BallysillanPresbyterian

03/06/2026

RESOURCES / TEN WORDS
Each week we've resources for digging deeper into the passage and theme we were looking at on Sunday. There's a passage to read, a verse to remember and a song to rejoice with!

READING / WEEK 6 / Day 2

Text - EXODUS 20:12 / COLOSSIANS 3:20-21
Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

Thought
For some this begins the second section of the commands, the ones focussed on our relationships with others. But for some this is a hinge command that sits at the centre because it finds its roots in our honour of and obedience to God as our Father, which is then lived out in our relationship with those who have given us life.

It affirms the place of family in the vision of God for his people and there’s lots of interesting things about it…it’s place before commands on murder and stealing, it’s honouring of mothers as well as fathers in a patriarchal world.

It has a vision for parents as those who direct and guide and discipline their children for the good of the child and the community and the witness of God’s people…You could dig into Proverbs 1:8-9…

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

…or Deuteronomy 6:6-7…

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children.

And so there is a responsibility implicit in the command for parents and, if you take the wise, wider approach of the catechisms (see later in the week), others who find themselves with responsibility for others, to be worthy of honour and not to be marked by “an inordinate seeking of themselves, their own glory, ease, profit, or pleasure; commanding things unlawful, or not in the power of [children] to perform...correcting them unduly” (Larger Catechism 130).

Therefore
So who looks up to you, as a parent, or a parental or authority figure. In what ways are you living that honours your role in their life as one who might direct and guide and teach and discipline them for their good, physically, emotionally and spiritually. And if there are ways that you are not living up to that responsibility, bring them to the Lord in confession and ask the Holy Spirit to help you live out your role!

REMEMBER /
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
EXODUS 20:12

REJOICE /
Good, Good Father / HOUSEFIRES
https://youtu.be/djrY_eFDOwE?si=6_c_PI0NR3Am0P_t

02/06/2026

RESOURCES / TEN WORDS
Each week we've resources for digging deeper into the passage and theme we were looking at on Sunday. There's a passage to read, a verse to remember and a song to rejoice with!

READING / WEEK 6 / Day 1

Text - EXODUS 20:12
Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Thought - FIVE THINGS TO PRAY
Each week, inspired by the brilliant series of little books called Five Things to Pray, we’re going to pull out five things from our passage that we could pray for God to do in and through our church (or your church if you don’t go to Ballysillan).

So here’s your five for this week…get praying:

1. Give thanks to God for the gift of family, and pray against the schemes of the enemy to cause damage to it, whether that be by our own sin as children or parents, or the wider societal breakdown of families

2. Pray that we would be a church full of people who seek to honour their father and mother…in all the family circumstances and stages of life we find ourselves in

3. Pray for parents in church that they would more and more reflect the Lord in their parenting, not provoking them to anger, but bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4)

4. Pray for families where relational breakdown and trauma are a significant reality…for healing, transformation and restoration by the grace of God

5. Within the wider scope of the fifth word, pray for all those in authority that they would demonstrate “wise, holy, and exemplary behaviour” (Larger Catechism Q129) and so bless those under their authority and honour God who gave them their authority.

Therefore
Colossians 3:2 tells us, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” So be doers of the word and be devoted in praying for these things this week.

REMEMBER /
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
EXODUS 20:12

REJOICE /
Good, Good Father / HOUSEFIRES
https://youtu.be/djrY_eFDOwE?si=6_c_PI0NR3Am0P_t

31/05/2026

This morning we welcomed Walter McCorkell to lead our service while Dave was preaching at Abbey Presbyterian. Walter continued on the ‘Ten Words’ series, this week on the 5th commandment - Honour your father and mother’. We trust you will be blessed by all that you hear in our service.

31st May 2026

30/05/2026

RESOURCES / TEN WORDS
Each week we've resources for digging deeper into the passage and theme we were looking at on Sunday. There's a passage to read, a verse to remember and a song to rejoice with!

READING / WEEK 5 / Day 5

week 5 / reading 5
Text - EXODUS 20:8-11 / HEBREWS 4:9-11
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Thought
At the end of each week we’re dipping into the deep wells of wisdom in the catechisms as we meditate on these ten words. Here’s a question from one of the catechisms…

HEIDELBERG CATECHISM Q & A 103
Q. What does God require in the Fourth Commandment?
A. First, that the gospel ministry and training for it be maintained, and also that I, especially on the day of rest, take care to join with God’s people to learn from God’s Word, to share in the sacraments, to call on God publicly, and to give as a Christian for those in need. And second, that every day of my life I rest from my evil ways, and let the Lord work in me through his Spirit, and so begin in this life the everlasting sabbath.

