Sunday service for 16 January 2022
16 January 2022
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
Prelude Music
Welcome
Call to Worship
One: This is the day the Lord has made —
All: we will rejoice and be glad in it.
One: This is the day we see God’s presence face to face —
All: not bound in a building or a tradition, but in the flesh.
One: This is the day our relationship with God changes —
All: we will push through our fear to trust God’s goodness.
One: This is the day we have been waiting for —
All: when God’s vision becomes reality in the Body of Christ.
Prayer
What do you see when you come among us today, O God?
We come seeking an experience of your presence,
but we confess that we rarely look at our worship through your eyes.
Show us the truth, and reveal to us your vision —
for we confess there is more of a gap than we would like to admit.
Forgive us when we have reduced our relationship with you to a transaction,
when we turn up and say the words and make our offering
and expect you to bless us in return,
to come when we call and turn away when we don’t want you to look.
Forgive us when we have created barriers to seeking you in our community,
either saying or implying people must be, or look, or speak, or give, a certain way to belong.
Forgive us when we have believed, or even insisted,
that our tradition is the only way to meet you,
that the way we’ve always done it is the way it must always be done,
that what we understand now is all there is to know.
With some trepidation we pray you would come among us again this day,
turn over the tables and drive out our hubris,
that we may see as you see,
and then pursue your vision.
Your Spirit blows where she will, and we are listening, O God,
praying to be ready to move when you call.
We do not know where you are leading,
so we ask for the blessing of curiosity to overcome our fear,
that we may seek you, by day or by night.
When we speak without understanding,
give us also ears to listen for your story in the voices of others,
that we may learn the deeper truth you call us to live.
Bring your kingdom to birth among us, and within us, and through us, we ask,
in the name of the One who embodies your presence,
here and everywhere, Jesus the Christ.
Amen.
Music
(online) hymn 593: She Sits Like a Bird
(in person) Organ by Philip
Children’s Time (in person only)
Reading: John 2.13 – 3.21 (New Revised Standard Version)
The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’ His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ But he was speaking of the temple of his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, ‘Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, “You must be born from above.” The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can these things be?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
‘Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
‘Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.’
For the word of God in Scripture
For the word of God among us
For the word of God within us
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: new birth
I once attended a worship service where, when we walked in the front doors, the entire church was in disarray. Chairs were overturned and piled everywhere, the hymn books were scattered about, the banners were crooked, the offering plates looked as if they’d just stopped rolling across the floor, it felt as if there’d been a terrible rampage through the place. Nothing had been actually been damaged, it was just all upside down and messy, and everyone who came in was shocked and disoriented. Some felt uncertain, others angry, others sad, others just…bewildered. We looked around without really knowing what to do — should we put it back in order? Should we just each get a chair and sit in it ourselves and let the rest do whatever they were going to do? When a voice came through the microphones, we didn’t even really know where to look as we heard the story of Jesus turning over tables and driving out animals and challenging the very structure of worship at the biggest and busiest holiday of the year.
Jesus’ words sounded different when it was OUR space, OUR traditions, OUR comfort that had been disrupted.
In John’s gospel, Jesus has what I call his Temple Tantrum at the very beginning of his ministry. This is the first time he’s really been out in public, and he definitely made an impression. We might think of it, even, as the first painful push toward a new birth.
It was the big holiday, the time when everyone who could would come. The traditions were important and meaningful, and everyone wanted to get it right. On those big days, people come to experience the best of the way it’s always been, of course.
But the way it has always been doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the way it should be, or the way it always will be.
Jesus pushed on the idea that you have to have enough resources to be able to afford to worship. He pushed on the idea that you had to have the right kind of money or animals. He pushed on the idea that the part of the building that was accessible to newcomers was filled up with things they couldn’t use, leaving no space for them to worship or pray in their way. He pushed, hard, using a whip to drive out the idea that worshipping God is based in transactions. Buying and selling in order to worship God…but also the idea that giving something to God would lead to God answering prayers, forgiving sins, or doing something for us. This kind of transactional worship, transaction-based faith, is really a way for us to control God. If I do this, then God will do that in return.
