[0:00] Well, good morning, boys and girls. Good morning. So you're all awake? Yes. Yes. It seems a bit noisier over this side.
[0:12] So nobody else in the church is awake, are they? Are you all awake? Yes. Right, okay. You're all well? Yes. Good, you're all well. Do you all have a busy week? Yes.
[0:23] Yes, you all have a busy week. Good, good. And do you think you'll have a busy week this week? Yes. No, you won't have a busy week this week. Because this is what? This is the last?
[0:34] Week of term. What? Last week of term? Yeah, great. How many days are left in school? Five. No, four. Four days left in school. So you have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then?
[0:46] Thursday. Thursday is the last day of school. And for some here today, this is their last week of primary school. Because they'll finish on Thursday and then you're all on?
[0:56] No. What's on after Thursday? Holiday. Are you excited? You don't sound very excited. Are you excited for your holidays?
[1:09] Yes. Okay, fine. What are we thinking about today? Things we see at home that remind us about Jesus.
[1:19] That's what we think about every single week in church. Things we see at home that remind us about Jesus. Now, I need you to work with me today, okay? So what do you see?
[1:31] There's a couple of things that we see today that hopefully will remind you about Jesus. Because there are some, what do you see here? Flags. And then what do you see here?
[1:42] What do you call this? A big banner. Okay. So there are clues. What are we thinking about today? Euro champion. So Euro 2024.
[1:55] Yeah? That's certainly something we're seeing at home all the time. Well, it is an our house anyway. Are you watching the football? Yeah. Yeah. Okay, okay.
[2:06] And do you have a favorite team? Yeah. Scotland. Good man, good man. Okay. So it's great having football on the TV all day, every day, isn't it? Brilliant.
[2:17] From 2 o'clock all the way till 10 o'clock at night, we'd have football on the telly. So how does, but the question is, how does Euro 2024 remind us about Jesus? How does Euro 2024 remind us about Jesus?
[2:31] That's something I want us to think about this morning. So you have to listen very, very carefully. Okay? What do we have to do? We have to? Listen. Yeah. So there are three things that I want us to, I want to help us to learn about how Euro 2024 reminds us about Jesus.
[2:49] Okay? Three things. So three headings. Three headings. You have to listen. The countries, the captain, and the cup. The countries, the captain, and the cup.
[3:00] What are they? What are they? Countries, the captain, and the cup. Okay? Okay? So first of all, the countries.
[3:12] Okay? The countries. Now, I want to test your football knowledge, and I also want to test your geography. Is that okay? Yeah. Happy? Happy? Yeah. So I want to test how good you are at knowing things about football, and also different countries of the world.
[3:27] Okay? Okay? So question one. Where is this year's European championship being held? Just shout out. Germany. Okay. What, in this second question, what two teams have won the European championship three times each?
[3:43] Germany's won? Germany's won? No, not Italy. Any other guesses? Not Portugal? Spain.
[3:54] Spain. So Germany and Spain have won it three times each. So they've won it the most times. Question three. What one player in the Euros who is playing for this country for a record sixth time?
[4:07] This means that he's been playing in the European championships for the last 20 years. He first played in 2004, and now he's playing in 2024. Who is he?
[4:18] Who? What's his first name? Cristiano Ronaldo. Okay. He was only 19 in 2004. He's now, how old did that make him?
[4:30] He's 38. But he's turning 39. Okay. But he's still not the oldest player in Euro 2024. The oldest player is actually 41. Question four.
[4:42] What team does Cristiano Ronaldo play for? So what country? Portugal. Portugal. Well done. Now, next question. Question five. This is the 16th European championship.
[4:54] Okay. But when was the first European championship held? Who said that? 19 what?
[5:05] Well done, Grace. 1960. That's, how many years ago was that? 64 years ago. Were you around then? No. Okay. Well, I ask everybody, were you around then?
[5:16] Hands up. Who was around then? Oh, some hands went up. The 1960. Wow. How many teams were in the Euros in 1960? 40.
[5:28] Who said four? Well done. Good job. Four. And Callum had it too, didn't you, Callum? Yeah, Callum had it too. Four teams. How many teams are in it now in 2024?
[5:40] 41. Not 41? 24. Oh, 24. Well done. So, that's why we have all these flags. How many flags do we have? 24 flags.
[5:52] So, these 24 flags, they represent 24 different countries and 24 different teams that are competing in Euro 2024.
