:00:31. > :00:36.Hi, and welcome to Brighton, my home town on this very special day
:00:36. > :00:40.Pentecost Sunday. Brighton is a beautiful, vibrant, cosmopolitan
:00:40. > :00:45.city with something for everyone, from the Pavilion, the peer and
:00:45. > :00:50.bebled beaches to the quirky shops of North Laine. For three weeks in
:00:50. > :00:53.May, the city streets come alive with creativity for the Brighton
:00:53. > :01:00.Festival, England's largest arts festival, which draws to a close
:01:00. > :01:05.today. I'm a member of Church of Christ the King with a founding
:01:05. > :01:13.church for New Frontiers, a family of church that's started right here
:01:13. > :01:18.in Brighton in 1978. We now have over 800 churches worldwide. Here
:01:18. > :01:23.in brighten we have a congregation of over a thousand people across
:01:23. > :01:33.three different sites in the city w. Over 200 children, even they have
:01:33. > :01:44.
:01:44. > :01:47.their own church. So join us for Hello, huge welcome to Church of
:01:47. > :01:51.Christ the King, especially if you're watching at home. Today is
:01:51. > :01:56.Pentecost Sunday. We're going to celebrate the birth of church and
:01:56. > :02:00.the ban John Smith's. We're going to sing some songs. The words glrb
:02:00. > :02:10.and the man Jesus Christ. We're going to sing some songs. The words
:02:10. > :02:10.
:02:10. > :10:02.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 472 seconds
:10:02. > :10:12.will be on the screen, join us. APPLAUSE
:10:12. > :10:17.
:10:17. > :10:22.Let's take our seats. It is so good to see you here at Church of Christ
:10:22. > :10:30.the King, especially if you're a new comer. My name's Joel. I'm one
:10:31. > :10:33.of the leaders here. 2,000 years ago, the disciples of Jesus Christ
:10:33. > :10:37.were gathered in Jerusalem after his -- after his death and
:10:37. > :10:40.resurrection, awaiting the coming of the promised Holy Spirit. Here
:10:40. > :10:45.on Pentecost Sunday, we're celebrating not the fact that
:10:45. > :10:51.Sweden won the Eurovision, but the fact that the Holy Spirit has come,
:10:51. > :10:56.sent from God, to empower his people to take the great message of
:10:56. > :10:59.Jesus Christ all around the world. The church was born on that day and
:10:59. > :11:04.here, in Brighton at Church of Christ the King, we're still living
:11:04. > :11:07.by, teaching that same message of Jesus Christ. The way we're going
:11:07. > :11:11.to celebrate today is we're singing songs of woreship and praise to God.
:11:11. > :11:14.Later on, I'll bring teaching from the Bible. We'll celebrate
:11:14. > :11:19.communion together, but we're also going to have a couple of stories
:11:19. > :11:21.of people who are in this church, telling us a bit about how Jesus
:11:21. > :11:25.has made such a dramatic difference in their lives. I'm going to
:11:25. > :11:32.introduce you now to the first of them. This is from my friend, Ruth
:11:32. > :11:36.Preston. Let's watch it together. I grew up in a Christian family. It
:11:36. > :11:40.was a lovely childhood. I couldn't have asked for better. I was filled
:11:40. > :11:45.with the Holy Spirit which was the most amazing experience, but when I
:11:45. > :11:49.was about 16 years old, I started feeling very negative about the way
:11:49. > :11:52.I looked. As a young girl, I think lots of girls feel like that. I
:11:52. > :11:55.felt that I wasn't experiencing the world around me. I wasn't
:11:55. > :11:59.experiencing the things that both my Christian friends and non-
:11:59. > :12:02.Christian friends were experiencing. When I was 19, I left the church. I
:12:02. > :12:07.wanted something from life. I wanted that relationship. I wanted
:12:07. > :12:13.to feel like I was worth something, but I wasn't getting that from
:12:13. > :12:19.church any more. I wanted to experience and that meant going out
:12:19. > :12:23.drinking with my friends, doing drugs as well. During that time, I
:12:23. > :12:26.felt empty, but I wasn't empty because I was constantly filling
:12:27. > :12:33.myself with the next thing I was doing, the next thing I was trying.
