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well good morning all and welcome to our sunday worship public worship of the trinity west bromwich i'm neil robbie the vicar and if you're watching on youtube it will be afternoon by the time you hear this so welcome and i pray this service will be a blessing as we draw into the presence of the living god to hear his word to pray to him for the needs of the world and the church and to sing in our hearts this morning or today as we've now we're now into the fourth sunday of the tier v restrictions and we are quite tightly restricted in church we can still meet and the pcc decided this week to to remain open for the next three weeks unless situations change we need to make sure there are volunteers who can um usher and for the rugby family to be safe and well to come to church so at this point in time we continue to meet shall we begin with a prayer if you are at home the service sheet is available on the internet as usual and this week it is called the service title is being measured by the goodness and love of god of christ our opening words come from psalm 100 if you're able to and want to you may stand as we open the service shout for joy to the lord all the earth worship the lord with gladness come before him with joyful songs the lord is god it is he who made us and we are his we are his people the sheep of his pasture enter god's gates with thanksgiving and his course with praise give thanks to him and praise his holy name the lord is good his love endures forever his faithfulness to all generations amen amen do please be seated i have here my measuring tape and it's quite useful for measuring things i can even measure how tall i am when i stand here the answer is 196 centimeters or 6'5 and a bit we're going to look at a part of our reading today and think about how god measures us so in mark's gospel chapter 10 we pick up where we left off last week jesus has just finished teaching he's on his way a man ran up to him and fell on his knees if you've got the um sheet for okay you've got a picture there the young man kneeling before jesus position of humility and he asked him what must i do to inherit eternal life well he called jesus a good teacher why do you call me good jesus answer no one is good except god alone you know the commandments you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you shall not give false testimony you shall not defraud only your mother and father so there's the measuring stick that god uses to measure how good people are his law so this measuring stick or measuring tape reminds us that god measures our behavior according to his law and unlike the young man who says to jesus oh i've kept all this since i was a boy god calls us to confess our sins to him not being proud of being humble so should we do that together let's confess our sins to god almighty god our heavenly father we have sinned against you and against our neighbor in thought and word and deed through negligence through weakness through our own deliberate fault we are truly sorry and repent of all our sins for the sake of your son jesus christ who died for us forgive us all that has passed and grant that we may serve you in newness of life to the glory of your name amen through faith in christ alone the lord forgives all our sins heals the sickness of our souls the lord redeems our lives from the grave and crowns us for the glory and honor amen as god measures our behavior against his law we confess in our sins we remember that christ is the king the lord is the king he rules by his lord we're singing in our hearts rejoice the lord is king [Music] rejoice the lord is king [Applause] [Music] rejoice jesus save your grace the lord of truth and love when he had purged lift up your heart lift up your voice rejoice against [Music] [Music] without your voice rejoice [Music] is [Music] [Music] choice jesus the judge shall come and take his servants unto [Music] them [Music] we [Music] lift up your heart lift up [Music] lord we rejoice that you are king and lord we rejoice that you will soon return we'll allow trump to blast and take your servants home we pray you'd help us keep our eyes fixed on you and on the hope that we have in you in your name we pray amen our reading is from mark's gospel chapter 10 and david will be reading it david turner on the screen so let's pray before we read and then we'll hear god's word father we thank you that you are the speaking god the promise making god that your promises are sure and we pray as we hear your word today that you would help us not only to hear but to receive and to trust in your goodness and love in your name we pray amen irene today from mark 10 verses 17 to 34. as jesus started on his way a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him good teacher he asked what would i do to inherit eternal life what do you call me good jesus answered no one is good except god alone you know the commandments you shall not murder you shall not commit adultery you shall not steal you should not give false testimony you shall not defraud honey your father and mother tasha he declared all these i have kept since i was a boy jesus looked at him and loved him one thing you like he said go sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven then come follow me at this the man's face fell he went away sad because he had great wealth jesus looked around and said to his disciples how are this is for the rich to enter the kingdom of god the disciples were amazed at his words but jesus said again children how hard