Good morning, everyone, and welcome to church this morning. Not only is it the Lord's Day, but it's also a day that we have set aside as remembrance Sunday and remember those who gave their lives in the two great wars and other wars that have happened throughout the history of man. And I'm just going to explain to you what's going to happen just now. We are going to have the colors are going to march on. and we'll receive the colors. And then we're going to sing a hymn, number 70, Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past. And during the last verse of that hymn, the wreaths will be laid at the front of the church here. And immediately after we lay the wreaths, there's going to be a minute's silence. And that minute's silence will be broken by the playing of the last post. and then we'll have prayer. So we'll go through that again. We're just now in a moment going to march on the colors. We'll ask the congregation, whenever we begin that, to stand for that. We're going to march on with the colors. The opening hymn, which is number 70, Oh God, Our Help. And during the last verse, we're going to lay the wreaths at the front of the church. After that, we'll have a minute's silence, which will be broken by the last post, and then we'll have prayer. So let's all stand as we receive the colors, please. Let's remain standing and sing, O God, our help in ages past. Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Never remain standing for our minute's silence. Our Fathers, we come before you this morning. We realize, Lord, the great privilege that it is to have this freedom, that we can come to the throne of grace. We have freedom to express our religious beliefs. We have freedom here to come, Lord, and worship the God of heaven. We have freedom, Lord, from tyranny and tyrants because of those who sacrificed and made the ultimate and paid the ultimate sacrifice by the giving of their lives, fighting in the wars that have preceded this very day. And oh God, thank you for those who are so brave, so courageous, so committed, and so loyal. And we thank you, Lord, for each one. And we thank you, Lord, for their sacrifice. And we thank you, Lord, that we now live in the benefits and the consequences of that great sacrifice. We remember the men and women, Lord, from the various military organizations. And we pray, dear God, that those who still alive and remain, who have to deal with severe injury and severe trauma, We pray, dear God, that they today may know your grace at this time. Remember, Lord, those who lost loved ones and, Father, have, in their own way, paid that sacrifice for our freedom. God, grant to such today that, Lord, they may know the help and the presence of God. We pray, dear God, that you'll teach us to value these freedoms purchased at such great cost, that we might not forget, that we might continue to remember the wonderful freedom that we have in this part of the world. We thank you, Lord, for the ultimate freedom that we can know, the ultimate sacrifice that was paid by your own Son for our spiritual freedom from the tyranny of sin. And we pray, dear God, that in remembering those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, that we will remember him, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave his life a ransom for many. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. We're going to continue our service, and we're going to allow you to remain seated for singing this first song, which is King of Kings, majesty God of heaven, living in me. What a wonderful privilege and blessing it is to know that the God of heaven would be living in me by faith, by his spirit. Just remain seated, we'll sing this one together, please, as we begin the remainder of our service, thanks. I love you My heart in flames, I can see I am alive, I am alive Before we come to an end All alone, I know the end Thank the Lord and thank those who gave their lives that we are not serving some dictator, some tyrant, but we have the privilege and the freedom to serve the King of Kings, His Majesty, and we are free here to come and express our love and our worship of him. And he has paid that penalty for your sin that you might not only be a servant of sin and Satan, but you might be free and have freedom to live for the glory of God. And that's why we can sing, I live to serve your majesty. And what we ought to do in these days as a consequence of our great freedom, we need to crown him the Lord of Life. We're going to sing our next song, Crown Him with Many Crowns. We'll stand and sing this time and let's sing unto the King who is eternal. We'll stand and sing please. Thank you so much. You may be seated. Can I welcome the girls brigade? Thank you for coming along this morning to our remembrance service. Thank you for taking the time. And also to the boys brigade, we appreciate you being here as well. Thank you for doing it so well. You're looking so smart. And we appreciate it. And I know that it's greatly appreciated by the congregation here as well. And Christ, He comes in strong and great To save us all in His way Every eye and heart shall see Him Amen. You may be seated. If you've got the scriptures with you, then I'm going to invite you to turn with me to Amos and chapter 4. Amos and chapter 4. And we're going to read from verse 1 down to verse 13. Amos chapter 4 and verse 1 to verse 12. Amos chapter 4 verses 1 to verse 12. A great message that has been lost in transmission, is the title. A message or a warning that has been lost in transmission. Let's read together from God's word, Amos chapter four, verse one. Hear this word, ye kind of Bashan, that are in the