so so you you you Well, we welcome you, just two seconds here. Well, we welcome you in the Saviour's name to our Bible study, live here from the manse in Portlanone. And it is good to be with you this evening. And we want to thank you for all your prayers for us in recent days. I trust that you're able to hear me. Maybe some people will be able to make me aware of that. Put up a few thumbs there that I'm able to know that you can hear me well in your homes tonight. We welcome you in the Savior's name. Thank you for joining with us for Bible study this evening. Let's go to the Lord in a word of prayer before we come to God's precious word. Let's seek the Lord together, please, in a word of prayer. Let's pray. Our loving Father, we do come into thy holy presence, in and through the name of thy dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee for the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, the one who came and took on flesh and dwelt among us. We bless thee for the one who came to undo all that Adam did there in the garden of Eden, We praise thee, O God, for the fulfilment of all righteousness, and, Lord, the fulfilling of the law on our behalf, and then laying down his life as a ransom for many. We thank you for the death that he died, the blood that he shed, and Lord we praise you for the salvation and the redemption and the atonement, dear God, that he has secured for his believing people. We extend into the victory of the cross tonight, blessing ye that there is, dear God, victory in Christ. We praise ye that our sins, which were many, have been put away as far as the east is from the west and how glad we are that we are the redeemed of the Lord we praise thee for thy good hand upon us and all thy mercies that we receive from thee day by day hour by hour and moment by moment We rejoice, dear God, that we are thy children, and none can pluck us from the Father's hand. And as we come around thy Word tonight, may our souls be blessed, our hearts be challenged, and encourage us, even in the things of God we pray. Bless thy dear saints in whatever The state they're found in this evening. We pray, Lord, that you'll draw near to them in their homes. And Lord, be pleased, dear Father, to work even in these days. O God, we rejoice in our Saviour. We thus see that we can say that we love him because he first loved us. Come and fill me with thy spirit and bless, O God, our hearts around thy precious word and encourage us in the Lord. We offer prayer and through the Saviour's precious and worthy name. Amen and Amen. Let me invite you to take the Word of God and turn to Psalm 104 this evening. Psalm 104. and we'll read some verses here in the chapter. Thank you for joining us wherever you are in the world tonight. We appreciate that, and especially our own folk who are joining with us tonight, our normal folk from Portland home. We're really appreciative of your encouragement and your prayers in past days. Psalm 104, and we'll begin our reading at verse number one. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, Thou art very great, thou art clothed with honour and majesty, who covers thyself with light as with a garment, who stretcheth out the heavens like a curtain, who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters, who maketh the clouds his chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind, who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flaming fire. who laid the foundation of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thy cover set with the deep, as with a garment the water stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled, at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains, they go down by the valleys on to the place which thou hast found it for them. Thou hast said abound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth. He sendeth the springs into the valleys which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast off the field. The wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches. He waters the hills from his chambers. The earth is satisfied with the fruits of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and her for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out off the earth. And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, And oil to make his face to shine, And bread which strengtheneth man's heart. We'll end our reading at the end of verse 15 of Psalm 104. And again, let's just briefly abide in a word of prayer together. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we rejoice, O God, in thy goodness and mercy. We praise thee, O Father, O God, this evening. We bless the Lord as we are commanded to do in this, and we glory in him. And we pray that tonight our hearts may be instructed from thy precious word. Bless our souls we pray and encourage us and bless dear father our time around thy precious word for we pray this prayer and these petitions in and through the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Well tonight I want to, as it were, tie up a few loose ends with regard to a little series that I commenced some time ago entitled Count Your Many Blessings. In that little series of messages we have already counted the blessing of fellowship the blessing of family and the blessing of fitness or the blessing of health. Tonight I want to bring a concluding message, a message that I had prepared some time ago and I thought well maybe we'll do it at the prayer meeting and maybe it just wouldn't be a message to have at the open air drive-in services that we're having each Lord's Day. And so tonight I want us to think about the blessing of food the blessing of food. Now in all my years going to church, and that's over 40 years folks, I've never heard a message specifically preached on the subject matter of food. But tonight I want us to consider what the Bible, what the word of God has to say about that very subject