:12:33. > :12:36.All this time I really totally ignored God, because from my
:12:36. > :12:42.experience, he hadn't fulfilled me in the way that I'd wanted and so,
:12:42. > :12:47.I was trying to fill that up myself. I remember I'd been at a festival
:12:47. > :12:52.and I'd be up like all weekend. I had been drinking a lot, doing a
:12:52. > :12:56.lot of drugs. I felt that I'd gone too far. I felt like my mind had
:12:56. > :13:00.actually, I felt a bit unbalanced in my mind. My dad picked me up and
:13:00. > :13:06.was driving me back to Brighton. I just broke down crying and I said
:13:06. > :13:11."Dad, I really want to come back to God. This lifestyle isn't doing
:13:11. > :13:15.what I wanted. It does do it in the moment, but it doesn't last." It
:13:15. > :13:19.started ruining me. I decided to come back to church. It was this
:13:19. > :13:22.longing in my heart. I really felt like I needed God. I thought,
:13:22. > :13:26.actually, these things aren't working. I remember knowing God
:13:26. > :13:33.when I was younger, that's what I want from my life. I don't want
:13:33. > :13:36.this superficiality. I never regret coming back to the Lord. I feel so
:13:36. > :13:40.much better now knowing that actually my life has purpose,
:13:40. > :13:43.because I have a relationship with the Lord. I can built on that
:13:43. > :13:47.relationship. There's things he wants me to do that's so much
:13:47. > :13:57.better than drinking or doing drugs, which seem so ridiculous to me now.
:13:57. > :13:57.
:13:57. > :18:32.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 472 seconds
:18:32. > :18:35.Would you like to take your seats? The story of Pentecost is described
:18:35. > :18:38.in the Acts of the Apostles. I'll be reading from chapter two this
:18:38. > :18:42.morning. On the day of Pentecost all the
:18:42. > :18:45.believers were meeting together in one place. Suddenly, there was a
:18:45. > :18:49.sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it
:18:49. > :18:54.filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like
:18:54. > :18:56.flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And
:18:56. > :19:03.everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking
:19:03. > :19:06.in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. At
:19:06. > :19:10.that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in
:19:10. > :19:13.Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and
:19:13. > :19:20.they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the
:19:20. > :19:24.believers. They were completely amazed. "How can this be?" they
:19:24. > :19:28.exclaimed. "These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them
:19:29. > :19:30.speaking in our own native languages! Here we are - Parthians,
:19:30. > :19:33.Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia,
:19:33. > :19:36.Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the
:19:36. > :19:46.areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and
:19:46. > :19:49.
:19:49. > :19:59.converts to Judaism, Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people
:19:59. > :20:06.
:20:06. > :20:12.speaking in our own languages about That was the story of Pentecost.
:20:12. > :20:16.Ever since 2000 years ago, the Holy spirit has been pouring himself out.
:20:16. > :20:22.That passage talks about the Holy spirit as a rushing wind. Another
:20:23. > :20:26.metaphor is that of rain on dry land. We will sing a song which is
:20:26. > :20:30.a prayer to ask God to send the reign of his Holy spirit to our
:20:30. > :20:40.thirsty souls, to flood our lives and this church. Let's sing this
:20:40. > :20:40.
:20:40. > :25:23.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 472 seconds
:25:23. > :25:26.Please take your seats. We pick up the story of Pentecost
:25:26. > :25:29.again back in Acts chapter two. Then Peter stepped forward with the
:25:29. > :25:33.11 other apostles and shouted to the crowd, "People of Israel,
:25:33. > :25:39.listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful
:25:39. > :25:42.miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. But
:25:42. > :25:47.God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out
:25:47. > :25:53.when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you
:25:53. > :25:56.nailed him to a cross and killed him. But God released him from the
:25:56. > :26:01.horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not
:26:01. > :26:06.keep him in its grip. "God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all
:26:06. > :26:12.witnesses of this. Now he is exalted to the place of highest
:26:12. > :26:15.honor in heaven, at God's right hand. And the Father, as he had
:26:15. > :26:22.promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you
:26:22. > :26:26.see and hear today. "So let everyone in Israel know for certain
:26:26. > :26:34.that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and
:26:34. > :26:39.Messiah!" Peter's words pierced their hearts, and they said to him
:26:39. > :26:43.and to the other apostles, "Brothers, what should we do?"
