WELCOME
Communion Worship Service
Good morning First Baptist. We welcome you to worship this morning. Be sure to remember your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week as you pray for them, and as the Holy Spirit brings their faces to your mind. Be sure to also connect with them in the ways that are possible. And if you have any questions or would like to talk to someone, please don’t hesitate to contact the church through the church telephone and leave a message. (519-733-4144)
Songs
Call to Worship
When the world is dark and full of hate and fear,
when we cannot see God
we will turn on the light.
When we cannot find our way back to love and peace
we will turn on the light.
When our vision dims due to the darkness within
we will turn on the light.
Christ opens our eyes with the gift of sight.
The light of the world is Jesus Christ.
Come and worship the one
who brings sight to the blind.
Hallelujah! Praise God, He is the light of the world!
Good morning FBK – and welcome to worship
Songs
Prayer
Prayers of Confession & Assurance:
Forgiving God, in a world filled with so much pain,
we would rather shut our eyes and be blind
than see things as they really are.
Grant us the courage to face the reality of our world,
and give us the strength to bring your light
to those who walk in darkness.
Help us see others as you see them,
and forgive us when we do not trust you enough
to open our eyes to the possibilities before us.
Heal our self-inflicted blindness, O God,
and lead us in the footsteps
of the Light of the World,
who reveals your glory in his life,
his teachings, and his love.
In his holy name, we pray. Amen.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON:
Christ came to lead us in paths of righteousness
and to guide us through our lives.
Christ is with us in times of danger and times of peace.
The goodness and mercy of God
are given to us each and every day of our lives.
God forgives us for our failings, upholds us in love,
and leads us to the place
that Christ has prepared for us.
Believe in your heart that God loves you
and forgives you.
We believe!In the light of God, all is made clear. We see how much God loves us and how much God loves all people. We see Christ, the Light of the World, in Scripture and in our lives; and although we once were blind, now we see!
Blessed Assurance
I Wanna' Be Like You, Dad
Today's Message: Pastor Dave Page
Many of you may recall the popular song “Cat’s in the Cradle” sung by Harry Chapin. The words of that song always bring a tear to my eye because I am a father, and over the years I have had to travel so much and not always been there like I should.
If you’re not familiar with the song…its basically about a father who is too busy to spend time with his son. Though the son asks him to join in childhood activities, the father always responds with little more than vague promises of spending time together in the ‘future’. While wishing to spend time with his father, the son starts to model himself on his father’s behaviour, hence the verse wishing to be “Just like him.” The final two verses reverse the roles, where the father asks his grown-up son to spend time with him after his graduation, and then later come to visit, but the son responds that he is now too busy to find the time for his father. The father then reflects that they are both alike, saying “My boy was just like me.”
There’s something about wanting to be just like Dad – or Mom – I don’t think this is a gender thing at all…I can recall when my brother and I were young boys growing up on the farm – we’d be out in the yard of our house attaching various implements on our bicycles because we wanted to be like Dad….
Paul starts in this very place this morning in a manner of speaking, look what he says here:
“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children”
Ephesians 5:1.
Unlike the father in our song this morning, Our heavenly Father has nothing but time and absolute promises for us rather than the vague ones of the lyrics we heard. Here’s why I wanted to start the message this morning with this kind of imagery for you – look at the last part of vs 1 – ‘dearly loved children’
It’s really easy to read through some of this part of Paul’s practical teaching, that we’ve looked at last week and will look more at this week, and get a little overwhelmed. Maybe some of you have heard my words or read Paul’s letter and thought, wow – I can’t do all of those things….I can’t help myself – I’m never gonna live up to that…If that’s you this morning, If any of that describes your mindset or outlook as your working your way through this, I want you to focus on these words right here – ‘dearly loved children’. Do you think God doesn’t know you struggle…Do you think he doesn’t see that you’re trying but sometimes slip up…. remember who you are!!!
…. he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ
Eph 1:5.
He chose you before the creation of the world…
that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people
Ephesians 1:18.
You are the riches of His inheritance glorious inheritance…
We are His – you are His in spite of what you have or have not done….
The word Paul uses for love here is Agape – love – object of one’s affection, one who is loved, beloved, dear
And so because of that we Imitate – we follow His example. That means we act like Him; we respond how He would respond to situations.
But, notice: We don’t imitate God to become His children, but because we are His children. You see, most religions teach you that if you imitate God you will become His child. The Gospel says, “Imitate God because you are His child!” and this makes all the difference. Here’s why, when a religion tells you to imitate someone—be like Mohammad; be like Buddha; be like Jesus or the pope or the saints—when it does that, but doesn’t give you the heart to desire what they desire, imitation becomes wearisome! That’s religion. In fact, more than we need to try and act like God, we need to love, in the depths of our hearts, what God loves. We need to follow Him in how we’ve seen Him live in Jesus and how the Holy Spirit equips and convicts us to live as believers.
And so Paul says there 3 things you need to consider if you really want to live like an imitator, a follower of God:
- Point 1 – Walk in Love
- Point 2 – Walk in Light
- Point 3 – Walk in Wisdom
If we wanna be like Dad….
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 5:1-20
1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord.