it is to enter the kingdom of god it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of god the disciples were even more amazed and said to each other who then can be saved jesus looked at them and said with man this is impossible but not with god all things are possible with god then peter spoke up we have left everything to follow you truly i tell you jesus replied no one who has ever left arm or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or feels for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age alms brothers sisters mothers children and fields along with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life but many of our first will be lust and the last first they were on the way to jerusalem with jesus leading the way and the disciples were astonished while those who followed were afraid again he took the child aside and told them what was going to happen to him we'd go into jerusalem he said and the son of man were delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law they will condemn him to death and will land him over to the gentiles who will mock him and spit on him flog him and kill him three days later he will rise you'll find in the order of service there's a bit to help us reflect on god's words an extra question i'm going to add to that let's think of those questions there are you a good person are you a good person are you humble and teachable will you inherit eternal life will you inherit your own life and does god love you and lastly added to that what sort of church does jesus want us to be that question keeps coming up from these passages so jesus answers those five questions in this passage and the answer is that he gives us a surprising not what we'd automatically think and he challenges us in unexpected ways just remember the context he's been teaching a huge crowd to the pharisees came up and challenged jesus tested him and he's exposed how proud and hard-hearted and arrogant and unteachable the pharisees were and then jesus as he was walking away from that confrontation a young man runs up to him or a man runs up and kneels down and asks him a question good teacher he says what must i do to inherit eternal life let's think about those headers is that a humble and teachable person asking that question it is a humble question isn't it the man recognizes that jesus is a good teacher and so he falls on his knees asking for information that he needs to be he's teachable what must i do what must i must i achieve in order to inherit eternal life that's the question is humble and teachable and we're going to see that questions can be humble in digital but the heart isn't quite in line with the questions we ask so jesus responds to that point with another point he says why'd you call me good no one is good except god alone now we're gonna hear jesus really clearly on this no one is good not one person not neil robbing he's not good and you are not good your friends and your family your neighbors and your colleagues are not good the bible tells us that we need to be good to receive eternal life and therefore as no one is good then no one can receive eternal life based on what we do and as god is good and jesus is good then jesus is god and jesus moves past that point he's established and no one is good and he proves the point by asking the young man to remember five of the ten commandments do not murder do not commit adultery do not steal do not lie honor your mother and father so remember that's the measuring stick or the tape measure of god's standards it says let's see how you do against my law and and the young man measures himself against god's law and says i've kept all these since i was a boy i'm a good person maybe that's the way you think about yourself maybe you take the tape measure and measure yourself and think well i'm i'm a good person well certainly compared to that one over there i'm a good person so we can say to ourselves i haven't murdered i haven't committed adultery i haven't stolen i haven't slept around i haven't lied i've honored my parents i'm a good person but notice that jesus left out the first four commandments and the last number 10 he left out and i think he he did that for a reason the reason is that he's going to show the young man that his heart isn't in the right place when he's measured by god's standard according to gods measurement the man falls short this man's got idols that he worships in his life so let's see how he gets on um next response from jesus says well okay then sell all your possessions give your give the money to the poor and then come and follow me and the young man's response was sadness he was grieved so this young man was not good after all he did not love god more than he loved his possessions he worshipped the idols of his stuff so he broke commandments one and two which was to love the lord your god and not worship idols and he also brought number 10 which was coveting possessions so he was a bit like a shiny apple with a worm inside or a fresh looking egg that when you crack it you find it's rotten on the inside he was like cut flowers that were put in a jar and were actually spiritually dead so this good young man turns out not to be good and that's the truth for all of us every single one of us is not good because we don't measure up to the commandments of god we are all a mixture of good and bad there are days when we have good days and days that are bad days but when we are measured by the perfect standard the law of god we will fall short at different times and in different ways so none