:26:43. > :26:46.Peter replied, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God,
:26:46. > :26:54.and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
:26:54. > :26:57.your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This
:26:57. > :27:03.promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles
:27:03. > :27:05.- all who have been called by the Lord our God." Then Peter continued
:27:05. > :27:12.preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, "Save
:27:12. > :27:16.yourselves from this crooked generation!" Those who believed
:27:16. > :27:26.what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day -
:27:26. > :27:33.
:27:33. > :27:38.You'd be forgiven for asking, how is this relevant to any? Pentecost
:27:38. > :27:42.happened 2000 years ago, what does the Holy spirit have to do with me
:27:42. > :27:46.in the 21st century? I want to try my best to explain this, but I
:27:46. > :27:50.think I will start by showing you another story from a friend of mine
:27:50. > :27:55.whose experience of the Holy spirit has helped him to understand the
:27:55. > :28:05.love of God. I would like you to watch this testimony from a friend
:28:05. > :28:09.
:28:09. > :28:12.I've lived in Brighton all my life and I work for a bank. I have
:28:12. > :28:16.worked in a training consultancy firm for three years. I've filled
:28:16. > :28:20.my life with so many other things, if the tie was left with a deep
:28:20. > :28:24.sense that something was missing, something was not quite right.
:28:24. > :28:30.After a broken relationship, my life seemed to spiral a bit out of
:28:30. > :28:34.control. I could not find where to go for what to do. It was almost
:28:34. > :28:38.like I was really lost. I can remember, I was in a nightclub with
:28:38. > :28:44.a whole load of friends and yet still felt a deep sense of
:28:44. > :28:49.isolation, like I was on my own. I thought, I'm going to give prayer a
:28:49. > :28:54.chance. None of my family were Christians, none of my friends were
:28:54. > :28:58.Christians, I did not know any Christians. My only connection with
:28:58. > :29:02.Christianity was the film of Jesus of Nazareth with Robert Powell. I
:29:02. > :29:08.didn't know if I was praying to Robert Powell in this nightclub or
:29:08. > :29:17.if I was praying to Jesus! I just made a simple prayer, Jesus help me,
:29:17. > :29:21.I think I need you. My prayer got answered. Someone at the Bank
:29:22. > :29:29.invited me to CCK in Brighton and I was amazed by the people's warmth
:29:29. > :29:33.and friendliness and openness. Their faith in Jesus seemed to make
:29:33. > :29:36.a real difference in their lives, how they lived their lives, how
:29:36. > :29:41.they worked it through. They seemed to have something I didn't have and
:29:41. > :29:47.I wanted to investigate more. I can remember praying a very simple
:29:47. > :29:51.prayer this time, which was a prayer to receive Jesus, to receive
:29:51. > :29:58.forgiveness and to make a new life. My future wife became a Christian,
:29:58. > :30:04.we got together, and within a year we got married. We have had five
:30:04. > :30:10.incredible children. Whereas I used to find meaning and significance in
:30:10. > :30:20.relationships and my career, I found it in Jesus. Jesus has filled
:30:20. > :30:26.this deep thirst and emptiness that I've heard Phil tell that story
:30:26. > :30:30.many times. I still find it a moving example of God working in
:30:31. > :30:36.somebody's life. Let me talk about love. It's at the heart of what it
:30:36. > :30:40.means to be human. Decade after decade, we sing about love, we make
:30:40. > :30:44.movies about love, write books about love, write poems about love.
