The Scroll and the Lion-Lamb (Revelation 5:1-14)
Francis Blight, 17th January 2021Part of the Sermon series, preached at a Fordham Sunday Service service
Join us online for our 2021 Covenant Renewal Service. Rev’d Francis Blight will be preaching on Revelation chapter 5:1-14 with the title The Scroll and the Lion-Lamb. The service will be livestreamed through this website at 10.00am and then available as a recording to watch at any time. In response to the new national lockdown there will be no in-person attendance in the church building. After the service, the church family gather on Zoom for ‘virtual coffee’ from 11.30am-12.30pm. If you would like to join in on the Zoom, please email the church office for details.
During the service we will pray the prayer of covenant renewal (below). It was adapted by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism from the works of Joseph and Richard Alleine, for the purpose of renewing the Christian believer's Covenant with God. Through this prayer we completely offer ourselves to God for his will and purpose. This affirmation is a serious one that embraces the whole of our life, in all its parts. Most people find it quite tough to say, and really mean it.
A COVENANT WITH GOD
“I am no longer my own, but yours.
Put me to what you will,
rank me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to suffering;
let me be employed for you,
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you, or brought low for you;
let me be full, let me be empty,
let me have all things, let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly yield all things
to your pleasure and disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours. So be it.
And the covenant now made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”
In preparation for the service, please take some time to think through the covenant prayer. Read through it slowly, a line at a time.
These six questions will help you to engage with it’s meaning:
1. What jumps out at you?
2. What would you find easy to say?
3. What would you find difficult to say?
Think how it might apply to your life – the whole of your life.
4. What things might God be asking you to stop?
5. What might God be asking you to continue?
6. And what new things may God place in your life?
Online Church: Listen
Use the player below to watch the sermon
Watch the Sermon only hereUse the player below to watch the live stream
(This will be available from 10:00am on Sunday)
Sunday Service - Live
Notice & Service Sheet| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « Who is Jesus? | None | The Book of Ruth: Emptiness » |
5:2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?"
5:3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.
5:4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.
5:5 Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals."
5:6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
5:7 He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.
5:8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
5:9 And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
5:10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
5:11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
5:12 In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"
5:13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"
5:14 The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.
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