The last verse of Psalm 23 seems clear, but is of immense meaning. How can we be sure of God’s goodness and mercy? What does dwelling in the house of the Lord look like? As we close Psalm 23, we see the riches of the Good Shepherd and an eternal dwelling place.
One sermon can’t do this great verse justice! What does it mean to dwell with the Lord? How do we experience this today? This verse sums up Psalm 23 and the experience on offer to every Christian.
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Sunday school materials will be available. Please contact us to receive a copy.
Bless the Lord O my soul O my soul Worship His holy name Sing like never before O my soul I’ll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up it’s a new day dawning It’s time to sing Your song again Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me Let me be singing when the evening comes
Chorus
You’re rich in love and You’re slow to anger Your name is great and Your heart is kind For all Your goodness I will keep on singing Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find
Chorus
And on that day when my strength is failing The end draws near and my time has come Still my soul will sing Your praise unending Ten thousand years and then forevermore
Worship Your holy name Lord I’ll worship Your holy name
Ending
Sing like never before O my soul I’ll worship Your holy name Worship Your holy name Worship Your holy name
Reading: Ephesians 6:10-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armour of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against [a]flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armour of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 [b]in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Song: Seek Ye First
Seek ye first the kingdom of God And His righteousness And all these things Shall be added unto you Allelu alleluia
Men (at same time): Man shall not live by bread alone But by ev’ry word That proceeds From the mouth of God Allelu alleluia
Ladies (at same time): Hal-le-lu-hah Hal-le-lu-hah Hal-le-lu-hah Alleluia
Ask and it shall be given unto you Seek and ye shall find Knock and the door Shall be opened unto you Allelu alleluia
Reading: Psalm 23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd, I [a]shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside [b]quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the [c]paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the [d]valley of the shadow of death, I fear no [e]evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You [f]have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 [g]Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will [h]dwell in the house of the Lord [i]forever.
Song: O The Deep Deep Love (Austria)
O the deep deep love of Jesus Vast unmeasured boundless free Rolling as a mighty ocean In it’s fullness over me Underneath me all around me Is the current of Thy love Leading onward leading homeward To my glorious rest above O the deep deep love Vast unmeasured boundless free O the deep deep love In it’s fullness over me
O the deep deep love of Jesus Spread His praise from shore to shore How He loveth ever loveth Changeth never never more How He watches o’er His loved ones Died to call them all His own How for them He intercedeth Watcheth o’er them from the throne O the deep deep love Spread His praise from shore to shore O the deep deep love Changeth never never more
O the deep deep love of Jesus Love of every love the best ‘Tis an ocean vast of blessing Tis a haven sweet of rest O the deep deep love of Jesus ‘Tis a heaven of heavens to me And it lifts me up to Glory For it lifts me up to Thee O the deep deep love Love of every love the best O the deep deep love ‘Tis a haven sweet of rest
Join the livestream at 10:30am on Sunday (GMT+12) by visiting www.facebook.com/GraceatWellington (you don’t need a Facebook account). There will be a post on the page with the live video. Just scroll down until you see it and click on it.
Sunday school materials will be available. Please contact us to receive a copy.
You’re the Lion of Judah The Lamb who was slain You ascended to heaven And ever more will reign At the end of the age When the earth You reclaim You will gather the nations before You And the eyes of all men Will be fixed on the Lamb Who was crucified With wisdom and mercy and justice You’ll reign at Your Father’s side
Chorus
And the angels will cry hail the Lamb Who was slain for the world rule in pow’r And the earth will reply You shall reign As the King of all kings And the Lord of all lords
There’s a shield in our hand And a sword at our side There’s a fire in our spirits That cannot be denied ‘Cause the Father has told us For these You have died For the nations who gather before You And the ears of all men Need to hear of the Lamb Who was crucified Who descended to hell Yet was raised up to reign At His Father’s side
Reading: 2 Corinthians 4:16-5:10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
The Temporal and Eternal
5 For we know that if [a]the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, 3 inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. 4 For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. 5 Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a [b]pledge.