[6:03] Now, okay, you're good at your football and your football knowledge. Let's test your geography. Okay? First flag. There's two sets so you can see.
[6:15] What flag is this? Germany. Germany. Then? Poland. Yeah. Next one? Hungary. Hungary. Then? Switzerland. Switzerland.
[6:25] Then? Spain. Spain. Then? Germany. Well done. You guys are good. You guys are good. Croatia. Then? Italy. Italy. Albania.
[6:36] Yeah. Ah. Shh. Who is it? Which one's this one? These are really confusing. There's three of them that are really similar. So which one's this? Slovenia.
[6:49] Well done, Cameron. Okay. Then next? Denmark. Denmark. Then? Serbia. Serbia. Then? I won't comment. I won't say anything.
[7:02] Anthony, I won't say anything for you. Next one? Then? Slovakia.
[7:12] Well done. Belgium. Yeah, they were playing yesterday. Romania. Portugal. Czech Republic. Georgia.
[7:24] Well done. Should we start again? No, we won't do that. So these 24 flags, they represent 24 different countries and 24 different teams.
[7:39] Yeah. But you know, boys and girls, you know what's amazing about all of these nations or all of these countries that are represented here? What's amazing about all of them is that when you look them up, is that the good news of Jesus Christ has reached all of these countries.
[7:54] That doesn't mean that everybody in these countries are Christians. But the good news of Jesus Christ has reached these nations. All these countries have heard about Jesus Christ.
[8:06] They've heard about his death on the cross and his resurrection. Because the amazing thing is, is that there are Christians in every single one of these countries. So there are Christians in Belgium.
[8:18] There's Christians in Georgia. There's Christians in Turkey, Croatia, France. There's Christians in all of these nations. And that's because God has his people everywhere.
[8:30] God has his people everywhere. There are Christians in all of these countries. And in all of these countries. And in all of these communities in these countries. And there are Christians in this community, in this country, in this congregation.
[8:45] There are even Christians in your school. And there are Christians in your street. That's because God has put his people everywhere. He places his people in all these places because the gospel has spread to all these countries.
[9:00] In fact, you know what's amazing? See, when you look up the Bible. The Bible tells us that there was a man called the Apostle Paul. And he went on all these missionary journeys. So Paul would travel to different countries telling people about Jesus.
[9:14] And Paul, it's amazing, he passed through. What's that one at the end? Turkey. He passed through Turkey in order to get to Greece. There's a chapter in the book of Revelation.
[9:27] Or two chapters in the book of Revelation. It talks about seven churches. And they were all churches in Turkey. Paul also traveled. He also had a desire to travel to one, two, three, four, five.
[9:39] What's the fifth flag in? Spain. He had a desire to go to Spain, but he didn't make it. He never reached there. Because Paul was arrested for preaching the gospel.
[9:51] And he was sent as a prisoner to Rome. Does anybody know where Rome is? What country is Rome in? Italy. Italy. Well done. And which flag is the Italian flag?
[10:03] What colors are they? Red, white, and green. So the gospel has reached all of these nations. And we've heard of some of the preachers and pastors from these nations.
[10:16] Okay, testing you more. There was a reformer called Martin Luther. Does anybody know what country he was from? Germany. Germany. There was a man called John Calvin. Does anybody know where he came from?
[10:28] Not England. I'll give you John Calvin. France. There was a man called, here's an interesting name, Ulrich Zwingli.
[10:40] He was from, fourth flag in? Switzerland, yeah. John Bunyan, who wrote the Pilgrim's Progress. He was from? South of Scotland.
[10:54] England. John Knox, great reformer. He was very much Scottish. Right, guys, we've got to teach you church history, okay? But you know, it's amazing.
[11:05] When you think about it, all these nations, they have heard the gospel. The good news about Jesus Christ has spread to all of these 24 nations, including our nation, our island, our community here in Barvis.
[11:19] And that's because Jesus promised. Jesus promised to his disciples a long time ago. He said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
[11:30] And the amazing thing is Jesus is building his church. And he's building his church not just here in Barvis, but he's building it throughout the nations of the world. That's what we were singing about this morning.
[11:42] Now, another question. We began singing what psalm? Psalm 100. A great missionary psalm about all the nations of the world being called to sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
[11:56] Then a moment ago we sang in what psalm? 47. Well done. You did well remembering. So it's all about being called to praise God.
[12:07] 47, that's right. Different nations of the world. And then later on, can you guess which psalm we're going to sing later on? I mean, there's only 150, so surely you can guess.