of us is good enough to inherit eternal life i wonder if your response would be the same as disciples in chapter 10 verse 24. the disciples were amazed at his words they were being used they were befuddled they were confused they thought that being good is what god wanted from people i thought being rich was a sign of god's blessing jesus said i tell you the truth is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god so see if you see us on the screen i've got a collection of needles here i'm going to pull one out you see that can't really can you if i hold against my jumper there's the needle now over here i've got either a sheep or a llama or a camel here's the camel now can that candle go through that needle can't even see a needle the answer is no it is impossible for this camel to pass through the eye of this needle and that's the point jesus is making put the needle back jesus said i tell you the truth it's easier for a camel to pass along the order for rich man to enter the kingdom of god is impossible so these disciples are even more being used and befuddled now so what's the point the rich man can't enter the kingdom of heaven money come by eternity so don't think that just because you can make your life work well enough to hold down a good job and earn a good wage buy a house and doing things that work don't think that makes you good enough to receive eternal life our measuring sticks that we measure ourselves with are too short disciples ask the ultimate question in verse 20 6 the ultimate humble and teachable question who then can be saved who then can be saved no one they're thinking jesus looks in verse 27 said with man is impossible but not with god all things are possible with god it's impossible for us but what's impossible for us is possible for god nothing is impossible for god eternal life is and the young man got this right is an inheritance what must i do to inherit eternal life inheritance is a gift it is something that has to be given children have no right to inheritance parents can choose to give inheritance anyone who possesses anything can pass the positions on to whom they choose to pass it on to to family members friends charities anyone and so the humility that we need starts with us saying i am not good i do not deserve eternal life and the humility says thank you jesus for the gift of eternal life for the inheritance that i cannot buy or earn and again it's a gift that comes a high high price the eternal life that is a gift to us comes at the cost of the life of the son of god that jesus gave his own life look at the end of the reading from today verse 33 we are going up to jerusalem and jesus and the son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law they will condemn him to death hand them over to the gentiles who will mock him and spit on him flog him and kill him and three days later he'll rise again jesus died to make us humble and teachable are you good no are you humble and teachable jesus is death moves our hearts softens those hearts hard hearts will you receive eternal life anyone who remains proud and unteachable who thinks they're good enough for god will not enter eternal life so jesus died in order that we might see him in our mind's eye bleeding on the cross gasping for breath pouring out his life dying under the penalty of the law in order we might receive the free gift of eternal life in his name two important points on this first can we help others receive eternal life the answer is yes it's very easy if anyone you meet says i'm a good person i give to charity i've heard that twice in the last two weeks the response we have to give is to know i'm not a good person no one's good we need a savior and the savior's jesus it's the first thing we can help others become humble by saying no one is good secondly membership of jesus the membership of this church in all churches of jesus christ is not for good people not for people who say oh i'm righteous or i'm a good person now we're we're here as humble and teachable people everybody who's truly humble and teachable is welcome of holy trinity proudly arrogant need to be challenged and and seem need to help seem not good fourth question does god love you for the young man went away sad because jesus challenged him do you know what we don't like being told we don't like being told we're wrong do we we don't like being told that we don't measure up to god's law no one wants to be told that god is going to judge us the real problem for our generation and maybe even the younger generation in mind is this that we hate feeling sad we want to feel happy all the time and we don't feel happy when we're challenged by the way we live but jesus challenged this young man in love look we skipped that little bit so important jesus looked at this man verse 21 jesus looked at him and loved him jesus knew that when he challenged this young man the young man would be sad because jesus okay with making people sad he's okay when he says your behavior is out of order you need to fix up and he's okay because he does it because he loves us you see our generation thinks that we only show love by trying to make people happy jesus says i show you love by telling you when your behavior is out of order and he does it in a way that he's not angry or bitter or vengeful he's not manipulative or controlling he simply loves you and me he pities us when our lives are ruined by sin we are ruined our lives get ruined by breaking god's law he looks at us and he he looks as he searches our hearts he searches our thinking he