matter. Now if you can cast your mind back to the beginning of lockdown, you'll recall how supermarkets almost became overwhelmed with panic buyers. You were maybe one such person. People feared that there would be a food shortage and so they felt they needed to pack out their cupboards with cans of baked beans and soup and flour and cereals and all kinds of food. Now as we look back we can see that those fears were misplaced and that over the last weeks and months the supply chains, thank God, into our shops have continued to furnish us with not only the basics of living but also some of the food luxuries that we enjoy as well. I would suggest to you that before the Covid-19 lockdown we just took for granted the food we enjoy but now we are thankful for this blessing. The blessing of food. So let's consider again this blessing and search the scriptures and what they have to say about this matter. The first matter I want us to consider tonight is the provider of food. The provider of Now there are various texts of scripture that point us to the fact that God is the provider of our food. Let me just give you a number of them. In this psalm that we read together this evening, Psalm 104, we read concerning God there in verse number 13 and 14, He watereth the hills from his chambers, the earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man, that he may bring forth food out of the earth. It is God who brings forth fruit out of the earth. We thank God for our farmers and all of their industry and all of their labors in the field, how they plant and tend and then harvest the food. but yet we must trace such food right back to its source, to its very origin, to the one who causes the grain to swell, causes the fruit to grow and to mature, and then enables the farmer to bring in the harvest. This is God. The psalmist reminds us of this here in the verse number 14 that he may bring forth food out of the earth. In psalm 136 verse 25 again speaking of God we read these words who giveth food to all flesh for his mercy endureth forever. This is part of God's mercy, that God gives food to all flesh, not only human flesh but to animal flesh as well. It is God who furnishes us with such food and it's out of his mercy. It's certainly not out of what we deserve but out of God's mercy. He provides us food. Psalm 146, if you want to turn there, and the verse number five to seven. Psalm 146, verse five to seven. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven and earth, the sea and all that therein is, which keepeth truth forever. which executeth judgment for the oppressed, which giveth food to the hungry, the Lord looseth the prisoners. Notice that little phrase there in the verse number seven, which or who giveth food to the hungry. Food is a gift. God is the giver. In Acts chapter 14 verse 17 we read, Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. Filling our hearts with food and with gladness that all that we have in this world came into existence by the creative act of God, out of nothing. God created all things. In Colossians chapter 1 verse 16 and 17 we read, For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Now included in the all things created was that which supplied food to earth's first inhabitants. To Adam and Eve, God said there in Genesis chapter 1, if you would like to turn there, Genesis chapter 1 verse 29 and 30 We read these words, and God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat, and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat, and it. was so. Prior to the fall of man in Genesis chapter 3, humans and animals ate a plant-based diet. And what a variety of plants and vegetation God gave to his creatures to partake of. A quick survey of the Bible will reveal the bounty and the diversity of God's provision with regard to the food that man was able to eat. When you look into the Old Testament you'll find references to grains with fields full of wheat and barley and corn. them there were nuts. Genesis 43 verse 11 introduces us to their existence. Remember, Joseph's brothers went down to see him in Egypt and they carried with them almonds, they carried with them nuts for the Egyptian governor. Then there were vegetables. In Numbers chapter 11 verse 5 we have mention of cucumbers and leeks and onions and garlic. If you go into the book of Genesis or the book of Exodus you find reference to bitter herbs and then whenever you move into the New Testament you have herbs like mint, bananas, and cumin. Then you have mention of different fruits in the Bible, grapes and melons and raisins and olives and figs and pomegranates and apples as well as those summer fruits, whatever those summer fruits were, we think of summer fruits like strawberries and raspberries that Jeremiah and Amos refer to in their little books, the summer fruits. However, things changed after mankind fell into sin. By the time we reach Genesis chapter 9 and we're now in the post-flood era, we find God informing Noah and his sons that meat was now permitted in their diets. Look at Genesis chapter 9 and the verse number 1. And God blessed Noah and his sons and said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fish of the sea. Into your hand are they delivered. every moving thing that liveth shall be meat or food for you even as the green herb have I given you all things. And so we find as they move from what we would term I suppose a vegetarian like diet pre-flood to a a meat-based diet post-flood, we find that from that moment mankind was permitted to partake of meat. And so we make our way through the Old Testament and we find that they ate oxen, they ate sheep or lamb, they ate goat, their references to the stalled ox and to the fatted calf throughout the scripture. This would have been a meat that would have been more tender than the normal oxen and the normal cow. In Deuteronomy chapter 14, the verse number 5, we have seven different game animals like