Audlem Baptist Church Online Service for the
3^rd November 2024

Practising the Way

This is the third service in our current series.

Trained in the Way of Jesus

---

Introduction

The sermons for these online services come from Chichester Baptist Church during very recent months.

In our previous series we have talked about the huge impact that Jesus’s earthly ministry had on the way we think about God, the Trinity and the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, in this series we move on to think about what it means for us to be one of his followers. The early church was known as being people who followed in The Way. The term “Christian” came much later.

This series is in large part based on a book by John Mark Comer entitled “Practising the Way”. My hope is that as we go through this series we will go deeper in our understanding of what it is to be a true disciple.

Song: He is Yahweh

In this series I have tried to use the same hymns that were used in Chichester before and after the message. So this song is their choice for us. It is another new one to me. It rejoices in the fact that our God is great! Who is moving on the waters? Who is holding up the moon? Who is peeling back the darkness with the burning light of noon?.

Trained in the Way of Jesus

The third message of the series is from September this year. If you have a Bible or Bible App to hand, please get it ready. There will be a reading from John chapter 15 verses 1 to 5 and Luke chapter 6 verses 43 to 45.

The speaker is the Reverend Ellen Wild, who is the Minister at Chichester.

Click the filmstrip icon below to start watching the YouTube video. It should start automatically at about 48 minutes into the complete service.

I suggest that you stop the video when she shows a slide with four prayer points that I have reproduced below for our prayer time. We will follow that with a video of the same song that they sang.

You can view the video full screen by clicking the small button at the bottom right of the video screen (as shown highlighted on the small image on the left).

Prayers

Following the message here are the four topics to meditate on as you pray:

· Your long slow process of being formed.

· The process of Counter-Formation (against the tide).

· Your Spiritual Practices: the trellis in our lives (which we will talk more about in the coming weeks).

· Living intentionally now in the beauty of your ordinary life

As you watched the message today was there a moment when you sensed the Holy Spirit speaking directly to you? Then tell Jesus about it. Or maybe you simply had a ‘lightbulb’ moment which you would like to thank God for.

Spend a few moments to thank God for all his goodness to you in the last week.

Spend a few minutes in confession.

Take a few minutes to pray for others who you feel burdened for. If you have received the Church Email, it will give you some suggestions.

Now spend a few moments praying for the fellowship of the church to which we belong and its witness to friends, family, neighbours, the young and the old, and to the wider world.

Song: In Christ Alone (My Hope is Found)

The Chichester congregation sang this song to close. Over the years we have sung it many times because everything we ever need for the long slow process of life transformation is found in Jesus Christ alone.

A Closing Prayer

God of love,
Plant us in the soil of your grace.
Nurture us with the strength of Christ,
the vine of everlasting life.
Enlighten us with the wisdom of your Spirit,
which flows through us today and all days.
Abide in us,
that we may abide in you
and live in your love.
In your holy name, we pray.

Amen.