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OPENING ANNOUNCEMENT 大象传媒 Radio 4 and 大象传媒 Sounds. Sunday Worship today from Northern Ireland is led by members of the New Irish Youth Choir with music from the concert at the end of their Summer Residential. The Choir Director, Jonathan Rea, explores how God equips us听 and the service begins with the song God so loved.

Script of Programme:

Please note: This script may not exactly reflect the transmission. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors.

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MUSIC God So Loved

CHOIR MEMBERS
Good morning and welcome to today鈥檚 service, which is led and sung by the New Irish Youth Choir. You join us as we finish off our annual residential, which always ends with a concert.

Across our junior and senior youth choirs, we have 130 members, aged 10 to 18. Going on residentials gives us a chance to develop as musicians, while making new friends who share the same interests. We work hard on the songs, but we also relax and have fun together, with some crazy games, songwriting competitions and a little bit of Zumba every morning.

But there鈥檚 another dimension to what we do. Because New Irish Youth Choir exists to encourage people to worship God. So our songs are focussed on worship. And while we鈥檙e on residential, we also do Bible studies and listen to talks that help us understand who God is, and what He has done for us.

Let鈥檚 pray together as we begin today鈥檚 service.

PRAYER
Lord, as we worship you today, we thank you for the world you have made, and your deep care for every person in it. We praise and honour you, because you are mighty and powerful, but you are also full of grace.

And so we come before you in humility, confessing our sins鈥� knowing that you have promised to forgive us for the bad things we should not have done 鈥� and for the good things that we did not do. We thank you that your mercy is new every day, and that we can trust in your forgiveness.

Help us this day to honour you with our words and deeds, and to trust in you for everything.

And whether we are in trouble, or on top of the world, help us to know that our security is in You, and that in You we can find true rest.

May all who hear this service be encouraged and blessed. Amen.

MUSIC Come Find His Rest

JONATHAN REA

As we embark on the start of a new academic year, I fondly recall how, in my childhood, my father used to love to tease me at this time of the year, by pointing out the Back to School signs in the shops. I still remember those reluctant days out with my mother, where after playing for weeks in the sunshine in my shorts, we would go to buy the new uniform, stationery, lunchbox and all the other paraphernalia that the school told us was essential for the term ahead. But my parents were doing this, primarily because they wanted me to be properly

equipped. They didn鈥檛 want me to go without the stuff I needed for school life.

In today鈥檚 service, we are going to explore how God our Heavenly Father equips us for the whole of our lives. Listen to the words of Peter:

READER

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

JONATHAN

Let鈥檚 not miss the words of this promise 鈥� The Lord has given us everything we need to live a godly life. Now, often when we think about our needs, We tend to have quite temporary ideas about what will make our lives better. And so we long for things like money, education or good health.

But today we鈥檙e going to look at 3 parts of the Bible that show us that when God meets our needs, he doesn鈥檛 necessarily do it on our terms. Instead, he chooses to give us Himself. He calls us to a deep relationship with Him, and then promises his unique presence with us, equipping us for life and godliness by being alongside us each day.

MUSIC The Lord is By My Side

JONATHAN

We鈥檙e going to hear a well-known story now from Mark鈥檚 Gospel. It鈥檚 about a time when the disciples of Jesus thought he had lost the plot, but then they ended up learning an important lesson about his authority, and how Jesus鈥檚 power can equip us for life.

READER

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, 鈥淟et鈥檚 cross to the other side of the lake.鈥� So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind. But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, 鈥淭eacher, don鈥檛 you care that we鈥檙e going to drown?鈥�

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 鈥淪ilence! Be still!鈥� Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, 鈥淲hy are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?鈥�

The disciples were absolutely terrified. 鈥淲ho is this man?鈥� they asked each other. 鈥淓ven the wind and waves obey him!鈥�

JONATHAN

One of the reasons why I love this story is because of the

Entirely understandable Angst in the behaviour of the Disciples. They did what I often do when I鈥檓 worried about something 鈥� they identified the problem, and then multiplied it by making the assumption that nobody cared about their plight. But they鈥檇 momentarily forgotten who they were with.

When the disciples saw that storm, their basic instinct was to panic. But when Jesus saw it, he just told it to go away 鈥� and miraculously it did. And everyone who witnesses this miracle is suddenly, shocked by the power of Jesus - this group of people have been following him and watching his signs and wonders for some time, but this particular manifestation of His power gives them a newly elevated respect for his authority, because the natural world responds to His words. They thought that what they needed was a nice calm night on the water 鈥� catch some fish, get safely home - but instead they got to be part of

an incredible drama, in which Jesus taught them a much deeper lesson about Himself.