mountains of Samaria, which oppress the poor, which crush the needy, which say to their masters, bring and let us drink. The Lord has sworn by his holiness that lo the day shall come upon you that ye will take you away with hooks and your posterity with fish hooks. and ye shall go out at the breeches, every cow that which is before her, and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the Lord. Come to Bethel and transgress. At Gilgal, multiply transgression, and bring your sacrifices every morning and your tithes after three years. And offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven. and proclaim and publish the free offerings for this you like to do. Oh ye children of Israel says the Lord God and I also have given you cleanness of teeth and all your cities and want of bread and all your places yet you have not returned on to me saith the Lord and I have withheld the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest and they caused it to rain upon one city and caused it not to rain upon the peace whereupon it rained not withered. So two or three cities wandered on to one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied. Yet have you not returned on to me, saith the Lord. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew. When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmy worm devoured them. Yet have you not returned on to me, saith the Lord. I have sent among you pestilence after the manner of Egypt. Your young men have I slain with the sword and have taken away your horses and I have made the stink of your camps to come up before your nostrils. Yet have you not returned on to me, saith the Lord. I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were as firebrand plucked out of the burning. Yet have you not returned on to me, saith the Lord. Therefore, this will I do unto thee, O Israel, and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. Amen, and we trust that the Lord will bless that reading of his word to our hearts. The book of Jeremiah is a message of return. The book of Joel is a message of tragedy. The book of Isaiah is a message of hope. The book of Genesis, as everybody should know, is a book of beginnings. The book of John, or the Gospel of John, is a message of love. The book of Hebrews is a message of perseverance. But when we get to the book of Amos, it's the book of warning to prepare. A few minutes before 8 a.m. on Sunday, December the 7th, 1941, Japanese carrier-based airplanes struck Pearl Harbor. It was a raid that lasted almost two hours. However, they sank and seriously damaged eight battleships, 13 other naval vessels, almost 200 American aircraft, and up on 3,000 American soldiers were either killed or badly injured. Interestingly, the United States intelligence had been unable to break the Japanese code, and knew that the battle and the Japanese were going to come to bomb Pearl Harbor. The problem was that the message got lost in transmission, and they were just receiving the warning in the very middle of that attack. Some hailed it as a great victory with the Japanese. But the Japanese admiral that conducted that attack said, I fear that all we have done is awakened a great giant. A great giant. It was that attack that brought the Americans into the war. And as a consequence, resulted in the victory of the allied forces over tyranny. The parallel of this event, I am sure, is obvious. We don't need a decoder to decipher the message that God is sending to us today through our little text. God is ushering it as clearly and as plainly as is possible to be. There's an awesome event that's happened that's ahead of everyone that's gathered in this church and in fact every soul that was ever born. It's an event that will eclipse anything that you've ever experienced or that mankind has ever seen in their lifetime. Sometimes this message is lost in transmission. Sometimes the herald that's ushering this message is not so clear as what the warning entails. Sometimes the message gets confused with a lot of other convoluted messages that seem to come forth from people according to their own opinions. Sometimes the problem is not the herald or the transmission, sometimes the problem is within the receiver. There are many other things and many other opinions and there are many other ideas and there are many other ideals and there are many other principles held by the person that's hearing the message and somehow the message gets lost. Not able to hear. I believe it's my duty before God this morning, as we begin the mission, and I sent a message to one or two who have been praying, especially for this incoming two weeks. I believe the mission is starting here and now. And the warning that we are to herald out to our community is prepare to meet your God. Now I would, I would that that meeting would be in mercy and in grace and in favor and in peace as we put forth the message of the gospel over the airwaves and in the meetings as we listen to testimony, that we would meet with God on a repentant faith-based situation. Because it's then that you will know the peace of God. that passes all understanding. It is then that the benefits of Calvary will be applied to you and you can go free, not to live as you like, but to live for the glory of God. And so, in the moments that's remaining in this service, I want to try and tease out this little message, which I believe is significant and important to everyone here today. Notice as we read our little text found in verse 12, prepare to meet thy God, an imminent confrontation. See I don't know how close it is. I think of Davy and Sandra's foster daughter. And if I'm honest, it's