Psalm 130

¹ Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD;

² Lord, hear my voice.

Let your ears be attentive

to my cry for mercy.

³ If you, LORD, kept a record of sins,

Lord, who could stand?

⁴ But with you there is forgiveness,

so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

⁵ I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits,

and in his word I put my hope.

⁶ I wait for the Lord

more than watchmen wait for the morning,

more than watchmen wait for the morning.

⁷ Israel, put your hope in the LORD,

for with the LORD is unfailing love

and with him is full redemption.

⁸ He himself will redeem Israel

from all their sins.

Let’s pray together.

Holy God, mighty and loving father, you alone deserve praise! Creator and redeemer, we thank you for your grace.

Thank you that, as we’ve just read, with you there’s forgiveness. Thank you that you’ve justified us through faith in Jesus. That his life is given for ours.

Almighty God, we know you love us, but we don’t fully love you.

You call, but we don’t always listen.

We often walk away from neighbours in need, wrapped up in our concerns. We’ve even condoned evil, hatred, war and greed.

God of grace, help us admit our sin, so that as you move toward us in mercy, we may repent, turn to you and receive forgiveness.

We ask it through Jesus Christ our redeemer… AMEN

Having confessed our sin, hear the assurance of forgiveness from God's Word

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-9)

The Lord's Prayer

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

but deliver us from evil.

For the Kingdom, the power, and the glory are Yours

Now and forever. Amen.

⁵⁴ He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. ⁵⁵ And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. ⁵⁶ Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

⁵⁷ “Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? ⁵⁸ As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. ⁵⁹ I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.”

13 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.² Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

⁶ Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. ⁷ So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

⁸ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹ If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

Outline - for dealing with tragedy

1. Suffering isn't God's punishment for sin specifically...

2. Our response

Repent - generally

Repent - urgently

3. Find relief in the Cross

Spend a few minutes chatting about these questions if you're watching this with someone else. Or why not call someone from church and talk about them later today?

1. What did you learn from Luke 13:1-19? Any new insights?

2. What part of the sermon stood out to you the most and why?

3. Was your heart stirred? What challenged, encouraged, or helped you?

4. What needs to change by God's grace, as a result of hearing God's Word this morning?

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Praise Him, all creatures here below!

Praise Him above, ye heavenly hosts!

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

¹⁴ May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14)

"Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and your neighbour.

• Annual Congregational Meeting - Tuesday 28th April at 7:30pm via ZOOM

The Presbyterian Church of Queensland have enabled churches to hold their congregational "business" meetings online. Jeff will send out an email this week with details of the meeting and the invitation link to join in. We'll be using the Annual Reports produced back in March so if you've still got your copy you'll need that during the meeting. If you require a copy of the Annual Report please email us at info@mlpc.org.au and we'll forward it to you. Note that the meeting isn't just for "Formal" members. Anyone who has an interest in the ministry of Manly-Lota Presbyterian Church is invited to attend.

• Prayer Meeting - Sunday 26th April @ 5pm

We're going to try running our regular prayer meeting on ZOOM. Again we'll forward out a link to join the meeting via email in the coming week.

• Term 2 Teaching Series - Starts May 3...

Over the next couple of months we'll be working through the book of Ecclesiastes - part of the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. Why not get a head start and get reading the book?

• Finally! Aircondition is installed!

After lots of back and forth with the Heritage Team at Brisbane City Council, LDA Airconditioning, and a couple of Electricians, the air conditioning was installed this week. We're waiting for Energex to do some final electrical upgrade work this week. According to one of the members of the Committee of Managment who was present while the units were tested, they're whisper quiet... and it's nice and COLD!

Again! A big thanks to those who have generously donated specifically to make this happen. It's greatly appreciated! (Can't wait to gather as a church again... on a really hot Sunday!)

Here's a couple of pictures...