Muskoka Lakes Ministry of Knox, Port Carling & Zion, Torrance
Sunday May 16, 2021
Message: Our Ever-Present God
Reverend Glynis Faith
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Announcements
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* Monday 7pm Bible Study via Zoom
* Tue 2-3pm Music in the Sanctuary at Knox
* Thursday 7:30pm Lectio Divina via Zoom
* Again, thank you for your understanding and patience as we restructure our online worship service recordings.
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Prayer of Adoration
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Set our hearts on fire with love for Thee, O Lord. Then, when our hearts are set ablaze with love for You, obeying Your commandments will not grieve us, but bring us joy.
For, to all who live in You, nothing is difficult, nothing is impossible.
Love is stronger than death.
O God, let love fill and rule in my heart.
For then there will spring up and be cherished between You, O Lord and I, a likeness of character and union of will.
May Thy will be done in me and by me forever, I pray. AMEN
(paraphrase of prayer by Jacobus Merlo Horastius, 1597-1664)
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Prayer of Intercession
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Lord, Your presence in our lives give us hope and life. May we share the hope and life we have found with those we meet along our travels through life.
We come now, like Moses, to lift the needs of the people before You.
We offer up our prayers for people’s health – for those who are fighting for their lives in ICU units – for people living with chronic pain and for those with concerns because of cancelled surgeries. We pray for the physical and mental well being of all.
We pray for our brothers and sisters in India – for healing and a quick decrease in the infection rates.
We lift up to You all who mourn – those whose loss is recent and those who are reminded of their loss because of a special day or anniversary that brings their loss to mind.
We hold close those who are isolated. Many have faced long periods of time away from loved ones and friends. Many don’t have the technology to connect virtually. Lord, we lift them into Your comforting presence.
We pray for Knox and Zion, and for all Your churches around the world. May we be strengthened and equipped to serve the needs of Your people post pandemic.
We lift these prayers into Your loving hands, O Lord, in Christ’s Name. AMEN
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“ Our Ever-Present God”
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3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” Genesis 19:2-6