11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise,
16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Point 1 – Walk in Love
Paul says “walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
— Ephesians 5:2.
You see, we follow God’s example of walking in love b/c that’s what He showed us in sending His son – Jesus.
When you study the Gospels, you see how love burst through every part of Jesus’ life . You see it when the woman caught in adultery is brought to him. Rather than join in her humiliation and condemnation, he spoke to her like she was his daughter … words of compassion and forgiveness. Where are those that accuse you? Why? Because he loved her.
You see it when He weeps with Mary and Martha over Lazarus’ death. Jesus shows us he feels our deepest pain.
You see it when he weeps for us when He enters into the horror and hell in the Garden of Gethsemane and when His body was ripped open by Roman whips and pierced by Roman nails and hung naked in the sun to die at Calvary.
What explodes off of every page of the Gospel is tender love …for us. God’s love for us – the object of His affection – You
So Paul goes on and says:
But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
— Ephesians 5:3–5.
Look at this word, improper – Paul is saying that Sexual immorality and covetousness, greed, obscenity, these things do not fit in with the character of God! I love how the NIV translates that verse,
“there should not even be a hint of immorality …”
What does that mean?
“Not even a hint” means that we don’t flirt with it. The question our society is always asking is, “How far is too far?” That very question, for some people, betrays that they don’t get the point. You’re trying to see how close you can get to impurity without falling into it! When the point truly is to be as pure as possible- that’s one of the most counter culture things I can say today. For example, sexual immorality – that’s the word porneia – the root from where we get our English word pornography
The porn industry is not actually made up of a bunch of creepy people slinking around dark alleys like our stereotypes would imply. In reality, it is as corporate as any other corporation. Think Shell Oil, Walmart, or Telus: “Annual profit from the global porn industry has been estimated at up to $90 billion. One effect of the pandemic is that the porn industry saw it’s biggest growth rates ever!! (To put that into context, Hollywood nets about $10 billion a year.)”
“Not even a hint” means that we don’t fill our minds with things like this and call it entertainment, it’s incredibly dangerous.
By the time the average kid graduates from high school, they will have seen no less than 14,000 depictions of and references to sex.
Not even a hint means it should not be in your mind …
“Not even a hint” means you don’t talk and joke about it either!
Vs.4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place but instead let there be thanksgiving.
I really struggled for a while this month with this one. Because I thought, do I really violate this? Sometimes when I’m watching a show on TV, if I’m not careful I can find myself in an ‘autopilot’ kind of way thinking “crude” things are funny. Am I in violation to this verse? It may be poor taste, but that’s not what he’s talking about here …
What Paul is saying, and he’s being specific about our choice of words again, is that our language and behavior should not be like that of people who are enslaved to lust, and driven by self-serving desire—there should not even be a hint of that in us, but instead we should sound like people who rejoice in and love God!
Point 2 – Walk in Light
Look at vs. 8 – this kind of living – immoral, greed filled, self centered – that’s darkness…
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them
Ephesians 5:8–11.
What’s going on here? It’s simply this. When we follow God’s example, Jesus, we realize there’s no point in investing our lives in the things of this world and in sinful passions because they have no future. That kind of behaviour is not logical, think about this:
If there is a God, then He rules for eternity. Ultimately, only those who live for Him will last for eternity, and everyone else will lose everything.
And if I also know that if there is a God, and that His way is best, and ultimately He would make me happy, then why wouldn’t I live life His way. Now, some of you might be thinking – I don’t know if I feel that way today though – this is hard, it’s so different than what the world tells me is OK.
Can I be honest with you, I didn’t always think, “Wow, I can see and feel how much better God is than what I see in the world around me. But I believed it, I trusted in my faith and now, 30+ years later, I feel it. I promise you, I see how much more joy there is in God. But I didn’t always feel that back in the 80’s when I first believed… We grow in our spiritual maturity, that’s part of God’s plan for us.
The reason I say that is because I think some of you are wondering what’s wrong with you … you don’t ‘feel’ it . You’re like, “You say there is more joy in God but it seems to me like there is more joy in some other things. It makes me happier.” Yes, at first, sometimes, but what I’m encouraging you to lean into is a faith commitment.
Following the example of God means saying, “God, l believe you are God, and that means I see you as eternal and only those who live for you will know eternity; and I also see you as good and the source of all goodness, and only when I fill myself with you will I be satisfied. I may not ‘feel’ either of those things now, but I choose faith and I choose to live my life according to that.”
A life of Faith is living now in a way that you know will allow you to live for eternity.
Point 3 – Walk in Wisdom
That’s the Wisdom Paul is talking about here in vs. 15.
Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16
We are like the moon … the night is dark. But every night the moon reflects the sun that is no longer visible. In darkness, when you can’t see the sun, you can know it is there by how it reflects off of the moon.
When you chose to live following God’s example, you are being the light that is most often bringing wisdom in to the darkness around us. You know what happens to us physiologically, when it get’s dark – we get sleepy….This is something we need to constantly be aware of – don’t get caught sleeping – literally, Paul says wake-up in vs 14!