But Jesus wants us to come out from that narrow place, that box that we put both God and ourselves in, to a bigger, more spacious place where we can grow and move and live abundantly, not simply in a ledger with columns for me and God.
Birth hurts, though. It’s disruptive and difficult and sometimes traumatic. It changes everything we thought we knew, everything about the way it’s always been — starting with some of those things that are most deeply embedded in how we think and what we do and how we see ourselves and how we see God.
It was disturbing enough that Nicodemus felt he needed to ask some more questions…but not where everyone could see, so he went at night. His conversation with Jesus was another painful push toward new birth, as Jesus challenged his insistence on taking everything literally. Nicodemus wanted the teacher to speak plainly and to fit into his preconceived notion of what a rabbi gifted by God would be like…and instead Jesus spoke in stories, metaphors, and poetic images. All of which leave room for interpretation, which is exactly what Nicodemus didn’t want. Wiggle room, space to move about and walk around and explore and experience…that’s what we’re birthed into, but sometimes the old boxes are comfortable and cozy and everything is clear and understandable.
Like the way Nicodemus and many of his fellow Pharisees — and, if we’re honest, the way many Christians still today — understand faith — as a way of life bounded by rules that were meant to keep you out of trouble and on God’s path. Every aspect of life then is carefully regulated so that you don’t step out of line and accidentally upset God…and if you’re careful enough, you might even come close to pleasing God, or maybe even experience God yourself through this careful faithfulness.
If you think of faith as a transaction, then every single action and thought could cause God to respond in kind, so it’s best to be very very careful.
Jesus offers Nicodemus a glimpse of something else — something wider and brighter. But it might hurt, leaving behind that cocoon of safety. Remember back in history, when the Israelites were delivered from slavery to freedom, through the waters of the sea? The delivery was difficult, and when they had come out into the openness and possibility of life with God rather than bondage to Pharaoh’s rules, they sometimes wanted to go back. But a new people had been born, of water and the Spirit, and the only way to go was forward. Now Jesus tells us that is coming again — he is pushing us out into a spacious abundant life, and the Spirit is going to do what she will. Just as we don’t ask to be born, and we don’t control the process, the same will be true for this new birth. All we do is follow the Spirit wherever she goes and trust that, paradoxically, leaving behind the small comfy place for the wideness of God’s mercy will actually bring us closer to God, not farther away as it feels at first.
Because new birth will require leaving behind the old place, the old ways…and it will be a loss. It will feel uncertain, unsafe, and uncomfortable. We’ll wish for the closeness we experienced when we were on the inside…but it’s on the outside where we can know abundant life in all its fullness. It’s on the outside that we can grow. It’s on the outside that we can experience family and community. It’s on the outside that we can see everything God has for us. Even when it seems cold and harsh and bright, God’s desire for us is to be born anew into the light of life.
Jesus gives a third hard push then. He reminds Nicodemus of the time when the Israelites were punished by venomous snakes during their wilderness journey, and Moses made a snake statue so that people who got bitten could look at it and be healed. They had to face their fears, and their sins, and when they looked at them head-on, eyes wide open, they could be healed and move forward. It seems like a random story to tuck in to this midnight conversation, but Jesus goes on to say that those who look at the truth revealed in the Word Made Flesh — even though it may be painful — will find themselves birthed into new life, here and now.
And those who can’t bear to look, who close their ears to the stories of others, who close their hearts and hands and retreat from the community around them, who insist on staying within the four walls of their comfortable box…they miss out on walking in God’s light today. They prefer to hide their brokenness rather than be honest about it, and so they end up groping around in the dark. They insist that the ways they’ve understood God, the ways they’ve worshipped, the ways they’ve lived, the rules they’ve created and the narrow worldviews they’ve built, are the only way to reach God…and as long as they do that, they are condemned to that small dark place. But for the sake of love, God in the flesh labours and pushes, and the Spirit calls and coaxes, because there is a whole new world of a life abundant with love and grace waiting, if we allow those old walls to fall away and face the truth.