:30:44. > :30:48.It's at the heart of human experience, yet you have to ask the
:30:48. > :30:54.question: What is the meaning of it? How do we explain its
:30:54. > :30:58.existence? In a world without God, love is really just a random
:30:58. > :31:03.accident. Love in a world without God, where there's no meaning or in
:31:03. > :31:09.the words of the great -- great atheist Richard Dawkins, there's no
:31:09. > :31:13.design, no purpose, no evil, no good, just blind, pittiless
:31:13. > :31:18.indifference. In such a world love has to be reduced just to chemical
:31:18. > :31:23.imbalances. The biochemists are good at explaining what's going on,
:31:23. > :31:29.our Seratonin levels are out of whack. Dopamin, adrenaline levels,
:31:29. > :31:35.it's like going temporarily insane when we do what we call "falling in
:31:35. > :31:39.love". Some breakthrough scientists are getting into the idea that
:31:39. > :31:45.pheromones play a role. Those are the chemicals that spread aroma
:31:45. > :31:48.that our subconscious picks up. It might remind us of what our parents
:31:48. > :31:52.smell like. You don't have to hold hands that the point. I'm not
:31:52. > :31:58.saying the science is wrong, I'm saying I don't think that sells a
:31:58. > :32:03.lot of Valentine's cards. I know when my wife asked me if I love her,
:32:03. > :32:07.I didn't say "Well, you've certainly activated my Seratonin
:32:07. > :32:11.levels". That's had an effect on my consciousness and you may
:32:11. > :32:16.interested and encouraged to hear thaw smell like my mum. Last Shadow
:32:16. > :32:21.I wouldn't have got anywhere that way. I'm talked about romantic love,
:32:21. > :32:26.what about the more serious kinds of love, the self-giving,
:32:26. > :32:32.sacrificial, heroic love that we need to take very seriously. Love
:32:32. > :32:38.is very hard to explain from a Godless angle. But the Bible gives
:32:38. > :32:41.an expansion, when it says "God is love" in 1 John chapter four.
:32:41. > :32:44.That's a wonderful thought the requested that God is love.
:32:44. > :32:50.Everyone would like a God of love. That's precious to us. But think
:32:50. > :33:00.about it, it doesn't make sure, -- Sheffield Wednesday surely. How
:33:00. > :33:03.
:33:03. > :33:08.You can't do love, marriage, without more than one person.
:33:08. > :33:14.Here's the extraordinary thing about the Christian God, he is
:33:14. > :33:18.actually Father, Son and Holy Spirit, one God, three persons,
:33:18. > :33:22.three persons working together, loving one another, being a
:33:22. > :33:28.friendship, fellowship, a community, before we even came along, God was
:33:28. > :33:32.love and God is love. The Bible tells us the story of how this God
:33:32. > :33:38.has worked through history together, conspiring to bring people like you
:33:38. > :33:42.and me into this wonderful circle of love. The way he's done it is
:33:42. > :33:46.astonishing and glorious. The Father originating the plan, the
:33:46. > :33:51.Son, becoming a man and suffering and dying for the plan to bring us
:33:51. > :33:56.back to God and the Holy Spirit, who comes to make the love of God
:33:57. > :34:01.real in our lives. Real, so we can feel it. Becki's going to lead us
:34:01. > :34:03.in a song now, which talks about the reality of God's love, known
:34:03. > :34:13.through Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our lives.
:34:13. > :34:13.
:34:13. > :35:31.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 472 seconds
:35:31. > :35:41.# Christ in me, my hope and my glory, my heart surrendered in
:35:41. > :35:41.
:35:41. > :35:48.woreship to my God and king # Jesus, you're the holy promise
:35:48. > :35:56.# Poured your blood out for us # Rose again
:35:56. > :36:06.# And all my sins are now forgiven and my life is hidden
:36:06. > :36:12.
:36:12. > :36:22.# Saved through Jesus Christ # Jesus, when I stand in glory,
:36:22. > :36:27.I'll be finding you # Christ in me, my hope and my
:36:27. > :36:37.glory # My certainty
:36:37. > :36:41.
:36:41. > :36:51.# My heart surrender to your mercy, to my God and king
:36:51. > :37:12.
:37:12. > :37:22.# My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' love and roichousness
:37:22. > :37:32.# Christ in me my hope and my glory, my certainty
:37:32. > :38:06.
:38:06. > :38:16.# My heart surrendered in woreship # My hope is built on nothing less
:38:16. > :38:16.