We must understand that in Paul’s day, the believers at Ephesus were bombarded with all sorts of false doctrine and idolatry. The temple to Diana was there. The influence of the Roman culture was very prevalent in that day. Also, there were Jews who sought to corrupt the Gospel with the legalities and rituals of the law. They refused to accept a relationship with God based on grace alone, apart from the keeping of the law. Paul wanted the Ephesian Churches to understand the opposing influences around them and be wise concerning the will of God and His plan for the church and their individual lives.
This is an important truth that cannot be over-emphasized in our day. We are the ones who are responsible to understand what the will of God is. It is our obligation to obtain that understanding and live by it.
verse 17 The word – syniēmi – understanding, means to “grasp, perceive, or comprehend.” All believers are responsible to grasp and comprehend the will of God in their lives.
The truth though is that many today seem to believe that it is impossible to fully know the will of God. They think that if someone isn’t able to reveal God’s will for their lives then they will never know or understand it.
Why is it such a problem in our day? Why do we see so many who appear to have no idea concerning the will of God for their lives? One reason, not the only one, but one reason is a lack of concern on their part. God’s will is available and it is understandable. But, we are the ones who need look in the right places if we are to find and understand it. Self-help Bestselling books or podcasts don’t have the answers here….not that they can’t be helpful…but God’s will for our lives is only found in one reliable place
God’s will is found in His Word. If you want to be wise concerning the will of God, seek His will within His Word. It will teach us how to live and maintain our lives. It provides instruction for our faith and Christian practice.
When Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy he encouraged him with these words:
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth
— 2 Timothy 2:15.2
And he added:
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
2 Timothy 3:16.
Our Praise (19)—
speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord
— Ephesians 5:19.
For some of you, I know there isn’t a lot of singing and melody in our hearts these days. Part of our worship must include our praise to the Lord.
Who else should have a song to sing? Who else has received what we have? Who else is promised eternal life and the blessing of God? Surely if anyone ought to have a song within their hearts, it ought to be the church.
Do you possess a song of praise as you reflect on the goodness of God?
I think most all of us would agree that we are living in dark and dare I say evil days. Even in these difficult times we have an obligation and responsibility to the Lord.
Are there areas in your life that need attention? Are you filled with the Spirit and walking in the ways of God?
Some of you are like, “Yeah, but I don’t get this … I don’t have a song coming alive in my heart, if anything, the music in me is more like a groan of anguish and pain ”
OK, I get that…
The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus Christ put a new song in the hearts of His people. He quotes Psalm 22 which ends by saying, “I have put a new song in the midst of the congregation …” Psalm 22 is what Jesus quoted on the cross. Psalm 22:1 is “My God, My God …”. Psalm 22 is a song of abandonment. Where are you?
On the cross, Jesus was forsaken by God for our sin. Here’s the thing: Because He sang a song of abandonment for us, We can sing a song of reconciliation and joy.
You want to know where to start? That’s where. Realize what God has done to rescue you.
We are going to begin our journey to the cross together next week on Palm Sunday. My prayer for you this morning and through the coming Easter season is that you have an encounter with this truth:
God loves you and sent His Son who died to save you from yourself.
And do you know what that means – it means that no matter how badly you mucked up your life, He never quit loving you. You need to receive that … what we celebrate symbolically at the table this morning is what will put a new song in your heart.
Receive what He did for you, in your place, and the power of God, through the Holy Spirit will come alive in your heart…and in your walk with Him, together you will find yourself ‘being just like Dad’…
COMMUNION:
Gathered around the communion meal, we give thanks for food that truly satisfies.
Gathered around the Lord’s table, we give thanks for the gift of eternal life.
Gathered around the heavenly banquet, we give thanks for Jesus Christ our Lord.
Bread
Paul tells us “On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it.
Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” AND HE SHARED IT WITH HIS DISCIPLES-HIS FRIEND
Cup
In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, ‘This cup is a symbol of my covenant with you. Remember me when you drink from it’ AND THEN HE SHARED THIS WITH THEM ALSO.
PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING:
Great God of all the things you have created we take the simplest food and find you among us as we eat together.
In the great story of Jesus we hear your love for us being retold and we remember all Jesus has done for us because of that love.
Through the Spirit you set this bread and CUP apart to be used only as an image of you and your love for us.
For this gift of bread and wine that reminds us of all those other gifts you have given us- we JOIN with every person who has been at this table in every time and in every place AND GIVE THANKS.
Holy, holy, holy God, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory – Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of God – Hosanna in the highest!
And so we thank you that you have called us your children- sharing with us a love
that is more powerful than the universe and that you sit here with us AT THIS TABLE blessing us in FOOD and NEVER-ENDING PROMISES. Amen
“Through the broken bread we participate in His body, given for you
“Through the cup of blessing we participate in the new covenant Jesus gives.”
Take these elements and be thankful….
Song
Benediction
Go into the world, carrying the light of Christ into the darkness!
We go, with hearts full and eyes open!
Receive God’s love and care, and share that love and care with others!
We go, with eyes reflecting God’s light and hands open to share it!
May you walk in the light of Christ all the days of your life!
We will follow Christ wherever he leads us!
….In the name of Christ. Amen.
Have a great Week!