deer that were hunted and ate by those in the Old Testament and then there are all kinds of fish we find here in Genesis chapter 9, all the fish of the sea they were permitted to be ate even by mankind alongside the animals on land and in the sea we also had certain flight or certain birds of the air that were permitted to be ate like the partridge quail, pigeon, and the turtle dove. The Bible speaks also of dairy-based foods and condiments like milk and butter and cheese and honey, salt and spices and mustard seeds that would have added flavor to food when it was cooked and whenever it was served. What I'm trying to convey to you folks tonight is that whenever God created food. He created an incredible variety of flavors and food products of every color and texture imaginable. But not only that, God gave us mouths so that we could taste food and also to detect food flavors through the different taste receptors that are found on our tongue. You'll have heard concerning Prince Charles that because of his time with respect to COVID-19 that his taste and smell have not returned. And what a blessing just to be able to taste food, to be able to detect bitter and sweet, hot and cold. And that's all done through God's creative work. By his creative act he has given us the tongues and the mouths whereby we can partake and we can also detect the flavours that are found within our food. Not only that, God designed the water and the growth cycle that sees to the production of food within our world, He causes the rain and the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. Such is acknowledged by Christ himself in the Sermon on the Mount. But I turn you to Isaiah and the chapter number 55. Isaiah chapter 55 and the verse number 10. These words are familiar. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. it shall not return unto me void. That's verse 11. Verse number 10. For as the rain cometh down in the snow from heaven, and returneth not hither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. In that verse, We have the water cycle, the rain from above, coming down and furnishing and watering the earth, causing the grain to swell, to germinate, and then to grow, and then the sun to shine, and causing the fruit to come eventually to the time of reaping and the time of harvest. This is God. This is God's doing. He does all this. So he sees to the production of the food and to the bringing of it to the harvest. The food we eat and all of the processes required for the production of it points clearly to an all-powerful, all-loving, all-good, all-wise creator, the provider of all good things. You see, as the psalmist reminds us there in Psalm 136 verse 25, it is God's mercy. It is God's mercy that furnishes our tables and yet how many feel to acknowledge this to be so. Let all of us who profess God's name acknowledge in prayer and praise that every good and every perfect gift is from above. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh thine from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Heavenward and Godward is where our eyes should be when we come to trace where our food originates from, not Eurospar, not Nyssa, not Marks and Spencers, or whatever other food retailer you purchase your food from, it comes from God. It is of God's mercy that the seasons continue, that the rain falls, that the sun shines so that food can be produced to sustain our lives. How good our God is, and yet we hardly even acknowledge his goodness in this basic necessity of life. God is a provider of our food. The second matter I want you to consider with me tonight in relation to food is prayer and food. Prayer and food. Now two matters I want to address here under this heading prayer. First of all for the provision of food and then prayer and the partaking of food. Note then in the first instance prayer for the provision of food. Lord Jesus Christ instructed his disciples in Matthew chapter 6 to pray after this manner. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen. It's interesting to note in this deeply spiritual and divinely inspired prayer that we have this petition, the fourth petition, give us this day our daily bread. Whenever we pray this prayer, we are affirming a number of matters. Firstly, we are affirming that we are solely dependent upon our Heavenly Father for the basics of life, even our daily bread. This statement within the Lord's Prayer, the Disciples' Prayer, serves to remind us that we who are so often self-willed and proud and independent people, that we need God to sustain us. to keep us alive. Praying for our daily bread keeps in check any thoughts that we can live without God. It furnishes us with a humble spirit that acknowledges our dependence upon our God. Not only that, but we are affirming that our God is able to supply our needs. God promises to do that very thing in Philippians chapter 4 verse 19. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus. My heavenly Father will not give me a stone whenever I ask him for bread. He will supply my needs when it comes to the provision of even food. David He said in Psalm 37 verse 25, I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his seed begging bread. Not only that, but as we pray, give us this day our daily bread, we are affirming that we must live our lives one day at a time. Give us this day our daily bread. We're not told to pray to God that he would give us bread for the week, for a month, for a year, but that he would give us bread for the day, this day, today. One reason for this is that we are to live every day as if it were our last. I wonder, are you doing that as a Christian? Do you understand that your life could very quickly end today? And thus, this prayer for daily bread reminds us that we are only assured of today. We're not to boast ourselves of tomorrow. We may not need bread for tomorrow. If we are believers, we'll eat the heavenly manna. We'll eat