[12:19] 67. It's a prayer for God to bless all the nations of the world. And you know, brothers and girls, that's what we should be doing. I was thinking about it. That's what we should be doing when we watch these countries play one another in Euro 2024.
[12:34] Because, you know, it's great to see all the players. And it's great to see all the teams. And see the thousands of fans that have gone to Germany. But, you know, we should be praying that all these nations would come to know Jesus.
[12:48] And love Jesus. And follow Jesus. Because that's what's more important than anything else. The most important thing, and we'll see this as we go on.
[13:00] The most important thing above everything else in life is knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, and following Jesus. Knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, and following Jesus.
[13:13] Okay? And I want you to remember that. So tell me what it is. The most important thing in life is knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, and following Jesus.
[13:25] What is it? Well done. Knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, following Jesus. And it's all because Jesus is the captain.
[13:37] That's the second thing we see. So we see, what was the first point? The first C was the countries. Second C is the captain.
[13:50] Captain. Yeah, so the countries and the captain. The countries and the captain. Now another question for you, okay? Another question for you. How do you know who is the captain of the team?
[14:04] What does he have? He wears a? An armband. So he puts an armband on, does he? And what letter is on the armband? A C.
[14:16] C for what? Captain, is it? C for captain. Because the captain, as you know, he is to lead the team. So he leads the team onto the pitch.
[14:28] The captain leads the team. And he's also there to encourage his team. That when they're tired, when they're struggling, he encourages the team. Keep going. Keep going.
[14:39] And so the captain is to lead the team. He's to encourage the team. More questions for you, okay? Testing your football knowledge. Andy Robertson. I haven't even asked yet.
[14:54] Who's the captain of Scotland then? Angus. Who is it? Who is it, Angus? Andy Robertson. Okay. Ryan, I've got to test you more. Who's the captain of England? Harry Kane.
[15:07] Harry Kane. Okay, okay. Who's the captain for France? Mbappe. Mbappe. First name? Kylian Mbappe. Okay. Who's the captain for Portugal?
[15:19] Ronaldo. Ronaldo, yeah. Who's the captain? And make them a wee bit harder. You're going to get this one, Angus. Who's the captain for Poland? Kylian Mbappe. Lewandowski.
[15:30] Okay, that's a hard one to pronounce. If you were watching the telly last night, who's the captain for Belgium? Kevin de Bruyne. Kevin de Bruyne, okay. Last question.
[15:41] Who's the captain of the church? No, not me. Jesus is the captain of the church. So it's not the minister and not the elders.
[15:55] Because our Bible tells us, the Bible teaches us, it's amazing the Bible teaches us this. The Bible teaches us that Jesus is the head of the church. He's the captain. The captain of our salvation.
[16:07] Jesus is the head of the church and the captain of our salvation. And you know, boys and girls, I was reminded the other day by a friend, we were discussing different things, and we started talking about the new rule that's in football.
[16:20] So the new rule that has come into force at the start of Euro 2024. And the new rule is not VAR, because nobody likes VAR, and I'm sure they'd be happy to get rid of it.
[16:32] But the new rule in Euro 2024 is that if there's a foul, or there's a call for a penalty, and the referee is going to show a card. Now, what color of card will the referee show if it's a warning?
[16:47] He will show a yellow card. So if you're misbehaving in church, I'll show you this. Right? And what color of card will the referee show if you're going to be sent off?
[17:01] Red. I'll never show you this one in church, because I want you to stay here. Okay? So it's a yellow for a warning, and a red if you're going to be sent off. Yeah?
[17:11] But the new rule in Euro 2024 is that it's only the captain, only the man with the armband and the C on his arm, it's only the captain who's allowed to approach the referee and speak to the referee.
[17:28] So if you were watching the Scotland game the other night, McTominay got a what card? Yellow card. Do you know why? Angus, who's the captain of Scotland?
[17:39] Andy? Andy? Andy Robertson. Andy Robertson. And McTominay went to speak to the referee, and he got a yellow card because he wasn't the captain. He wasn't the captain. And so it's only the captain who's allowed to approach the referee and speak to the referee.
[17:55] And so the player who's committed a foul, the player who's done wrong, even though he's in the team, they're not allowed to approach the referee. They're not allowed to speak to the referee.
[18:05] Only the... Who's allowed to speak to the referee? Only the... Only the captain. The captain is the only player who's able to approach the referee and plead on behalf of all his players.