:38:16. > :38:20.than Jesus' love and roichousness - - righteousness. #
:38:20. > :38:25.Let's take our seats again. Becki was singing to us and I was talking
:38:25. > :38:31.about how God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit are all
:38:31. > :38:36.involved working together to bring this love of God to us and Jesus
:38:36. > :38:40.talked a bit about this in John chapter 16, when he told his
:38:40. > :38:45.disciples at the point at which he was departing from them, well I'll
:38:45. > :38:51.read it, "In fact, it's best for you that I go away. Because if I
:38:51. > :38:55.don't, the helper won't come. If I do go away, then I will send him to
:38:55. > :38:58.you." He's talking about the Holy Spirit. Listen, if you were one of
:38:59. > :39:02.those disciples at that time, you would have been shocked by what he
:39:02. > :39:07.was saying, because these were people who had given up everything
:39:07. > :39:10.to follow Jesus. They'd given up their careers, they'd said goodbye
:39:10. > :39:14.to loved ones to be with Jesus. For years, they followed him. They
:39:14. > :39:19.learned to love him and accept his teaching as the basis of their
:39:19. > :39:25.lives. Suddenly, he's turning round to them and saying "Bye, from now
:39:25. > :39:29.on I'm not going to be with you and it's better if I go." Which sounds
:39:29. > :39:33.almost kolous. Imagine if your husband, -- callous, imagine if
:39:33. > :39:38.your husband or wife said that to you. Imagine if a colleague turns
:39:38. > :39:42.and says, it's best if I leave. You'd want to say, how is that best
:39:42. > :39:47.for me? Jesus is saying to them, when the Holy Spirit comes to you,
:39:47. > :39:51.it will be as though I'm here, as though I've never left. He will
:39:51. > :39:56.take the things you love about me and make them known to you,
:39:56. > :40:00.wherever you go. You'll take with you the presence of God. Now the
:40:00. > :40:05.thing is, Jesus wasn't just saying that to those men in that room. He
:40:05. > :40:10.was really offering it to the whole world. Earlier on in John's Gospel,
:40:10. > :40:15.chapter seven, Jesus stood up in a public place and spoke out to the
:40:15. > :40:20.crowds around him. "On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus
:40:20. > :40:27.stood and shouted to the crowds." He didn't say this in a cathedral,
:40:27. > :40:34.synagogue or temple. "Anyone who is thirsty may come to me. Anyone who
:40:34. > :40:39.believes in me may come and drink, for the Scriptures declare rivers
:40:39. > :40:43.of living water will flow from his heart. "These words were spoken to
:40:43. > :40:47.the world. These words are spoken even to you. They should be heard
:40:47. > :40:50.in the shopping Malz and town centres and through the media
:40:50. > :40:54.outlets and in the concert halls and the football stadiums. They
:40:54. > :40:57.should be heard around the world, because they're beckoning the world
:40:57. > :41:03.to come and find their thirst quench in Jesus. Whoever you are,
:41:03. > :41:08.whether you feem worthy or unworthy, whether -- feel worthy or unworthy,
:41:08. > :41:12.whether you're rich, poor, black, white, young old, old. Whether
:41:12. > :41:17.you've got all kinds of experience or whether you feel completely
:41:17. > :41:23.innocent and naive about the world, Jesus asked the world to come and
:41:23. > :41:27.drink. He says bring your thirst to me. Do you know what it is to feel
:41:27. > :41:31.really thirsty? When I was a kid I used to play indoor football and
:41:31. > :41:35.after I would spend ages at the cold tap. I had a friend who went
:41:36. > :41:40.to a bottle that he thought was water, but it was mixed with bleach.