angels' food, as it were. We'll enter into the paradise of God, where we'll hunger and thirst no more. Thank God for that. And so we only need bread for, for this day. Not only this, but we are affirming when we pray, give us this day our daily bread. We are affirming that we are debtors to God. The word give within the petition reminds us that even our daily bread is a gift from God. Because all things are given to us by God, we need to remind ourselves that we are in debt to the one who has bestowed such blessings in our lives. We are and forever will be in debt to God. I am a debtor to God. And so are you, child of God. It is his gift. in giving us bread. But folks, we get more than bread. The luxuries that we enjoy, the food that's found in our cupboards tonight, it's more than simply bread. And it simply but proves the truth of those words, that God is able to give exceeding abundantly, above all that we could ask or think. God gives us more than we justly deserve because that's our God. That's what our Heavenly Father is like. He doesn't stint, He doesn't withhold, but He continually gives and gives to a greater degree than we could ever imagine. And so we must pray for our food, for our daily bread, But then we think about prayer and the partaking of food. In 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 4 and 5 we read, You remember that the next time you find something on your plate? that maybe just isn't to your liking, nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. I believe these words here in 1st Timothy 4, they point us to the practice of prayer being offered before food is partaken. Note we have Christ's own example on this very matter. 10 times within the New Testament, we are told that the Lord Jesus Christ gave thanks for food. Six times more, we are told that he blessed food before he ate it or before he broke bread for others. With the Lord Jesus Christ took time. to thank his father in heaven for the meal that he or others were about to partake of, and he did so both publicly and privately, then we ought to do the same. Christ is our example. Christ prayed before the partaking of food, and so ought we. I believe the giving of thanks before meals instills into our hearts that it is God from whom all blessings flow. And then at the end of the meal, when we have eaten, I believe that our hearts should go out to God in thanksgiving for all that we have received, for all that we have partaken of. I'm thinking of those words there in Deuteronomy 6, verse 11 and 12. The Lord Jesus, or the Holy Spirit, through Moses, he said to the people, when thou shalt have eaten and be full, then beware, lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. There's always the danger when the belly is full that we would forget the Lord. And thus a word, even if it be a private, an inner, a secret word, a word of thanksgiving from the heart, should be offered when the meal has concluded. For such will offset the danger of forgetting the Lord from whom the blessing has come from. and will spare us from becoming forgetful of the Lord's mercies. There is a third matter to consider and with this we conclude. I'm thinking about the blessing of food and that is the proper use of food. The proper use of food. The way I have framed this third point suggests that food can be misused and that is the case. One of the activities that leads to improper use of food is gluttony and over excessive eating. Richard Baxter wrote, common gluttony is when it is done for the pleasing of the appetite with such a pleasure as is no help to health or duty, but usually to hurt, a hurt to body or soul. The body being hurt by the excess, the soul is hurt by the inordinate pleasure. Let me say that not all obese people are gluttons, while not all thin people are free from the sin of gluttony. In Proverbs 23 verse 21 we read, For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. and trousiness shall clothe a man with thrags. Did you know that gluttony is a great evil? Let me give you a few reasons why it is. Firstly, gluttony is idolatry. Paul speaks of the enemies of the cross in these terms in Philippians chapter three, verse 19. Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly. and whose glory is their shame, who mined earthly things. Here were people who made a god of their bellies. They worshipped that which they partook of. They lived not to adhere or to adore or to honour God, but they lived for self-indulgence, for sensual gratification and the worship of their own fleshly appetites. making a god of their belly resulted in them committing the sin of idolatry. In simplest terms, gluttony is food worship. It's table idolatry. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, we must not live our lives with the goal of filling our bellies and titillating our taste buds. Food must not be that which drives or motivates us. If it becomes that, then it becomes our God and ultimately we will rebel against the true God of heaven and of earth. And so gluttony is a great evil because it is idolatry. Gluttony is a great evil because it is murder. It is murder. To eat food to excess, is damaging to the body's health. Heart disease, some cancers, type 2 diabetes, and back and joint problems are all linked to being overweight. Something that may be the result of gluttony. I'm not saying on every occasion, but in many occasions, it is because people have had to access, they have been gluttonous that such ailments and sicknesses come upon an individual. Just go to the NHS website and you'll see that many of these diseases are connected with excess eating. Though gluttony does not kill a person suddenly, it does kill them slowly and surely. It kills by degrees. as it undermines a person's health until that health reaches a point of no return. And so the next time you read the Ten Commandments and you read, Thou shalt not kill, remember that we can be guilty of breaking that