[18:18] Because ultimately, the referee is the judge. He makes the judgment. He makes the decision. He decides whether it's a yellow card or a...
[18:28] Red card. He decides whether it's a penalty or not. And the referee's decision is final, isn't it? Whether the player is going to be shown the yellow card or the red card is the referee's decision to make.
[18:43] And so... But the captain... The captain is allowed... The only person who's allowed to go to the referee and plead on behalf of his players. And you know, boys and girls, that's what Jesus is like.
[18:56] The Bible tells us that Jesus is our captain. And Jesus is just like a captain because he's the captain of our salvation. And as a captain, Jesus not only leads us through life.
[19:09] As a captain, Jesus encourages us when we're tired, just like the players, keep going, keep going. But also, Jesus pleads on our behalf. And he pleads on our behalf because we have all broken God's law.
[19:24] We all deserve to be shown the... The red card. We all deserve to be shown the red card. Why? Does anybody know why? Because we've broken the...
[19:35] The law. The law. God's law. What's God's law? The Ten Commandments. And what do we call that?
[19:46] When we make a foul. So we commit... We transgress God's law. We commit a... Small word, three letters. Big problem.
[19:57] Sin. But our Bible teaches us that Jesus is the captain of our salvation. He's the captain. He's the one who's able to plead for us and make a case for us.
[20:09] Because the Bible says that Jesus is the only one who can approach the judge who is our referee. Because Jesus... The Bible says that Jesus is our mediator. He's our advocate with the Father.
[20:22] He's the one who pleads on our behalf to the judge. And the judge is God. But what's even more amazing about Jesus is that as the captain of our salvation, even though we should be shown the red card, even though we should be sent off because we've committed a foul and committed sin, Jesus takes the foul on our behalf.
[20:47] Isn't that amazing? Jesus takes the foul on our behalf. He takes our sin, the sin that we have committed, and He substitutes Himself. We all know what substitutes are, don't we?
[20:59] Somebody comes off the pitch, another person goes on. And that's what Jesus does. He substitutes Himself. He takes our place. He has shown the... What card?
[21:10] The red card. All so that we can be forgiven. And that's what happened at the cross. Jesus was shown the red card. For our sin.
[21:22] All so that we could be forgiven. And that's what's amazing about Jesus. Jesus is the... What's the word? He's the captain. He's the captain of our salvation.
[21:32] He leads us. And He encourages us. And He pleads on our behalf. He's the greatest captain to have. The greatest captain. And I hope and pray that you all...
[21:45] What was the three things we said earlier on? That you know Jesus. That you love Jesus. And you follow Jesus. What is it? That you... Know Jesus.
[21:56] You love Jesus. And you... Follow Jesus. You know Jesus, love Jesus, and follow Jesus. Okay. You're doing very well. Last point.
[22:07] Okay. So we've thought about, first of all, what were they? The countries. Then we thought about the captain. And now we're going to think about, what's the third C?
[22:21] The cup. Okay, the cup. Now, as you know, boys and girls, all the teams in Euro 2024, all these 24 teams, they're all competing to win a big cup, isn't it?
[22:34] A big trophy. They all want to win this competition and lift the trophy. And I took a cup with me this morning. I took a cup with me. Do you like it? Big cup.
[22:46] I took a cup with me. Now, this isn't the actual UEFA European Championship Cup. But I took a big cup with me this morning. This is the DJ Graham Memorial Cup.
[22:59] That's what it is. The DJ Donald John Graham Memorial Cup. And it's an amazing cup. It's given out every year at the school prize giving. But the reason this cup is in the school is because there was a boy called Donald John Graham.
[23:14] And he actually sadly passed away at the age of 21. And this cup was donated to the school in his memory.
[23:25] And DJ's mother, she used to sit at the back. Maybe you saw her when you came into church. Shonak. She would sit at the back. And she would see you all coming in. And she'd watch you all coming in. She actually passed away a few weeks ago.
[23:37] And she had donated this cup to the school after her son passed away. And this cup, somebody will get it on Tuesday, the school prize giving.
[23:49] Because this is what you win when it's a school prize giving. This is the Citizen Cup or the Citizenship Cup. I think Ross, did you win it last year? Yep, he did.
[24:00] Ross McLean, he won it last year. And it's given out to the pupil who's a good citizen in school. Okay? So this is the Citizenship Cup. And on Tuesday, somebody else will get it.