that particular event that has spurred me with this message. We don't know the day or hour. We don't know when we'll take our last breath. But we know this, that one day we will stand before God and give account. I've got a phone with me, and whenever someone asks me to do something, or want me to meet with them, or whenever somebody wants me to call to their home, the first thing that I'll do is I'll go to my planner, and I'll put it in my little planner on my phone, and the best warning that I can get from my phone is just a week ahead of the event. Now, maybe you've got one that's better, maybe yours will do a year, maybe two years. Well, what good's a year ahead? You need another one after that, and another one after that, don't you? Well, God's not trying to hide this message. God's not trying to confuse the message. God is saying to us today, one day, sooner than we think, maybe even today, you will stand before God. It's unavoidable. It's unavoidable. I remember going, when I was still in the work of the faith mission, I think I've told this story before, it's rather amusing, but it is an honest and it's a true event. I went to this house, and it's in between Dremel League and Bantry, and if you don't know where that is, go home and get to your map and you'll find it. It's way down the very bottom left-hand corner of Ireland. And I went to this house, And I went to the front door first, but I knew I wasn't going to get any answer. And so I went straight around to the back door, because I knew that once I knocked the door, I'd warned them that I'm coming. And when I got to the back door, I could see this man jumping over a five to six foot hedge, and another man, and he was disappearing into a little 18 inch hole, just under a shed. Because he didn't want to see me, because he knew I was there with the gospel. I want to tell you, you can run from the preacher, you can run from the law, you can run from the law man, but you can't run from God. I remember standing at the door of a dear lady in the south of Ireland when we were again out doing some evangelism work. And she says, paramilitaries killed my husband. And you know the thing that's distressing me most, she says, she says that the people that murdered my husband have never been caught. And I said, dear lady, they may have escaped the law of this land, but they never escaped God. It's unavoidable. It's unavoidable. It's unpredictable. I don't know when. And I don't know the vehicle that's going to bring you or me before God. I don't know. It could be death or it could be the Lord's return. But I do know this, that it's unavoidable and it's unpredictable. You just don't know when. The youngest funerals that I have conducted since becoming a pastor have been little stillborns. and then little 17-month-old children, twins. I've conducted funerals for 20-year-olds. And you know what I discovered? Death is no respecter of persons. It's unpredictable. But the Lord Jesus Christ could come back today. You could be at the breakfast table this morning, the dinner table this afternoon, church here at the moment, and tonight standing before God. We just don't know. It's unpredictable. I was talking to a lady over this past week, and she said, I'm glad I don't know the day that I'm going to die." And I said, I'm not that sure if that's the wisest thing. I think we should all expect that today could be our last day. But she went on to say, imagine if this was the last day, or tomorrow is my last day, imagine the turmoil, imagine the mental distress as I was working up towards that last day. By the way, if this was your last moment in life, if this was your last hour in life, what would you do with that hour? Would there be a frantic Exercise, would you be running around trying to put this right and put that right? Would you be trying to make it right with your husband, with your wife, with your children, with your mum, with your dad? Would you be trying to put it right with the community? Would you be trying to put it right with the Lord? And what would happen if the Lord had withdrawn from you and you hadn't more opportunity ever? I believe that it's possible to be in a place with God that you would spend it as you spent the last week, the last month, the last year. As you seek to walk with God every day, there need not be anything that needs to change because you've been walking with God all that time. But here's some advice that I could give you. Maybe you should get down with your children, if this was your last hour of life, and say, listen children, mommy, daddy has made their peace with God. One day, way back, I put my faith and trust in him, and I knew that my sins were forgiven, and in my last moments of life, I want you to know that where I'm going, that it's not the end, I don't cease to exist, that I'm in a far better place. And don't mourn as those who have no hope. It's unpredictable. Notice not only that imminent confrontation, notice an important consideration. Prepare to meet thy God. Now, I want to give you a little bit of the context of this passage. You'll notice that I deliberately read the first number of verses in this passage. And what it is, is God is warning, because you've refused to follow my path, because you've refused to obey my will, because you've decided to go your own way, because you've refused and continued to be rebellious and indifferent, I am coming in judgment. That's the context. And we know that he had chosen the Babylonians and the Assyrians to come and bring his judgment on his people. And we can look back over the history books and we can see that it happened, we can see how it happened, we