We are here to praise You

Notes of Meeting 15 January 2013

Thank you Lord for taking us just as we are and accepting of our praise and worship.

Ephesians 1 v 3-23

3 Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all the spiritual blessings of heaven in Christ.
4 Thus he chose us in Christ before the world was made to be holy and faultless before him in love,
5 marking us out for himself beforehand, to be adopted sons, through Jesus Christ. Such was his purpose and good pleasure,
6 to the praise of the glory of his grace, his free gift to us in the Beloved,
7 in whom, through his blood, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins. Such is the richness of the grace
8 which he has showered on us in all wisdom and insight.
9 He has let us know the mystery of his purpose, according to his good pleasure which he determined beforehand in Christ,
10 for him to act upon when the times had run their course: that he would bring everything together under Christ, as head, everything in the heavens and everything on earth.
11 And it is in him that we have received our heritage, marked out beforehand as we were, under the plan of the One who guides all things as he decides by his own will,
12 chosen to be, for the praise of his glory, the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he came.
13 Now you too, in him, have heard the message of the truth and the gospel of your salvation, and having put your trust in it you have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise,
14 who is the pledge of our inheritance, for the freedom of the people whom God has taken for his own, for the praise of his glory.
15 That is why I, having once heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus, and your love for all God's holy people,
16 have never failed to thank God for you and to remember you in my prayers.
17 May the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you a spirit of wisdom and perception of what is revealed, to bring you to full knowledge of him.
18 May he enlighten the eyes of your mind so that you can see what hope his call holds for you, how rich is the glory of the heritage he offers among his holy people,
19 and how extraordinarily great is the power that he has exercised for us believers; this accords with the strength of his power
20 at work in Christ, the power which he exercised in raising him from the dead and enthroning him at his right hand, in heaven,
21 far above every principality, ruling force, power or sovereignty, or any other name that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
22 He has put all things under his feet, and made him, as he is above all things, the head of the Church;
23 which is his Body, the fullness of him who is filled, all in all.


Acts 5 v 27 - 42
27 When they had brought them in to face the Sanhedrin, the high priest demanded an explanation.
28 'We gave you a strong warning', he said, 'not to preach in this name, and what have you done? You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and seem determined to fix the guilt for this man's death on us.'
29 In reply Peter and the apostles said, 'Obedience to God comes before obedience to men;
30 it was the God of our ancestors who raised up Jesus, whom you executed by hanging on a tree.
31 By his own right hand God has now raised him up to be leader and Saviour, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins through him to Israel.
32 We are witnesses to this, we and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.'
33 This so infuriated them that they wanted to put them to death.
34 One member of the Sanhedrin, however, a Pharisee called Gamaliel, who was a teacher of the Law respected by the whole people, stood up and asked to have the men taken outside for a time.
35 Then he addressed the Sanhedrin, 'Men of Israel, be careful how you deal with these people.
36 Some time ago there arose Theudas. He claimed to be someone important, and collected about four hundred followers; but when he was killed, all his followers scattered and that was the end of them.
37 And then there was Judas the Galilean, at the time of the census, who attracted crowds of supporters; but he was killed too, and all his followers dispersed.
38 What I suggest, therefore, is that you leave these men alone and let them go. If this enterprise, this movement of theirs, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord;
39 but if it does in fact come from God you will be unable to destroy them. Take care not to find yourselves fighting against God.' His advice was accepted;
40 and they had the apostles called in, gave orders for them to be flogged, warned them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.
41 And so they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, glad to have had the honour of suffering humiliation for the sake of the name.
42 Every day they went on ceaselessly teaching and proclaiming the good news of Christ Jesus, both in the temple and in private houses.


Luke 10 v 17-24
17 The seventy-two came back rejoicing. 'Lord,' they said, 'even the devils submit to us when we use your name.'
18 He said to them, 'I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
19 Look, I have given you power to tread down serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you.
20 Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice instead that your names are written in heaven.'
21 Just at this time, filled with joy by the Holy Spirit, he said, 'I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children. Yes, Father, for that is what it has pleased you to do.
22 Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.'
23 Then turning to his disciples he spoke to them by themselves, 'Blessed are the eyes that see what you see,
24 for I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.'

Prayer for the gift of Faith

Let us not lose sight of Jesus, who leads us in our FAITH and brings it to perfection (Heb 12 v 2)

Lord Jesus, have mercy on me a sinner. Open my heart to your gift of faith. Give me light that I may have eyes to see You, ears to hear You, and a heart to understand love and obey You.
Remove any obstacles in me to your saving grace, and enable me to surrender completely with joy and gratitude to You as my Lord and my God. I repent of any rebellion, whether known or unknown.
Mother Mary, model of faith and Spouse of the Holy Spirit, help me now with your prayers, and lead me to your Son Jesus. Amen