:41:40. > :41:48.He had to have his stomach pumped. Right thirst, wrong drink. The
:41:48. > :41:53.Bible never actually chields -- chides us for our thirst. It
:41:53. > :41:58.doesn't say it's wrong to have desire for fulfilment and
:41:58. > :42:03.satisfaction. That's the way God made you. This may a surprise to
:42:03. > :42:06.you but you have no idea how happy God wants you to be. Maybe you've
:42:06. > :42:10.never thought of it like that. Perhaps you've had an experience of
:42:10. > :42:13.religion. Maybe you grew up going to Sunday school or something in
:42:13. > :42:18.your early days which switched you away from Christianity. I would
:42:18. > :42:24.call it like being vaccinated. So many people have been vaccinated
:42:24. > :42:28.against Jesus. You get given a toothless version of a disease so
:42:28. > :42:31.your immune system is alerted and armed against the real thing when
:42:31. > :42:36.it comes to you. So many who've had some experience of religion, they
:42:36. > :42:41.see Jesus coming and fend him off. Not realising he's the one able and
:42:41. > :42:46.uniquely qualified to offer you the living water you so crave. All of
:42:46. > :42:53.us will find ourselves thirsty and Jesus talked about this with a lady
:42:53. > :42:58.in an early stage in John's Gospel. He said to her, verse 11, "Anyone
:42:58. > :43:01.who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. Those who
:43:02. > :43:06.drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a
:43:06. > :43:11.fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving eternal life." That
:43:11. > :43:14.expression that maroon sailors use, water, water everywhere, not a drop
:43:14. > :43:18.to drink. Life can be like that, you can find yourself looking for
:43:18. > :43:23.thing that's look like they'll satisfy, but they're not fresh
:43:23. > :43:28.water. They're salt water. They make you more thirsty. We know a
:43:28. > :43:32.lot about salt water. It's corrosive. In the previous days car
:43:32. > :43:36.dealers used to say they knew which cars came from Brighton, because
:43:36. > :43:41.the salt would cause rust. This was before the modern car paints, but
:43:41. > :43:44.down at the seafront, the reedgeencey buildings that look so
:43:44. > :43:49.elgant, have to be paintsed with special paint to stop the corrosion.
:43:49. > :43:55.Maybe we all know what it is to whitewash our souls, our dry,
:43:55. > :44:00.craggy, cracked souls., with relationships, sexual experience,
:44:00. > :44:04.like this woman that Jesus met, like people who look for drug
:44:04. > :44:10.experiences, look for financial success, who look tone hapbs their
:44:10. > :44:14.career, as a way of -- to enhance their career, as a way of trying to
:44:14. > :44:19.replenish their thirsty souls. But you're still thirsty. These may be
:44:19. > :44:24.gifts from God but they're not God. And Jesus is uniquely able to give
:44:24. > :44:28.you this life, this living water from the Holy Spirit. We're talking
:44:28. > :44:32.not about theory. I'm trying to give you stories and Phil is giving
:44:32. > :44:38.stories and Ruth earlier gave her story of real change, real
:44:38. > :44:42.experience of the love of God, not simply nice ideas. One of the
:44:42. > :44:47.disciples of Jesus, who actually wrote the part of the Bible I've
:44:47. > :44:52.been reading from, John's Gospel, was there when Jesus was cuetified.
:44:52. > :44:57.One of the things he records -- crucified, one of the things he
:44:57. > :45:02.records Jesus saying from the cross are the words "I'm thirsty". That
:45:02. > :45:07.may seem a strange thing to record. But it's profound. Because Jesus
:45:07. > :45:13.never really was thirsty in the way I'm talking about. He'd only ever
:45:13. > :45:18.known perfect Frenchship with his father, God. -- friendship with his
:45:18. > :45:23.father God. He never caused himself the grief and sorrow that you and I
:45:23. > :45:27.have caused ourselves by turning away from God. Jesus has only ever
:45:27. > :45:34.known a deep bond of friendship and joy, love, eternal love with the
:45:34. > :45:39.Father. Listen on the cross, he changed places with us. So he
:45:39. > :45:44.became stricken. He became cursed. He became dry. He became cracked.
:45:44. > :45:49.He became thirsty. As he carried all of our shame, guilt, all of our
:45:49. > :45:53.greed and selfishness and lust and wickedness, all the stuff that
:45:53. > :45:58.makes us unhappy and even the people around us unhappy. Jesus
:45:58. > :46:03.took it upon himself and voluntarily became thirsty upon the
:46:03. > :46:09.cross, so that we could come and be refreshed. Do you hear what I'm
:46:09. > :46:16.saying to you today? The Son Of God has opened up a river for the
:46:16. > :46:26.nations of the world to come and drink freely of the mercy, the
:46:26. > :46:27.