can see when it happened, and we can see where it happened. And they left the children of Israel derelict. And as we've been studying through the book of Nehemiah, the walls were pulled down and the gates were burned with fire. And the people in Jerusalem were in disarray. The judgment took place. But thank God there's a different context for us. The judgment of God fell on Christ 2,000 years ago. He bore the wrath and the penalty of God for our sin 2,000 years ago. And he ushered in for you and I. Listen to this, you young people. He ushered in for you and I, because this is very important. He ushered in for you and I the day of grace. The day of grace. We live in a day when people want to get their pound of flesh. They don't look for apology, they look for revenge. We live in a day whenever someone does anything or someone says anything, we can't wait to get our own back on them. But that's not how God works. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He gave his life that we might have life. I was listening to Premier Christian Radio. Hands up, those of you who listen to Premier Christian Radio. Hands up, those of you who listen to other thrash. There's a lady, Premier Christian Radio, and then there's Premier Praise, two different stations. One's all singing, and the other's a wee bit more preaching. Well, I was listening to Premier Christian Radio as I struck on the traffic jam the other day. There's a woman testifying. Testifying to the fact that she'd lived a wild and promiscuous life, adulterous. And that she was being quizzed as to how she came to have a soul, have a life and a heart for God. And she began this ministry up in Inverness, how that she had been changed. And she said, I realized one day that Jesus became what I was so that I could become what he is. Do you know the full implication of that? A promiscuous, adulterous, whenever Jesus Christ hung on the cross, he was bearing away the sins of the whole world. Yes, the most vilest individual that you can imagine. I say to you, Jesus has done everything necessary for you and I, so that you may have the opportunity to prepare for this awesome and awful event. He has satisfied the just requirements of a holy God, and he has met the peace treaty terms, so we might know the peace of God that passes all understanding. God was in Christ, says Paul, reconciling the whole world unto himself, and has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation. I love the little song, Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. When Christ comes, will it be a glad, glorious, and great celebration? when you're clothed in the robes of righteousness, rejoicing at his coming? Will it be songs of praise and exaltation, singing this new song of the redeemed that he has given us the day he saved us? Or will it be with sad reflection, mournful recognition, wasted opportunities, and neglected truth? Consider what state you will meet him in. if you meet him in the state that you're in now, out of Christ unsaved and lost. Consider what standing you'll meet him with, standing in arrogance, indifference, and ignorance, because you failed and you refused to receive the truth whereby you might be saved. Consider the strength by which you'll meet him, the strength of your own arguments, I'm good enough, Consider the strategy you'll meet with him, in faith or in fear. How are you going to meet him? I say this with a tear in my heart. If you want to be lost, just don't do anything about your sin. Ignore the cross. Ignore Christ. Ignore your sin. Ignore the danger. Ignore your conviction. Ignore what you hear every Sunday. Every time God speaks, just continue living the way you have. The only people that will be in heaven are those who are prepared people. The third thing that I want to say to you as I've poured over this little text, an incalculable consolation. Prepare to meet thy God. You will see some of these little leaflets on the door on the way out. Inside it will tell you of the different stories and the different testimonies that we hope under God and God willing that the folk will be able to convey to us. I wonder, is this the last meeting you'll be at over this next two weeks? Is this the last meeting? I have no intention of going to hear that by tonight. I have too many other things on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Could it be that you're running scared? We'd have no problem marching down A dark road with a collaret, perhaps, or a flag. But could you be running scared from God? And I'm wondering, could the reason that you're running away from God is perhaps, perhaps, you don't really understand who God is? I love this wee text which says, prepare to meet thy God. He's not asking us to meet with Buddha, or Confucius, or Muhammad. He's touching our minds. Prepare to meet thy God. What God? The God that brought them out of Egypt. The God that brought them through the wilderness. The God that brought them through the Red Sea. The God that provided for them in the wilderness. And the God that provided for every aspect and every step of their life. And the God who showed them nothing other than patience, longsuffering, kindness, gentleness, and goodness. and has placed within the heart of every individual potential to be what God wants you to be. That's the God. Let me just jog your memory here a wee moment in the closing minutes of this remembrance service. He's a God of compassion. He doesn't stand over your life criticizing and condemning. He comes alongside to understand who you are, where you're coming from. He entered into our suffering, the suffering due to you and I, when he hung on a cross. He tasted the full wrath and anger of Almighty God for you and I. for every soul that he saw was broken with sin. He didn't castigate them and criticize them and condemn them, but he came down alongside with them and identified with them. O Christ, what burdens bowed thy head? Our load was laid on thee. Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead. Dist, bear all ill for me. He's a God of compassion. I don't know if you've ever done this. When you're walking the streets and you see some poor soul who's an alcoholic, down and out, lying on the side of the road in the gutters, and maybe felt a little bit of sympathy but walked on. Maybe you've seen other scenes and situations. Hospital. You felt a tug in your heart. Poor soul. but could do nothing, did nothing, walked on past, soon forgot about it. I was in St. Hume MacAllister there last week, and on the other side of the ward was another dear man, and I knew he hadn't got long to live. I could see the sorrow and family around him, and as I was praying with Hume, I also mentioned his other family just on the other side of the bed, and I walked over to them after I had prayed with Hume, And I said to the family, I don't know them from Adam. I said, we're just after praying for you. God will give you grace. And you may as well have given them 10,000 pound. But we couldn't heal him. Jesus doesn't look at you down in the gutters and say, you got yourself into it, get out of it. My brother, I had two brothers, one of them's gone. The younger of the two fell into a well on the way to school, because we used to walk across the fields on the way to school, walking the four miles. And Leary, which was my mother's maiden name, he got it as his first name. He fell into the well, and my brother, Ian, he says, get out the way you get in. God doesn't do that. Jesus comes to where you are. Maybe you're in confusion. Maybe you're in fear. Maybe you're in turmoil. Maybe you're in distress. He'll come to where you are. He's a God of comfort, of compassion. He's a God of clemency. There's a Saviour from all sin, if you'll only let Him in to your heart, He there will reign while you trust Him. He will put the evil out, save from every fear and doubt, and you'll soon begin to shout, Hallelujah. Because He'll bring His forgiveness, He'll bring His pardon, He'll bring His acceptance, He'll bring cleansing. Mercy means you don't get what you do deserve. And he's a God of constancy. Thy God, I am the Lord and I change not. So why are you afraid to come to God? Come when it's in mercy. Come with the intention, I want to hear more from God. Come with an open heart. Come with a hunger. Because this could be the meeting or this could be the mission that will determine your eternal destiny. And you'll rejoice in eternity for the day you decided, I'm going to open my heart to God. Let's pray together in prayer. Let's pray. Father, we pray that as we consider this great warning that has been lost so often in transmission, prepare to meet thy God. Lord, we pray that even now, there will be those who run to him in faith, run to him while there is mercy. Our Lord, it will be when they meet with him in anger and in wrath. Lord, would you move our hearts today Would you work on us, in us? Would you work through us? Lord, from the youngest to the oldest, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to get you to stand and sing a song that is deliberately chosen to jog your heart and jog your mind. When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot thou hast taught me to know, it is well. Is it well? Is it well with your soul? Let's stand and sing together please. Now let me also explain to you what's going to happen We stand and sing together, number 351. And during the last verses, there are five verses of this. Sorry, there are 351. 3-5-3, sorry, on Peace Like a River, 3-5-3, there are five verses. So during the third verse then, we'll be returning the colors to the party. So when we return the colors, then we will sing the national anthem, we'll have the benediction. and then we'll march off the colours, and the organisations will leave right behind the colours, and the congregation just remain in place until both Boys Brigade and Girls Brigade have left the church. So we're going to have our closing hymn, and after the third verse is sang, we'll return the colours, remain standing for the national anthem, then we'll have the benediction, and then we'll march off the colours. Thank you so much. That's what I'm talking about. To the ball shall be mine. For in death, as in life, I will live to serve thy peace. Yes, I know God save our Queen! Sancta Victoria! God keep our Queen! Let's bow for the benediction. Gracious God and Heavenly Father. We thank you, Lord, that you send out your warnings not to catch us out, not to confuse us. You send out plenty of warning. You're not like the Japanese that try to deceive, try to destroy. We thank you, Lord, you send your warning out so we may be prepared. Lord, you sent your warning out in this church today for those who are not yet ready, have never made their preparation, never made their choice. You've asked Lord each one to come in repentance and faith to be prepared for that day which no man knows when it shall take place. Accept of our thanks for your love, your patience, your long-suffering, your kindness, and your compassion towards us. And now with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, our Heavenly Father, in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, at rest. Obey and remain with each one, for we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Please remain standing.