very commandment if our eating habits are detrimental to our health. We're killing the body. But it is also a great evil because gluttony is theft. It's theft. You know gluttony steals? Gluttony steals from the glutton their health. It steals from the glutton their money and it steals from them their time and eventually on some occasions their very life. So what's the remedy? What's the remedy for the one who is guilty of the improper use of food? Well, it's a two-fold remedy. First of all, mortification. Mortification. Colossians 3 verse 5. Speaking about the body. Galatians 5 verse 24. We are to put the flesh to death and we are to do so by refusing its appeals to us, starving it and rejecting it. But not only does there need to be mortification, there needs to be moderation. The Christian life is to be marked by self-control, by temperance, We are not to be aesthetics who, in the interest of staying thin, shun God's gifts. No, we're to receive all things with gratitude, sanctify them by the word and by prayer, and enjoy them as God's good gifts. But to a moderate degree, to a moderate degree, Philippians 4 verse 5 ought to be the scriptural rule to guide us in this matter. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. All that we do, even eating, is to be marked by the principle of moderation. Having spoken about the improper use of food, what should guide us when it comes to the proper use of food? Well, I believe 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31 is a good guide. Whether therefore you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Doing all to the glory of God doesn't simply mean whenever we are serving God, although it includes that, but we find here that even eating and drinking is brought into this thought of living a life to the glory of God. It is a significant rule to regulate every man's conscience and practice in this matter of the proper use of food. God has given us food for the maintaining of our health and so that our body would function properly. For what purpose? So that we would live for ourselves? No, no. So that we might employ our bodies and our faculties for the glory of God and the advancement of his kingdom and his gospel. This is why God gives us food, to maintain our bodies, to maintain our health, so that then we may glorify him and serve him with godly fear and with reverence and acceptably. This is why God furnishes our tables day by day, that we may live for him and serve him and be used by him in the spreading of the gospel. So then, I ask you tonight, child of God, as you watch in, what are you doing with that body that God sustains with the food that he provides for you? What are you doing with that body? Have you presented your body, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service? Is your heart, your lips, your tongue, your hands, your feet, employed in the master's service? Are you able to say, as Christ said, my meat, my food, is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work? I've spoke about physical food, What about the spiritual food that the child of God should be feeding upon? You see the soul needs food as much as the body for its nourishment and health. Without it we become anemic, we become weak, we become powerless. Sadly too many believers are snacking on spiritual junk food. Instead of feasting on the Word of God, the Incarnate Word, Christ, and the Inspired Word, the Scriptures of Truth, Christ, the Incarnate Word, is the Bread of Life and we are to feed upon Him. We are to feed upon Him in a spiritual sense, or spiritual appetite. is also to be satisfied when we feed on the scriptures, the inspired word, because man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. A. W. Pink said, it is only by feeding on this heavenly manna that strength is obtained for our pilgrim walk, for our warfare with sin and Satan, and for our service unto God and our fellows. God forbid that any Christian listening tonight God forbid that you would be famished. God forbid that you would be malnourished. With all the time that you've been given, with all the time, because of this coronavirus pandemic, all the time you've been given, that you would come out of this as a malnourished child of God, failing to feed upon the Word of God, failing to read it, to feast upon it, And such rich provision has been made for your souls. Oh, that we will be fat and flourishing in a spiritual sense in these days. Fat and flourishing. As I close, maybe there's someone here tonight, someone listening in. Maybe you're not a Christian. It's not your belly that's hungry. It's your soul that's hungry. Sin has brought you to a state where you are spiritually starving. Well, in the words of Psalm 34 verse 8, I would encourage you to, O taste and see, that the Lord is good, lest as a man that trusteth in him, that tasting, it simply means to appropriate Christ, to receive him as you would receive food, to lay hold of him, to receive him into your life and into your heart. May you do that. May you do that by confessing your sin and casting yourself upon his mercy. How thankful we are for this blessing of food. But as Christians, let us labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life. May God help us in these matters and may God instruct us as we consider again and have thought about this blessing of food, food upon our tables. We thank God for whom all blessings and from whom all blessings flow. May the Lord bless the word to our heart. Let's just briefly pray and then a few announcements. Father in heaven, take of thy word and use it in our lives. And may we not only think about our physical food. Lord, to the detriment of the spiritual food that thou has provided for us, but may we feast at thy table. We rejoice, O God, that we can say with the psalmist that you furnish a table for us. in the presence of our enemies. We thank thee that God furnishes a table, even in the wilderness