Then Moses went up to God - - into the presence of God. Moses spoke with God and God spoke with Moses. Moses listened to all God said and God listened to Moses.
Try to envision Mount Sinai with this dark cloud around its base. Thunder crashes and lightening flashes; it would have been an awesome display of power and control over nature. The cloud and all the special affects moves up the mountain and Moses’ presence is requested by God. Moses goes and remains 40 days in the presence of the Lord.
I think of my most peaceful times of prayer and the times that I have most closely felt God’s presence with me, and to imagine those moments as a 40 day period brings me comfort and joy. Moses had a pretty tough job to lead the nation of Israel, but he also had the most wonderful position of intercessory between God and His people.
There is no indication that Moses had any concerns about going up the mountain into God’s presence, but we do see the people’s fears:
18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” Genesis 20:18-19
But why fear God’s voice? Why do they think they will die if God speaks to them? They heard God speaking to Moses and he did not die, so why the fear?
God’s Word does tell us that the fear of the Lord is our strength, but the use of the word fear here is defined more as respect. Think of when you were growing up, there were certain things you did or did not do out of respect for your grandma. You might be so bold as to curse a little at home, but you were always careful never to do so around your grammy.
Now, was that because you feared grammy? Did you fear discipline from your sweet nan? Or did you respect her in such a way that you would never want to do anything that she might be offended by? I suspect it is the latter! We are generally on our best behaviour around the people we respect.
So why did the people God brought out of slavery fear even listening to His voice?
I would like to suggest the answer is found in the Garden of Eden. Let’s take a listen:
Then Adam and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees in the garden. But the LORD God called to them, “where are you?”
Adam answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
And the LORD God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” Genesis 3:8-11
From the very beginning God chose to be present with those He created in His likeness. That’s right, God wants to hang out with you! God came to the garden to hang out with Adam and Eve, to walk in the garden and hear about their day, but they fear God. Why? Because they sinned against God.
Sin is the great separator. Sin is in opposition to God, thus it separates the sinner from the Holy One. It puts a wedge between us – “I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” Sin causes us to fear being in the Lord’s presence, and sometimes it causes us to try and hide from God – to cover our ears and avoid listening to His voice. Sin leaves us feeling naked before God – ashamed.
So the people asked Moses to intercede on their behalf – You go and listen to what God says and bring us back the news. And this is exactly what Moses does.
God’s will is to walk with us, to talk with us, to listen to us, to be there for us. Just as He walked in the Garden with Adam and Eve, He invited the Hebrew people to come close and listen to what He wanted to tell them, and He longs to be welcomed into our presence today. God wants to be in relationship with us. God wants to be present in our lives.
Love is like that; we want to spend time with the people we love. Think of this pandemic like sin – it has driven a wedge or put up thick plastic walls between us and our loved ones. It is not a great feeling when you can’t be near the people who mean the most to you.
Well guess what, God loves you and wants to spend time with you. God wants to hear from you, and He longs for you to listen to His voice. God seeks to draw you into a right relationship with Him – a relationship built on love, not fear – built on respect and appreciation.
How much does God want to be in relationship with us? Well, the Creator of the heavens and earth took on human flesh in the person of Jesus of Nazareth and went to the Cross to conquer the very thing brought on by our sins – death. And before Jesus ascended to the Father’s right hand, He promised we would still have the presence of God with us through the Holy Spirit. God is always present. Always!
From our beginning into the day when we stand before our Lord God in heaven, God IS present. Sin drives a wedge between us and God, but our Creator, Saviour and Comforter intercedes on our behalf, drawing us closer and closer - - as close as we are willing to come. God is present; how close we are to God is our choice.
The Psalmist tells us:
Those who devise wicked schemes are near, but they are far from God’s law.
Yet God is near, and all His commands are true. Psalm 119:150-151
God is present – always. God longs for you to enter into His presence, to step forward and say, “here I am Lord.” Your sin is already known by God – already atoned for by Christ and forgiven the moment you say, Lord, forgive me.
Throughout the story of Moses we see God ever-present. God is present in the cloud at the mountain, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, in the flame that gave the camp light in the evening and in the radiant appearance of Moses after God allowed him to see His Glory.
The nation God has built up is a ‘stiff-necked’ people, but God never leaves them; instead, God gives them Moses as an intercessory between Himself and His people.
Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”
The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Exodus 33:12-17
God works through Moses to show the people He is always present. Repeatedly the people would sin – complaining against Moses and against God. Moses spent much of the journey interceding – reminding the people what the Lord had brought them out of, and the ongoing provision and protection of God’s presence with them, as well as the Land God was leading them into as an inheritance.
This is the cycle: our sin separates us from God – we fear coming into His presence. God longs to draw us near, sending intercessors to pray for us – to speak to us and remind us of God’s loving presence. When we listen and respond, God’s presence is witnessed, heard and felt in our lives, bringing us peace, joy, strength, comfort, contentment and healing.
Moses was the first of the Old Testament intercessors speaking to God and offering sacrifices for the sins of the people. Moses foreshadowed Jesus in the New Testament. Jesus would not only intercede between God and humanity, but He would lay His life down as the perfect and final sacrificial atonement for sin. Sin no longer has power over those who will draw close and stay close to God’s presence.
Today we still have an intercessor in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and because we are called into relationship with God and neighbour, we too are called as intercessors – praying for others and sharing our experiences with and knowledge of God to encourage and support one another on our journey of faith.
Friends, sin spreads like wildfire, but it is extinguished through the power of faithful prayer. When we turn to God in prayer, share God’s presence with the lost and help others see and know God by sharing our stories of faith, God will be seen and heard and known.
Step towards God – walk with Him – let Him lead, and trust in His presence to teach and guide you safely and joyfully along the way.
Please pray with me:
Ever-present Creator, Redeemer and Guiding Lord, we give thanks for Your great love for us. We give thanks for those who have interceded throughout history – for those who have stood firmly planted in their faith and for those who have shared their journey to help us better know You. We give You thanks for Jesus, for His life, death and resurrection, and for the Holy Spirit’s continuing intercession on our behalf.
Lord, remind us of the great depth of Your love for us. Help us to see Your presence – perhaps not in a great cloud, but in all of Creation and in the love and compassion of our neighbours. Keep us on the right path and encourage us to invite others to travel along with us.
With grateful hearts we offer this prayer in the Name of Jesus. AMEN
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“One More Step Along the World I Go”
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One more step along the world I go, one more step along the world I go;
from the old things to the new, keep me travelling along with you:

And it's from the old I travel to the new; keep me travelling along with you.

Round the corners of the world I turn, more and more about the world I learn;
all the new things that I see you'll be looking at along with me.

And it's from the old I travel to the new; keep me travelling along with you.

As I travel through the bad and good, keep me travelling the way I should.
Where I see no way to go, you'll be telling me the way, I know.

And it's from the old I travel to the new; keep me travelling along with you.
Give me courage when the world is rough, keep me loving though the world is tough;
leap and sing in all I do, keep me travelling along with you:

And it's from the old I travel to the new; keep me travelling along with you.
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Commission & Benediction
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Friends, take God’s Word in hand and carry His Word wherever you go. And as you do . . .
May the love, grace and peace of God go with you. AMEN
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Support the Work of Knox and Zion in 2021
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DONATIONS TO ZION, TORRANCE
Mail cheques to Zion Presbyterian Church 1046 Torrance Rd, Torrance, ON, P0C 1M0
E-Transfers to zionchurchpc@gmail.com No security question required
Pick up ~ Please call the office (705) 765 3797 to arrange pick up

DONATIONS TO KNOX, PORT CARLING
Mail cheques to Knox Presbyterian Church Box 283, Port Carling, ON,
P0B 1J0
E-Transfers to KnoxChurchPC@gmail.com No security question required
Pick up ~ Please call the office (705) 765-3797 to arrange pick up