6 Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by [c]sight— 8 we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for [d]his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Song: My Song Is Love Unknown (Love Unknown)
My song is love unknown My Saviour’s love for me Love to the loveless shown That they might lovely be For who am I That in my place My Lord should take Frail flesh and die
My song is love unbound, For love has conquered death, And love the victory won in this His parting breath; For with the cry that all is done vain darkness fell before the Son
My song of love enthroned Where angel voices raise To magnify the Son And sing the Father’s praise So shall I stand, In glorious throng and add my praises to that song So shall I stand, in glorious throng and add my praises to that song.
Reading: Psalm 23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd, I [a]shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside [b]quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the [c]paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the [d]valley of the shadow of death, I fear no [e]evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You [f]have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 [g]Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will [h]dwell in the house of the Lord [i]forever.
Song: It Is Well With My Soul
When peace like a river Attendeth my way When sorrows like sea billows roll Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say It is well It is well with my soul
Chorus
It is well with my soul It is well It is well with my soul
Tho’ Satan should buffet Tho’ trials should come Let this blest assurance control That Christ hath regarded My helpless estate And hath shed His own blood For my soul
Chorus
My sin O the bliss Of this glorious tho’t My sin not in part but the whole Is nailed to the cross And I bear it no more Praise the Lord Praise the Lord O my soul
Chorus
And Lord haste the day When the faith shall be sight The clouds be rolled back as a scroll The trump shall resound And the Lord shall descend Even so it is well With my soul
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Reading: 1 John 3:16-24 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his [a] heart [b] against him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will [c] assure our heart before Him 20 [d] in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence [e] before God; 22 and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23 This is His commandment, that we [f] believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He [g] commanded us. 24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Song: Create In Me A Clean Heart
Chorus Create in me a clean heart O Lord my God And renew a right spirit within me x2
Verse Cast me not away from Thy presence O Lord Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation And renew a right spirit within me
Reading: Psalm 23 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd, I [a] shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside [b] quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the [c] paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the [d] valley of the shadow of death, I fear no [e] evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You [f] have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 [g] Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will [h] dwell in the house of the Lord [ i ] forever.
Sermon
Song: To God Be The Glory
To God be the glory great things He hath done So loved He the world that He gave us His Son Who yielded His life an atonement for sin And opened the life gates that all may go in
Chorus Praise the Lord praise the Lord Let the earth hear His voice Praise the Lord praise the Lord Let the people rejoice O come to the Father through Jesus the Son And give Him the glory great things He has done
O perfect redemption the purchase of blood To ev’ry believer the promise of God The vilest offender who truly believes That moment from Jesus a pardon receives
Chorus
Great things He hath taught us Great things He hath done And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son But purer and higher and greater will be Our wonder our transport when Jesus we see
Join the livestream at 10:30am on Sunday (GMT+12) by visiting www.facebook.com/GraceatWellington (you don’t need a Facebook account). There will be a post on the page with the live video. Just scroll down until you see it and click on it.
Sunday school materials will be available. Please contact us to receive a copy.
Reading: Acts 8:1-4 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution [a]began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Therefore, those who had been scattered went about [b]preaching the word.
Song: Change My Heart Oh God
Chorus
Change my heart oh God Make it ever true Change my heart oh God May I be like You
Verse
You are the potter I am the clay Mold me and make me This is what I pray
23 The Lord is my shepherd, I [a]shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside [b]quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the [c]paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the [d]valley of the shadow of death, I fear no [e]evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You [f]have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 [g]Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will [h]dwell in the house of the Lord [i]forever.
Song: Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah (Cwm Rhondda)
Guide me O Thou great Jehovah Pilgrim through this barren land I am weak but Thou art mighty Hold me with Thy pow’rful hand Bread of heaven Bread of heaven Feed me now and ever more Feed me now and ever more
Open now the crystal fountain Whence the healing stream doth flow Let the fiery cloudy pillar Lead me all my journey through Strong Deliverer strong Deliverer Be Thou still my strength and shield Be Thou still my strength and shield
When I tread the verge of Jordan Bid my anxious fears subside Death of death and hell’s destruction Land me safe on Canaan’s side Songs of praises songs of praises I will ever give to Thee I will ever give to Thee