of this world, and provides us with every good and perfect gift. We rejoice, O God, in thy mercy towards us. We thank thee that we're found in a nation where food is readily available. And Lord, we pray that we may use such things, not as an end, But Lord, as a means whereby we are enabled to spread the gospel, to make Christ known, answer prayer. We pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen and amen. Let me thank you for joining tonight. in our Bible study. We appreciate you joining with us. We trust that the Lord will bless. A few announcements. Can I remind you of the Lord's Day services, the drive-in services at 12 noon and 6pm in Portlanone at Portlanone Free Presbyterian Church. God willing, we trust to get back onto Facebook Live this Lord's Day in the will of God and We encourage you to come along if you're in the Portland area, come and join with us, 12 o'clock and 6 p.m. Our brother Stephen Miller will be preaching in the morning, in the morning time, pray for God's servant. And we also encourage you to pray for others who are unwell within the congregation. Remember our brother Tommy Atkinson, her brother Tommy was to get treatment but that treatment was postponed for a little time and her brother Tommy will go for that treatment God willing on Monday the 13th of July and so pray for her brother as he waits for his treatment and for others in the congregation who are not well we can uphold them in prayer at this time that God's hand will be upon them. I want to say a little word about my own health at this time. Before I do that I want to say a few words of thanks. I want to thank first of all the eldership of the church for their care and for their patience with respect to my own health. I appreciate all that has been done for me over the last number of weeks. I want to thank also my brother Mr Stephen Miller for standing in on many occasions and he will be doing that in the future as well. but I want to publicly thank our brother Stephen for doing that. And then I want to thank you as a church fellowship for praying for me in recent weeks since the health issues really came to a head. As you know, I have been experiencing a few health difficulties. Now contrary to rumors that are circulating, I did not have COVID-19. and so if you hear that rumor you can put that one to bed and also I did not suffer a heart attack and consequently have three stints put in. That was circulating around Port Stewart on Saturday night and I want to assure you that that has not been my problem either. But I have been experiencing just a few health difficulties and can I say that all tests and all scans that have been done to date have all come back clear. And so I'm encouraged by that, but that is not to say that we are, as it were, going on all cylinders. There are a few tests that have to be done, but I am feeling reasonably well and I want to thank you for your prayers. It has been decided that I will return to the ministry on a phased return. over the next month or so and then I'll take my planned summer holidays and hopefully that will see me right again and back to full-time ministry and back in a full-time capacity. As I said, I really do appreciate the eldership and their care for me and I trust that this phased return will enhance my recovery. And so there may be Wednesday nights that our brother Stephen will be taking the prayer meeting. There will be definitely occasions on the Lord's Day that others will be preaching. I may be preaching. It will be just dependent on how I am feeling but I have known a little touch from the Lord. I'm very thankful for that since really last weekend or so and just pray that the Lord will strengthen me that I may be able to fulfill my calling and the ministry that the Lord has put me in even to Portland alone. That's as much as really that I can tell you. Continue to pray for us and continue to pray that God's hand will be upon us and that we'll know just a full recovery in these days and pray that everything will go in the way that it is going and that all that has been given to us to help us will help us and that we'll be able to get back to the ministry as we desire to do so. So thank you for your prayers. Continue to be faithful, child of God. Continue to be faithful at the prayer meeting. Continue to be faithful at the church services. Don't be negligent. Don't become slothful. Regardless of who is there, regardless of who is preaching, you be there, be faithful to the Lord, and the Lord will bless you for it, and you'll find benefit from being under the preaching of God's word. Continue to remember our nation. We're very thankful for the Lord's mercies. Continue to pray for the eradication of the virus, and pray for our frontline staff, those key workers and the NHS staff within our congregation and those outside the congregation. Keep these people pleased in your prayers. Now, let's go to the Lord in prayer. I've said enough tonight, so let's pray and then I encourage you to join as a family. to seek the Lord in a word of prayer together. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we thank thee for tonight thy hand upon us. We rejoice, O God, in your goodness and mercy toward us. Continue to strengthen us in these days. We think of those who need a touch from thee, those known to us within our family circles. Lord, work in their hearts. Lord work in their lives physically but we pray for those who are out of Christ and Lord we pray for those spiritually but you'll work in them and bring them to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Bless dear God, thy dear saints. Encourage them. May they be much in prayer for the minister and for the eldership and for the work of God in general. Lord come and work mightily in our nation. Turn it back on to God, we pray, for we ask these, our petitions, in and through the Saviour's precious name. Amen and amen. May the Lord bless until we meet again.