witnesses the mess that we make of our lives day in day out and he loves us and in his deep love he challenges us to measure up to the law of god and if we ever doubt his love all we need to do is look at the cross and say jesus you're doing that for me to remove the penalty of sin from my life so are you a good person no let's be honest about it each one of us are we humble and teachable well if we accept that we're not good and need to learn from jesus then yes we are humble and teachable if we want to inherit our own life then the simple thing to do is to turn to jesus and thank him does god love you yes we can all stop guiding that love by looking at the cross and don't think he doesn't love us when he challenges our behavior and lastly what sort of church does god want us does jesus want us to be all of those things we just thought about he wants us to be a place where we love one another as we uphold the standard of god's law he wants to be humble and teachable to live with eternity and mind and our eyes on the cross as we know and experience his love and his grace and his mercy towards the undeserving people who do not measure up shall we pray good teacher what must we do to inherit eternal life jesus we acknowledge that as we stand measured by your law we each fail in different ways different times and are not good help us in the shadow of your cross to be humble and teachable and to trust that in you and through you faith in you alone by your grace alone by your death alone we might receive the gift of eternal life help us experience your love both from the cross and in your challenge towards us and may this church be a place lord that is filled with the humble and teachable people that you call us to be in jesus name amen let's continue to pray by praying the collect for this for sunday after epiphany lord god you know that we are in the midst of such dangers and that we cannot always stand upright because the frailty of our nature grant us strength and protection to support us in all dangers and carry us through all temptations through jesus christ our lord amen i've been affirming our faith as anglican christians members of the church of england by reading the articles of our faith and this sunday we're on the sixth article which is the sufficiency of the holy scriptures for salvation so we shall read this together holy scripture contains all things necessary to salvation so that whatever is not read therein nor may be proved there by is not to be required of any man that it should be believed as an article of the faith or be thought requisite or necrotistry to salvation in the name of the holy scripture we do understand those canonical books of the old and new testament of whose authority was never any doubt in the church what's this article telling us telling us is that the bible's all we need uh for our faith to be informed and um and and that we should be always looking to the bible and wrestling with it to to find out what should be believed and what is necessary for salvation we've been doing that this morning as we've looked at the time that jesus met the racial man we do every sunday we do small groups we do it privately in our private devotions and bible studies so as anglican christians this is the standard of our faith and you notice it says the canonical books the old new testament whose authority was never doubted in the church look at the contents page in the art in the article and these are listed there wasn't room in the order of service but our contents page the older new testament books the 39 books the old testament 27 books the new are listed there and they have authority in the church and that's never been in doubt there are other books which are listed in the third articles called the apocrypha or the um inter inter um testamental literature which is not authoritative but is interesting so um if you've got a bible as an apocrypha you'll find the book of tobit and other others there what i'm going to do now is pause so we can um remember the books the bible they're going to appear in a video on the screen with a song so just help us remember how rich and how diverse and how wonderful the the the books the bible are and and how they are for our learning so here's the books the bible song also we pray as we consider the source of our faith the bible almighty and eternal good you are enthroned above all powers and authorities and you rule in glorious majesty we thank you for giving us your word and we pray you send down your holy spirit upon all bishops and pastors and the congregations they serve and so that we may truly please you according to your measures pour upon us the continual dew of blessing grant us our lord for the honor of our advocate and mediator jesus christ amen we pray for churches in the uk and around the world as church family members learn to communicate the gospel and care for one another in difficult circumstances as we face ongoing isolation may we not lose our love for you our love for one another or our love for the lost and lonely help us to reach out and care in new and creative ways we pray especially for local churches here in west bromwich and we would find those new ways of sharing the good news of christ with our neighbors friends and family that we'd all be free to admit that we are not good we become more humble and teachable as we trust in jesus christ the gift of eternal life may we share his love and his grace lord in your mercy hear our prayer pray for the world there's so many people struggling with the effects of the pandemic with