Whether we are being confined by the way we’ve always done it, or by our desire to have everything be literal and clear, or by our unwillingness to be honest about our shortcomings, the Spirit is bringing us to new birth. Whether we are trapped in a transactional faith that requires us to be perfect and do certain things a certain way so that God will respond the way we want, or stuck in rules and regulations, or holding on to the hurt that poisons us because we don’t want anyone else to know about it, the Spirit is bringing us to new birth. Whether we have lost sight of the purpose of our traditions and ignored the ways they push others out, or decided to hide our approach to Jesus because we don’t want anyone else to see us talking to him, or find ourselves walking in the dark even after all this time, the Spirit is bringing us to new birth.
It may be scary. It may be painful. It may feel as if everything is turning upside down. But the promise is this: not that we were good and earned or bought our way to relationship, but rather that God so loved the world that he gave his Son, who was born that we too might finally be born, who delivers us through the waters into a good and spacious land, where we can flourish in the family of God’s people, growing up into maturity, into the full stature of Christ. Jesus pushes us out, to a new and abundant life. Come and see.
May it be so. Amen.
(online) Hymn 617: Great and Deep the Spirit’s Purpose
(in person hymn: Come Out of the Darkness (words: Kathy Galloway; tune: Sing of the Lord’s Goodness #157))
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer
We remember your word, Holy One —
we remember what you have said and done,
we remember your promise.
We come today with all our experiences and thoughts,
the trials and joys of the week, and of the past years,
to lift them into the light of your life
that you may reveal new truth we could not see before,
and draw us into deeper faithfulness,
in your name.
Loving God, you come among us
that we may recognise the truth and so live your abundant life, even now.
Your grace opens us to the honesty that allows us to change directions.
Help us to face those things that have hurt us, hurt others, and hurt your creation,
and to tell the truth about them, that we may be healed.
You are Love, O God, and your love brings life to all.
We approach with gratitude and praise
for you make space for our confusion even as you draw us into your heart.
We do not understand how, but your Spirit is at work,
and we give you thanks,
as we pray for your guidance
for those who wander in the shadows,
shadows of grief, despair, or mental illness,
shadows of addiction, loneliness, or fear,
shadows of poverty, violence, or injustice.
Let your light shine with hope and possibility, loving God.
And fill our hearts to overflowing with grace,
that we may be agents of your help,
reaching out, advocating, lifting up, and caring for our neighbours.
Give us ears to hear their stories, and minds open ready to trust them.
Give us hands ready to share our resources and wills ready to act.
Bring your people through the deep that we may be born into new life,
opening out before us with beauty and justice.
We ask these and all things in the name of Jesus the Christ,
who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
(in person) Hymn 617: Great and Deep the Spirit’s Purpose
Benediction
Go out into the world — out from the confines of the safe place, letting go of what holds you back from growing into the full stature of Christ, out to be born anew into the light of abundant life. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Announcements
* This winter our theme is “Seeing Jesus.” Where do you see Jesus? What is he up to in your life, and in our community’s life?
*You are invited to join in reading the Bible in a year for 2022 — immersing ourselves in God’s word throughout the year. Click here to find a reading plan that’s five days a week (leaving a couple of days for catch up each week!). Watch this space for information about a Bible study as we go through the scriptures together!
* Teri will be away from 21 January – 2 February. If you have a pastoral need during this time, please contact Cameron on 630879 and he will connect you with an elder or the minister on call.
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by Teri. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word and/or Westminster Wednesdays on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
* Update from Venda:
We commenced with the 4th term of school on the 11th of October 2021. The lockdown level fluctuated until the 15 of September 2021, and we are now on Level 1 which means children can do some physical activities like dancing, subject to COVID-19 compliance. It has been very hard to not hug the children, although all staff members got vaccines we don’t want to risk. Children need love and we have missed hugging our children. Now children from the age of 12 years old are also getting vaccines. And there are lots of campaigns encouraging people to get vaccines as most people are still skeptical about it.