It would make no sense to move from one job with a slavemaster of a boss who cared nothing for you to another job with the best boss ever who care for you and gave you time off…and then to keep going back and working for the old boss…

As someone rescued form slavery to sin and the devil, it makes no sense to keep going back to the old slavemaster when we have such a gracious and loving new boss (or Lord!). Yet in this life, we keep getting drawn back into nonsense…which is why the that catechism makes a point of emphasising the need to rest for our evil ways, our old way of life, our old slavemaster every day. It’s why the writer of Hebrews emphasises effort to avoid disobedience.

And as we do this as the Lord works in us through his Spirit, we take tentative thrilling steps intros life into the everlasting Sabbath…that life that Adam and Eve woke up to on the seventh day a life of delighting in God, his creation and the work he had for them.

Therefore
So as we come to church this weekend, be asking the Holy Spirit to be at work in you, helping you to rest both FROM your evil ways and IN the beginning of the everlasting sabbath in this life.

REMEMBER /
"Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
MATTHEW 11:28-29

REJOICE /
God Rested / ANDREW PETERSON
https://youtu.be/a34ABuJh9jA?si=HVqM6CkubPmRYBh9

29/05/2026

//EXODUS FUNDRAISER

/ coffee morning and pre loved clothes sale

/ saturday 30 may 10:30am-12:30pm

/ ballysillan presbyterian

Plenty of clothes for sale!!!!

29/05/2026

THIS SUNDAY IN BALLYSILLAN PRESBYTERIAN

// LET'S PRAY / 10:45-11:15am
We get together to pray together for church, community and the world. See you in the lounge

// WORSHIP with Communion / 11:30am
We're onto the fourth "command" in our Ten Words series thinking about what it means to honour our fathers and mothers. This week we have Walter McCorkell, pastoral visitor in Abbey Presbyterian taking our service while Dave is preaching in Abbey.

The following youth and kids ministries are available
CRECHE / toddlers
SUNDAY CLUB / primary aged childen

They all go out part way through the service and return for the closing worship

There's also tea and coffee after the service so do hang about and grab a cuppa and a chat.

// 321 / 6-7:15pm
We're doing the 321 course...an opportunity to discover life according to Jesus...this will be our thirs week. If you missed the last weeks you can jump on the 321 website and catch up on the first four videos...

https://321.speaklife.org.uk/course/321

/ Who is it for?
People exploring Christianity for the first time
People who curious about faith, meaning and life
People who want to share their faith with others

/ Why should I come?
We’re running 321 now primarily as a way to introduce you to the course content so that you might

1.⁠ ⁠Be more confident in your understanding of the Gospel
2.⁠ ⁠Become familiar with the 321 material so we can run it again as part of our GOING with the good news of Jesus
3.⁠ ⁠Be encouraged to use 321 to share faith with others

https://321.speaklife.org.uk/course/321

29/05/2026

RESOURCES / TEN WORDS
Each week we've resources for digging deeper into the passage and theme we were looking at on Sunday. There's a passage to read, a verse to remember and a song to rejoice with!

READING / WEEK 5 / Day 4

Text - DEUTERONOMY 5:12-15
“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

Thought
Have you ever had a boss who just seemed to want to squeeze every last bit of life out of you that they could. To them you were just a number, a machine, a slave…

As the ten commandments are repeated in Deuteronomy, the foundation of Sabbath is described in terms of the Exodus.

Remember that you were slaves…you were viewed in terms of producvity instead of humanity, you were treated as an appliance instead of as a person…Pharaoh used and abused you.

And now recognise who the Lord is and rejoice in how he treats you. He’s the rescuer from slavery, and the one who invites, commands us to rest from our work. He views us in the fullness of our humanity, with dignity and honour, and cares for our our well being and not just our work rate.

God has saved us from slavery to sin (which looked to squeeze every last ounce of life out of us). At the same time he has work for us to do, important work, purposeful work, life giving work…but tiring work from which we need to rest…and as much as God cares about the purpose, he cares about the person too.

So God is no slavemaster, rather he makes slaves sons and daughters and cares for them so much that he gives them rest from their work.

Therefore
So as we head towards Sunday, take a fresh look at Jesus as the Lord who, having rescued his people now cares for them in the midst of them living out their purpose. And take a fresh look at your work life…where is it that your work is squeezing life out of you…what would Jesus say to you?