:46:28. > :46:32.forgiveness and the eternal joy The last words of the Bible, the
:46:32. > :46:38.very last words, can be found in revelation 22. Let me read you a
:46:38. > :46:46.verse from it. Let anyone who he is this a calm, let anyone who is
:46:46. > :46:51.thirsty come, let anyone who desires, drink freely. Come freely,
:46:51. > :47:00.drink from the water of life. This is God's offer to us. We are going
:47:00. > :47:04.to take communion right now and Jesus said in Luke's gospel to "do
:47:04. > :47:07.this in remembrance of me"' - so as you come forward to take the bread
:47:07. > :47:11.and wine, let's remember Jesus on the cross, and all he's done for us.
:47:11. > :47:14.While we're doing this, we're going to sing a song that speaks about
:47:14. > :47:17.this big, open invitation to all humankind, to come let your thirsty
:47:18. > :47:27.souls be satisfied in Jesus. So come forward and take the bread and
:47:28. > :47:53.
:47:53. > :48:03.# Come on, you vagabonds, there are winners and losers. For # Come on,
:48:03. > :48:04.
:48:04. > :48:10.you travellers, tired from the # Off come on, you questioners,
:48:11. > :48:15.looking for answers and searching for reasons off and sense in it all.
:48:15. > :48:25.# Come on you for them and come on you Brogan, strengthen your body
:48:25. > :48:38.
:48:38. > :48:46.and drink for your soul. # At the wonder of love and the
:48:46. > :48:54.power of grace. # Come those who worry about houses
:48:54. > :48:58.and money. # From every station and
:48:58. > :49:05.orientation, the helpless, the hopeless, the young and the old.
:49:05. > :49:10.# Come at the feast, there's room at the table.
:49:10. > :49:14.# With thinking of all kindness who welcomes us in with the wonder of
:49:14. > :49:24.love and the power of grace. # At the wonder of love and the
:49:24. > :49:58.
:49:58. > :50:08.#, all believers and dreamers and if come on you wrestlers just
:50:08. > :50:23.
:50:24. > :50:29.#, all of those at the end of the road.
:50:29. > :50:33.# You fiery debaters and religion haters, accusers and abusers, the
:50:33. > :50:40.hurt and ignored. # Come to the feast, there's room
:50:40. > :50:45.at the table. # With the king of or kindness who
:50:45. > :50:49.welcomes us in with the wonder of love and the power of grace.
:50:49. > :50:59.# The wonder of love and the power of grace.
:50:59. > :51:21.
:51:21. > :51:28.# The wonder of love and the power You may say, how do I find this
:51:28. > :51:31.living water of the Holy Spirit for my soul? Turn to Jesus in your own
:51:31. > :51:38.heart today and choose his love over all the other things in your
:51:38. > :51:46.life. Trust him, give your life over to him, put your faith in him
:51:46. > :51:51.today and become his disciple. To cleanse you, to renew and to
:51:51. > :51:56.refresh you with the wonder of his Holy spirit. Become his disciple.
:51:56. > :52:00.You will find that even though it is a huge step to turn to Jesus
:52:00. > :52:05.Christ, you will kind of which she may be years ago because of the
:52:05. > :52:10.difference he makes. I will pray a prayer and I am going to read it
:52:10. > :52:14.out. It is very simple, but it may be that you are thinking, I need to
:52:14. > :52:20.put my trust in Jesus Christ, how can I do that? Why did you pray
:52:20. > :52:30.this prayer with me. You don't have to say it out loud. Just let these
:52:30. > :52:31.
:52:31. > :52:35.words be your words, as I read them out. Father, thank you for the love
:52:35. > :52:38.you have for me in spite of what I deserve. Thank you for your son who
:52:38. > :52:41.took the blame and the shame for all my selfishness, greed and
:52:41. > :52:45.hostility to you, and for the fact that I had chosen other things
:52:45. > :52:49.instead of you, and thank you for the Holy Spirit who makes your love
:52:49. > :52:52.real in my life. I realise that I am broken and lost without you and
:52:52. > :52:57.I confess that I need you today, to forgive me, to renew me with the