[24:12] They'll get the DJ Graham Memorial Cup. But you know, what I want to say to you is, whether you receive this cup or not, and whether you receive a prize at prize giving or not, it doesn't really matter.
[24:28] It doesn't really matter because what matters and I want you to hear this, what matters is that you're on Team Jesus. What matters is that you're on Team Jesus.
[24:40] Because when you're on Team Jesus, you're a winner. When you're on Team Jesus, you're a winner. That's what Paul was talking about there. I press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
[24:56] He was on Team Jesus. Paul knew that he was a winner. Because when you're on Team Jesus, you're a winner. It doesn't matter if you win prizes in school or in Sunday school.
[25:07] It doesn't matter if you're good at football or good at sports or good at school. It's nice. But it doesn't matter. Because at the end of the day, all that matters is that you're on Team Jesus.
[25:21] All that matters is that you're on Team Jesus. And that's why you would have received this morning on the way into church, you would have received, show me your medal. Did you all get one?
[25:34] Yes. Did you all get one? If you didn't get one, you'll get one on the way out. Okay? Can anybody read what's on it? It says, Winner. Because when you're on Team Jesus, you're on the winning team.
[25:49] Do you know that? When you're on Team Jesus, you're on the winning team. And our Bible tells us, our Bible teaches us that Jesus has won the victory. Jesus has won the victory.
[26:01] He's won the victory over sin at the cross. He's won the victory over Satan. He's won the victory over death. He's won the victory over the grave.
[26:11] Jesus has won the victory. So everyone who's on Team Jesus, you're on the winning team. You're on the winning team when you're on Team Jesus.
[26:23] And you know, boys and girls, Team Jesus, it might not look like the biggest team. It might not look like the strongest team. It might not even be the most popular team to be on.
[26:34] But Team Jesus is the winning team. Team Jesus is the winning team. And I want all of us to be on Team Jesus. Whether we are the youngest person here or the eldest person here, I want all of us to be on Team Jesus.
[26:49] Because Team Jesus is the winning team. And I want all of us to know Jesus and love Jesus and follow Jesus. That's how we get on to Team Jesus.
[27:03] We know Jesus, we love Jesus, and we follow Jesus. So what is it we have to? Know Jesus and love Jesus and follow Jesus.
[27:17] Well done. So know Jesus, love Jesus, and follow Jesus. To be on Team Jesus. Because Team Jesus is the winning team. Well done, Archie.
[27:30] And so that's how Euro 2024 reminds us about Jesus. It reminds us about three things. What are the three things? The? The countries.
[27:41] Come on, guys. Wake up. The countries. The? Captain. And the? What are they? The? Countries. The? And the?
[27:54] The cup. The cup. That's right, Joshua James. These things remind us about Jesus. Okay? So I hope you remember that. Team Jesus is the winning team. And we need to be on Team Jesus by loving Jesus, by knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, and following Jesus with all of our heart.
[28:13] Well, boys and girls, thank you so much for listening. We're going to clasp our hands if you can. And we're going to close our eyes. And we're going to say the Lord's Prayer together. Okay?
[28:25] Clasp our hands, close our eyes. Say the Lord's Prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
[28:38] Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
[28:53] Amen. Amen. Amen. Well, thank you so much for listening. You've done very, very well. So we're going to sing in conclusion, and then after we sing, we'll have the benediction, and then we'll do the prize giving.
[29:05] Okay? So we're going to sing. Does anybody remember what psalm it was? Well done. 67. So Psalm 67 in the Scottish Psalter, page 300.
[29:20] Psalm 67. And it's the first version of the psalm. It's a prayer for all the countries of the world that they would know God's blessing.
[29:35] Psalm 67. Lord, bless and pity us, shine on us with thy face, that the earth, thy way, and nations all may know thy saving grace. So we'll stand to sing, if you're able, the whole psalm to God's praise.
[29:48] Lord, bless and pity us, shine on us with thy face, that the earth, thy way, and nations all may know thy sin.
[30:18] in grace. Let people praise thee, Lord, let people holy praise.
[30:36] O let the nations be glad in songs their voices their voices raise.
[30:50] Thou justly people judge on earth through nations all.
[31:07] Let people praise thee, Lord, let them pray, Lord, let them pray, both great and small.
[31:21] The earth of fruit shall yield, our God shall blessing God shall bless God shall bless men shall him hear unto us at most end.
[31:53] the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all now and forevermore. Amen.