

And as you have been coming to explore it and also to Sunday school, since they started back in this last year,

you will have been exploring God's word.

And as we think about exploring, we often think about coming to a destination.

And the destination we're coming to here as we conclude our service is to the place where God showed his love for us.

And it's a place called Calvary.

It was just outside Jerusalem.

And it was a place where God gave his son.

We've just come back from holidays, the Easter holidays.

You've just started back to school this week after these holidays.

And Easter holidays is a special time when we remember what God has done for us.

And so we are here today to think about, well, as we explore God's word, what do we want to see?

And what do we want to know?

We want to come and see the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Because this is the fulfillment of it.

That God says in verse 32, he did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all.

It's very similar to John 3, 16.

He gave his son.

He died for our sins.

And because of that great love, we have this security.

What does the word security mean to you?

You're secure.

Maybe, like we think of explorers.

Some people climbed great mountains.

And they would have used a rope as they were climbing up mountains.

Because that kept them secure, kept them safe.

You needed to have trust in the rope that you were climbing up.

You need sometimes to make things secure when gales are coming.

Otherwise, they're going to blow away.

So you tie things down.

You make them secure.

So let me tell you a little story about the time when we were living in Dumfries.

Who's got a trampoline?

Anybody got a trampoline?

Yeah, quite a few people.

You've got trampolines.

Or you've been on a trampoline.

You bounce around on a trampoline.

Well, we had a trampoline when we were in Dumfries.

And we had it out in the back garden.

We put it up in the summer.

It's not as windy in Dumfries as it is up here.

But sometimes the wind will be quite strong.

And you always were prepared for that.

So we used metal pins to tie the trampoline down.

Now, we put it up in the summer.

And the ground was very dry.

And when we were hammering the pins in, you thought, oh, that's secure.

That's firmly fixed.

And for months, children were playing on the trampoline.

And it was fine.

One day, as we were coming into the winter months, though, we were away from the house.

We were in the town.

And somebody phoned us, a next-door neighbor.

And they said, your trampoline's just taken off.

And we were, oh.

So we had to rush back home.

Now, luckily, the trampoline had just flipped over and stuck in a tree.

So it didn't fly away away.

We managed to get it back.

We started thinking, how did that happen?

I thought it was secure.

We'd hammered the pins into the ground.

But what we'd forgotten was, although the ground was hard and dry in the summer when we put it in,

it rains a lot in Dumfries.

And the ground had become very soft.

So the pins were no longer secure.

The trampoline was able to flip over in the wind.

I'm keeping an eye on a trampoline in our next-door neighbor's garden,

just in case that takes off any time soon as well.

But they can be quite dangerous when they take off because they're big.

And the wind will just blow them away.

But we think of things that we need to make secure.

Well, these verses remind us that with God's love, we have a great security.

That we are fixed firmly in Jesus.

So that no matter what troubles or persecutions or famines or dangers or rulers or powers or heights or depths,

it doesn't matter what comes our way, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

And that's where we want to come to today.

To realize that as we explore God's Word, as we hear all about God's Word,

how He has shown His love to us, how it's a love that we cannot measure because it's so huge,

it's a love that is secure, that nothing can take it from us as we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

So as we go on, and as you keep going to explore it, as we all keep coming to church and exploring and hearing of God's Word and God's love for us all,

that we would come to believe in God's Son.

That we might experience this love and know the great promise that He gives of eternal life.

So may God bless His Word to us.

So let's just again bow our heads in a word of prayer.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your great love to us.

How it's a love that you have not just told us about, but you have shown it to us by sending your own Son.

And we pray, Lord, that today and in all the days ahead, we will know and experience your love more and more.

That we will put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Your Word steadfast, immovable, secure.

Because it is not about us, but about you.

And you are the one who is able to keep all things secure and safe.

And so, Lord, may you bless your Word to us all and bless us all together, families and friends and all our church community, near and far.

May your blessing be on us.

May we know your goodness and mercy with us day by day.

And your blessing over all the work that we have thought of, the Sunday school and explorers, all the helpers and children.

We ask that you will continue to watch over us all together as we commit ourselves into your hands.

As we ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, we're going to conclude by singing to God's place in Psalm 36.

Again, it's on the back of the order of service.

Psalm 36, we're going to sing from verse 1 to verse 5.

Again, this is a reminder to us of God's love.

Your steadfast love is great, O Lord.

It reaches heaven high.

Your faithfulness is wonderful, extending to the sky.

Then verse 7.

How precious is your steadfast love.

What confidence it brings, both high and low.

Find shelter in the shadow of your wings.

The tune is Huddersfield, and we'll stand to sing these three verses to God's praise.

Amen.

Your steadfast love is great, O Lord.

It reaches heaven high.

Your faithfulness is wonderful.

All extending to the sky.

Your righteousness is very paid, like mountains high on steep.

Your justice is like ocean depths.

Both man and beast you give.

Our preciousness is your steadfast love.

What confidence it brings, both high and low.

Find shelter in the shadow of your wings.

Amen.

Amen.

Again, just a reminder that everybody's very welcome to come next door.

The children are going to go through, after the final prayer, go through this door, through to the hall.

And I'll go to the main door and meet folks there.

So, very welcome to come next door, immediately after this says.

We'll close with a benediction.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

miniscous net coast.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.