Welcome to Dingwall & Strathpeffer Free Church Sunday January 11 th 2009 God Calls Us to Delight in Christ and to Share His Hope.

Psalm 100:1-5* (p. 131) 1 Shout to the LORD with joy, all who to earth belong. 2 Adore the LORD with joyful hearts and come to him in song.

Psalm 100:1-5* (2/4) 3 Know that the LORD is God; he made us as his own. We are the sheep for whom he cares— his people, his alone.

Psalm 100:1-5* (3/4) 4 Enter his gates with praise, his courts with thankfulness. Your praises gladly sing to him; his name for ever bless.

Psalm 100:1-5* (4/4) 5 For God the LORD is good; his love is ever sure. His constant truth and faithfulness through every age endure.

Prayer & Scripture Reading

Scripture Reading Ezekiel 33:1-16 (p. 864)

Ezekiel 33:1-16 Ezekiel a Watchman 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 Son of man, speak to your countrymen and say to them: 'When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not take warning and the sword comes and takes his life, his blood will be on his own head.

Ezekiel 33: Since he heard the sound of the trumpet but did not take warning, his blood will be on his own head. If he had taken warning, he would have saved himself. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of his sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.'

Ezekiel 33: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will be saved yourself.

Ezekiel 33: Son of man, say to the house of Israel, 'This is what you are saying: Our offences and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?' 11 Say to them, 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?' 12 Therefore, son of man, say to your countrymen…,

Ezekiel 33:1-16 … 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to fall when he turns from it. The righteous man, if he sins, will not be allowed to live because of his former righteousness.' 13 If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done.

Ezekiel 33: And if I say to the wicked man, 'You will surely die,' but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right— 15 if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die. 16 None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live. __________

Psalm 30:1-5 (p. 240) 1 LORD, I will thee extol, for thou hast lifted me on high, And over me thou to rejoice mad’st not mine enemy.

Psalm 30:1-5 (2/5) 2 O thou who art the LORD my God, I in distress to thee, With loud cries lifted up my voice, and thou hast healèd me.

Psalm 30:1-5 (3/5) 3 O LORD, my soul thou hast brought up, and rescued from the grave; That I to pit should not go down, alive thou didst me save.

Psalm 30:1-5 (4/5) 4 O ye that are his holy ones, sing praise unto the LORD; And give unto him thanks, when ye his holiness record.

Psalm 30:1-5 (5/5) 5 For but a moment lasts his wrath; life in his favour lies: Weeping may for a night endure, at morn doth joy arise.

SERMON: What the Watchman Said… Ezekiel 33 (p. 864) “How then shall we live?” Ezekiel 33:10 (KJV)

Recapping the book of Ezekiel in Five Words God’s GRACE; God’s GREATNESS; God’s GRIEF God’s GLOBAL CONCERN; God’s GLORY.

1 – There is Comfort in Knowing the Dangerous God 1-20 Two dangers: a poor ‘watchman’; or a ‘watchman’ whom we choose to ignore. 11: How does God want us to live? Repentance is the answer to our past, and our comfort for the future. The gospel according to Ezekiel 33:16

2 – There is Danger in Knowing the Comforting God Too many people are calm and careless about God. But there is a news-flash from Jerusalem to shake them up (21). What does verse 22 mean? At last, Ezekiel’s mouth is opened with a message of HOPE. 24: But is our message just “water off a duck’s back”? Do we confront unbelief?

Chris Wright – on Measuring our Effectiveness in Witness ‘He must judge the success of his ministry, neither by the numbers listening, nor by their enthusiasm for his words, nor by their lack of enthusiasm for his words, but by the practical response of changed lives.’ The Bible Speaks Today Commentary on Ezekiel

Psalm 143:7-12* (p. 187) 7My spirit fails, O LORD; Come quickly to my side. Hide not your face from me, Lest to the pit I slide. 8Let morning bring your love anew, For I have put my trust in you.

Psalm 143:7-12* (2/3) To you I lift my soul; Show me the way to go. 9I hide myself in you; LORD, save me from my foe. 10My God, teach me to do your will; May your good Spirit lead me still.

Psalm 143:7-12* (3/3) 11For your great mercy’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life; And in your righteousness Deliver me from strife. 12In love, put all my foes to shame; Destroy them, for I bear your name.

God Calls Us to delight in Christ and to Share His Hope.