REMEMBER /
"Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
MATTHEW 11:28-29

REJOICE /
God Rested / ANDREW PETERSON
https://youtu.be/a34ABuJh9jA?si=HVqM6CkubPmRYBh9

28/05/2026

RESOURCES / TEN WORDS
Each week we've resources for digging deeper into the passage and theme we were looking at on Sunday. There's a passage to read, a verse to remember and a song to rejoice with!

READING / WEEK 5 / Day 3

Text - EXODUS 20:8-11 / HEBREWS 4:9-11
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

Thought -
Each week we’re taking advantage of the Bible Project resources on the Ten Words. This week it’s their video on the fourth of the Ten Words.

The video speaks of how we get to “reenact the whole history of the universe every week…so that six days of labor culminating in a seventh day of rest becomes a way of participating in the grand story of what God is doing and has in store for all of creation.”

There’s a real privilege and responsibility, as we spoke about last week, in carrying the name of the God who rests…and the God who will one day bring final rest to the whole of creation.

The video closes out with this line…

“There is coming a time of rest, and you can stop and enjoy a taste of that future rest right here in the present.”

So stop, look to rest in the future by looking to enjoy rest in the present.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsAmFJ6quZk

Therefore
So a few questions from the Bible Project to ponder today…

1. How does the connection to the Genesis creation narrative contribute to our understanding of the 4th Commandment?��2. What are some implications of Yahweh commanding that everyone must rest on the Sabbath?��3. What is the story we tell when we choose to stop working and rest for a whole day every week?��4. What are some loving responses to followers of Jesus who disagree over which day to treat as holy?

If you want to dig deeper, check out the Bible Project’s guide to the ten commandments:

https://bibleproject.com/guides/the-10-commandments/ -is-the-context-of-the-10-commandments

REMEMBER /
"Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
MATTHEW 11:28-29

REJOICE /
God Rested / ANDREW PETERSON
https://youtu.be/a34ABuJh9jA?si=HVqM6CkubPmRYBh9

27/05/2026

RESOURCES / TEN WORDS
Each week we've resources for digging deeper into the passage and theme we were looking at on Sunday. There's a passage to read, a verse to remember and a song to rejoice with!

READING / WEEK 5 / Day 2

Text - EXODUS 20:8-11
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Thought
There are days that we make special through the year by what we eat and do on them. Breakfast in bed on mother’s day…or a day of treats and surprises for a birthday…an end of exams celebration.

Yet Sabbath keeps inviting us into a practice of making one day every week different…special…holy!

It starts by not doing any work…which should be a joy in and of itself in a 24/7 society. When was the last time you stopped working (whatever work looks like for you) for a full day?

But it isn’t about doing nothing. It’s a blessed day, not a blessed bore. And so just as the Lord delighted in his creation on the seventh day…so we too are invited to take a day, not only to desist from our productivity, but to delight in God’s generosity.

Of course that starts with worship, because God’s generosity isn’t just a thing he does, but it is who he is, and so if we are to delight in his generosity, we have to delight in him. And if we are to delight ins generosity, we have to delight in the ultimate generosity which is the good news of Jesus. And if we are to delight in him, we have to delight in the generosity of the creation he has placed us in, and the fellow creatures he has shared his creation and his love with also.

Therefore
Of course life circumstances and responsibilities may prevent a full 24 hours of rest and rejoicing, desisting and delighting, but where can you start. Maybe it’s simply church and seeing it as a delight and not a duty. Maybe it’s then making an extra special meal, or setting down the phone and putting on your shoes…something that is delightful. So what are your plans for this Sunday?

REMEMBER /
"Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
MATTHEW 11:28-29

REJOICE /
God Rested / ANDREW PETERSON
https://youtu.be/a34ABuJh9jA?si=HVqM6CkubPmRYBh9

26/05/2026

// EXODUS FUNDRAISER

/ PRE LOVED CLOTHES SALE AND COFFEE MORNING WITH LIVE MUSIC

/ Saturday 30th May / 10:30am-12:30pm (definitely not 12:30am!!!)

Hannah and Noah are heaidng off on mission trips with Exodus this summer and have lots of clothes to sell, coffee to drink and buns to eat! So they need your help. Come along and drink coffee, eat buns and pick up a few items of clothing for a bargain price!

And enjoy some brilliant live music while you’re doing that from the Bearded Hegartys and others