Authority isn鈥檛 an especially popular concept in our society. Most of us have a basic reluctance to do as we are told. But there are definitely situations where we need someone to take control. We all know to be quiet during the safety demonstration in an aircraft. And those disciples knew enough at the start of the evening to know that they needed to get Jesus鈥檚 help, when the storm took hold. But they were full of unnecessary anxiety, and even accused him of not caring about them. They couldn鈥檛 have been more wrong.

As Christians get to know Jesus, we ought to trust His authority more. And in this story, we are reminded, that when we are full of panic and anxiety, His capacity to save us, far exceeds the wildest horizons of our imagination. His authority is without question - And he can calm the storms in our minds. What a comfort it is to be under the authority of one who is there for us, to give us everything we need.

MUSIC Jesus Calms the Storm

JONATHAN

The Bible teaching on our choir residential this year came from Ephesians chapter 6, where Paul uses a wonderful metaphor to show us how to be resilient in the Christian life, and to live in victory when our faith is under attack.

READER

Put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In

addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

JONATHAN

The context in which Paul wrote this letter is interesting. He was in prison for telling people about Jesus. But rather than go quiet, he chose to spend his time writing to young churches to inspire them in their faith. This God-inspired metaphor is often used to encourage developing Christians in their faith, even though few of us get to see anyone in a suit of armour on a regular basis.

It鈥檚 entirely possible that Paul might have written this under the watchful gaze of a fully helmeted Roman solider. 鈥� And because our circumstances are quite different, we might find the metaphor about armour a little distant from our own lived experience. But it鈥檚 actually quite a helpful picture when we understand that the images of swords and breastplates are not the main point. They simply represent the much more valuable resources that God gives us. He gives us faith to carry with us, to defeat the enemy of doubt. He gives us the gospel of peace so that we can spread it to other people. He gives us the Holy Spirit who speaks to us through the Bible with God鈥檚 full authority. And he defends us with truth and righteousness.

Again - God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. And because of this, we can be passionate in the pursuit of justice and truth, standing firm as followers of Jesus. We can assert our reliance on the resources God has provided, and stand confident in our faith because we know God keeps His promises.

MUSIC Nothing's Gonna Stumble My Feet

JONATHAN

The final example of God providing for our needs takes us to the defining moment in history when Jesus was executed on a shameful cross. Of course, the cross is that central symbol of the Christian faith, which carries so much meaning. People often wear crosses as jewellery to identify themselves with Jesus. But let鈥檚 revisit the scene to explore once again how the cross is another moment of God providing us with everything we need for life and godliness. Listen to this incredible sentence, which again comes from the writings of Peter:

READER

Jesus personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.
By his wounds you are healed.

JONATHAN

Discussions of sin are never popular. And It can be easy for us not to notice the damage that sin does. But the Bible pulls no punches about how severe our problem is. The God who loves us says that our sin will ultimately separate us from Him 鈥� that it will lead us to death and destruction. The God who gives us everything we need to live life properly cannot tolerate sin.

But the Good News of the Christian Faith is that this same God sent His only Son to deal with our sin, and give us new life. And by the wounds of Jesus on the cross, we are healed.

Again, God is challenging our understanding. Instead of giving us the lollipops of short-term pleasure that we think we need, he gives us Himself again, along with everything we need to live a godly life. Jesus

personally carries our sins away through His death on the cross, and God is so pleased that sin is finally dealt with, that he raises Christ to live forever as the object of eternal worship.

What shall we do about this God who keeps on giving us Himself?

Our response to this question defines our lives.

We can walk away from God鈥檚 repeated attempts to give us Himself and find ourselves separated from Him and all the hope He offers.

Or we can choose to accept God鈥檚 incredibly generous offer of new life, where He equips us with everything we need to enjoy His presence forever. The work is His, but the choice is ours.

MUSIC What He's Done

PRAYERS WITH MUSIC He Will Hold Me Fast

READER

Let us pray.

Thank you God for the gift of music and the pleasure of singing. Help us to remember that our voices are from you, and always to honour you in the things we say and sing.

We pray for everyone in education at the start of this new term, and especially for young people who are anxious about starting a new school or university. Help us always to keep our desire to learn.

We ask for your protection from despair for all who struggle with anxiety and other mental health issues. Give them confidence in your power that can help us with every aspect of our lives.

We pray for families who are finding things challenging at this time due to financial problems, health issues or relational difficulties. We pray for the protection of all who are vulnerable. Be near to those who most need encouragement and help today.

We bring before you the situations of conflict in our world, where war is tearing families apart. Please equip those who are trying to find peaceful solutions which will save lives in dangerous places.

READER

Thank you for being part of today鈥檚 service.
As you go about your day, may you reflect on God鈥檚 promise to give you everything you need for life,
And let your heart be full of singing. Amen

MUSIC Sing a Song to the Lord

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