Bethel Baptist Church
Worship Service @ Home
11 July 2021
Previous Service
Service available on Youtube, or as text (below), or for audio see the Podcasts page.
Welcome
The next Elders and Deacons meeting is on Thursday 22nd July at 7pm
Special Celebration
Agreed by Elders and Deacons that we should postpone this from 31 July 2021, new date to be arranged.
Church Weekend-Away
‘The rescheduled church weekend away has been confirmed for 3rd – 5th June 2022. If you didn’t sign up back in 2019/20 but would like to go please contact Andrea for an information letter and sign up form.’
Testimony
“My husband Kareem was a wonderful man. He lived a normal life, but his heart was in heaven. He told me once that I would be the wife of a martyr, but I didn’t believe him. He was 43 when he died. We were holding hands just outside the church, (I was two and a half months pregnant), when the blast went off. I was lifted into the air and thrown to the ground. Kareem died and I had to have 6 hours of surgery but the baby didn’t survive.
They told me I was going to die also, but I didn’t, so God must have a purpose for keeping me alive. A lot of times I break down and lose it completely, but in those moments I resort to prayer. Sometimes I feel like there is a volcano inside me, but when I read the Bible the volcano is calmed. I’m especially comforted by Isaiah 55:9: “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
Before Kareem died, he told me, “If anything happens to me, I want you to go to the church and serve.” I loved Kareem very much and only wanted to do his will. I feel that God has taught me I should look to Him instead, because He, not Kareem, is the source of my life. When I go to church, I feel a joy that is inexpressible and can’t be compared to anything else, even spending time with my husband. It’s the unexplainable joy that can only come from God.”
Mary, an Egyptian Christian (From Sat-7 magazine).
Worship
Word
Read: Romans 1:1-7
Who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom. 1:4
Introduction
Referring to Jesus as the Son of God is not simply a title but a recognition that Jesus Christ is truly God. The devil doesn’t want anyone to believe this,
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Cor. 4:4
Why do Christians believe that Jesus Christ is God? It is:
- Stated clearly in Scripture
- Demonstrated by the things He did
- The Truth revealed to us
(1) Stated clearly in Scripture
John gives the reason he wrote his gospel,
These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life…
John 20:31
Just a few verses before this John has included the account of Thomas who moved from a place of doubting Jesus, to a full confession:
Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!“Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:27-29
When Cornelius wrongly mistook Peter as divine, Peter immediately informed him of his mistake:
As Peter entered the house, Cornelius met him and fell at his feet in reverence. But Peter made him get up. “Stand up,” he said, “I am only a man myself.”
Acts 10:25-26
But here Thomas has just confessed Jesus as “my Lord and my God” and Jesus accepted his worship and gave him further instruction. At the very start of his gospel, John establishes the fact of Jesus’ deity:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...
The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth …
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is Himself God and is in the closest relationship with the Father, has made Him known.
John 1:1, 14, 17-18
Then we have the letters of the apostle Paul who previously had opposed Christ as a blasphemer until Jesus revealed Himself to him on the road to Damascus, e.g.
Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, for ever praised! Amen.
Rom. 9:5
Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage.
Phil. 2:6
While we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Titus 2:13
There are many other Scriptures stating the same truth that Jesus Christ is God, the Son of God.
(2) Demonstrated by the things He did
In Matthew 14:13-21 we read of Jesus feeding “five thousand men, besides women and children” (14:21). This is then followed by the account of Jesus walking on water, rescuing Peter from drowning, and causing the wind to die down as He got into the boat. The reaction of the disciples,
Then those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, ‘Truly you are the Son of God’
Matt. 14:33
and we can understand that. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, after he had been in the tomb for four days, He explained beforehand what He was going to do:
Jesus said, “This illness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it“.
John 11:4
Again, there are many more Scriptures we could look at, all testifying that Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, is God.
(3) The Truth revealed to us
When Peter confessed,
“You are the Messiah the Son of the living God”
Matt. 16:16
he was commended by Jesus:
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”
Matt. 16:17
Everyone who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God with us, has had a revelation from our Father in heaven through the Holy Spirit. Both of these testify that Jesus is the Son of God. Even God the Father testified to this –
A voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.”
Matt. 3:17
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love”.
Matt. 17:5
The Spirit’s testimony,
Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God … and it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
1 John 5:5-6
Without this revelation of the Father we will be like the religious leaders of the time accusing Jesus,
“You a mere man claim to be God.”
John 10:33
Conclusion
Let us bow down and worship Jesus Christ the Son of God, God with us!
Questions for Discussion
- What does it mean to you that the Son of God loved you and gave Himself for you?
- When was it revealed to you that Jesus was the Christ the Son of the living God?
- People believe Jesus was a good man, a prophet, even a son of God but Why do they struggle to believe Jesus is God, the Son of God?
- We read of the works Jesus did in the Scripture that point to His divinity, what about the ones in your life?
Quote for the week
“Our ordinary abilities will never worship God unless they are transformed by the indwelling Son of God”
Oswald Chambers
Verse of the week
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.
Heb. 1:3
Let’s Pray
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Immanuel, God with us, we worship You, Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. You are the Eternal One through whom all things were created, the King of kings and Lord of lords, our great High-Priest in heaven. You rule and reign and of the increase and greatness of Your government and peace there will be no end.
Lord let Your kingdom come and Your will be done here on earth as it is in heaven as You continue to build Your church. You are the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation; all things have been created through You and for You. Glorify Your name here on earth with the glory You have in heaven, Amen!