illness and bereavement unemployment and poverty we pray for the church in uganda following the re-election of president museveni we pray lord for mercy on that nation after the killing of many opposition supporters during the election campaign the house arrest of opposition leader bobby wine may all the people of uganda turn to christ as lord and seek to serve him and each other in love and humility gracious god we pray for the new anglican archbishop of uganda the most reverend stephen samuel kazimba we pray for him to continue as he started to be strong in the lord and take a stand against any injustice and corruption in the name of jesus whether in the church or in the land lord in your mercy for our community we pray for all local health care providers testing station staff gp practices and hospital staff lord as human beings we all have limited capacity and so we pray for energy and strength for anyone who's working beyond their normal limits lord we ask for a season of rest to fall upon us as you first humble us and then rebuild your people through the trials that we face continue to pray for families with children home schooling please give endurance and gentleness to patient to parents and the appetite for learning to children may there be good outcomes from the season of extra time together and we ask especially that families who find this time hard will be given the help they need please keep us all humble and teachable give us wisdom to know if we can support anyone in any way lord in your mercy hear our prayer we pray finally for the sake lord we thank you that you are a strong tower for all who put their trust in you may those who suffer find you to be the defense and may they know and feel that there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by whom and through whom we may receive health and salvation accept the name of jesus christ our lord in a quiet moment let's name before god all those we know who are in need of god's help at this time for all those who mourn we ask holy spirit that you would comfort them and point them to jesus whose death and resurrection bring us ultimate hope and healing in our grief lord in your mercy hear our prayer as our savior taught us so we pray our father in heaven hallowed be your name your kingdom come your will be done on earth as in heaven give us today our daily bread forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us lead us not into temptation or deliver us from evil the kingdom power and the glory are yours now and forever amen we have a gospel song to help us i think today to keep praying but also to keep drawing close to jesus knowing that he is our friend who has who has not only measured us and challenged us according to his law but also died for the penalty of that lord what a friend we have in jesus all our sins in greece to bear [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] everything a slightly shorter version of the hymn but it reminds us helpfully to keep praying when we are struggling the lack of peace let's look at some notices for the week ahead um if you came to church via the south side you'll notice scaffolding up um the contract started later than usual that was even expected because of the snow but anyway we've now gone scaffolding on site they'll be more put up on the north side this week and then work will start once the scaffolding is complete so please ensure that you keep a safe distance when work is in progress please ensure that you may use only the main door and exit and keep away from the construction site and when you come to church and if you see anybody on the scaffolding or acting suspiciously near the construction equipment when the contractor is not on site please just call the police and report that activity coming up for lent it's only two and a half weeks until lent begins on wednesday the 17th of february and we're going to have daily bill readings on the book of zechariah zechariah was a prophet at the time that god's people were being released from captivity in babylon at least from isolation in babylon and so if we come out of isolation i hope we do soon then the message of zechariah will be very appropriate for us as the book focuses god god focuses his people on the priority of listening to him obeying and worshiping him and it also gives us hope as zechariah very clearly prophesies the the coming of a righteous and gentle messiah king who would be pierced to save his people from their sin so watch this space for details how you can join either on zoom or on youtube uh zoom is on all through this week we've got um afternoon tea at four o'clock today on zoom we've got the bible study um on tuesday and wednesday if you want to join those please ask me or helen for details uh and then cake and chat meets on thursday morning at 11 00 a.m amanda's got the code you can drop in for 10 minutes or two hours whatever you like to do i think that's all we have notice for just now so let's finish our service by pronouncing god's blessing if you'd like to stand before god let's do that if you're able to stand and i'll bless one another eternal god and father by whose power we are created and by whose love we are redeemed guide and strengthen us by your spirit that we may give ourselves to your service and live this year in love to one mother and to you through jesus christ our lord amen may the grace of our lord jesus christ and the love of god and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with us all ever more amen brothers and sisters go in peace to love and serve the lord oh man