Sunday service for 9 January 2022
9 January 2022
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship
One: Come, all you who are curious,
Come, all you who wonder,
Come, if you’ve just met Jesus a few days ago, or known him all your life,
Come to the celebration!
All: We’re not sure how we got an invitation,
but we are here to see what God can do.
Prayer
Your works reveal your glory, Holy One,
right in front of our eyes and yet hidden from view.
Your abundance surprises us every time,
in the everyday sustenance
and the once-in-a-lifetime celebration
and every in-between moment,
filled to the brim with your grace when we weren’t looking.
Your kingdom unfolds before us —
give us eyes to see your signs.
God of grace and glory,
you work all things together for your good purpose,
whatever the situation.
We confess that we like a timeline, a blueprint, a schedule, a plan…
and we will wait until everything is in place, perfectly aligned,
before we take the first steps.
We admit that we sometimes use planning and preparation,
committees and studies,
as a way to put off taking the risk of following you.
Forgive us when we distance ourselves from your messengers
and let opportunities pass us by because we don’t feel ready.
Forgive us, fill us to overflowing once again with your abundant life,
and empower us to work on your task,
even if we cannot see the moment of the miracle ourselves. Amen.
Online Hymn 336: Christ Is Our Light (words: Leith Fisher; tune: Highland Cathedral)
Christ is our light!
the bright and morning star
covering with radiance all from near and far. Christ be our light,
shine on, shine on we pray
into our hearts, into our world today.
Christ is our love!
baptised that we may know
the love of God among us, swooping low. Christ be our love, bring us to turn our face and see in you
the light of heaven’s embrace.
Christ is our joy!
transforming wedding guest!
Through water turned to wine the feast was blessed.
Christ be our joy; your glory let us see,
as your disciples did in Galilee.
Renewal of the Baptismal Covenant
In the waters of baptism,
we are born anew to live in God’s ongoing re-creation,
day by day growing in grace.
And we are forced to admit that we don’t understand any of it —
the mystery is always just below the surface, just behind the veil.
Yet the good news is this: That Jesus was born, and lived among us;
he taught and healed, he enabled celebration and defied shame,
he sat at table with sinners and strangers,
he poured water and wine, he broke bread,
and he spoke new things into being;
he suffered the worst the world could do,
and he broke the power of death by rising to new life…
all this he did for us, though we do not understand yet.
And so the scripture is fulfilled: we love because God first loved us.
We may not understand how miracles happen.
We may not know exactly where the sign points us to go.
We may not untangle the mysteries of life and love and faith.
But we may get a glimpse of glory, in water —
carried from one place to another,
set aside from a common to a sacred use,
transformed for a new celebration.
And we may hear Christ’s call again, in water —
to take up the task,
to set out on the path,
to be a part of something we don’t yet see or understand, a miracle in the making.
So we come to be renewed as God’s covenant people,
surrounded and upheld by the weight of God’s glory
and committing ourselves to continue in Christ’s way.
Do you renew your commitment, with God’s help,
to live before all God’s children in a kindly and Christian way,
and to share with them the knowledge and love of Christ?
If so, please say “I do” and use the water to make the sign of the cross on the palm of your hand.
All of us are called to model God’s grace in all that we do,
whether our interactions are with friends or strangers,
children or peers or elders,
church members or not.
Today we particularly promise to this young family, but the promise extends to all of us.
Will you take up this call to build up Christ’s body,
nurturing one another in faith,
upholding one another in prayer,
and encouraging one another in service?
If so, please say “I will” as you use water to make the sign of the cross on your other palm.
You belong to Christ, in whom you have been baptised, alleluia alleluia alleluia.
Reading: John 2.1-11 (New Revised Standard Version)
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ Now standing there were six stone water-jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them, ‘Fill the jars with water.’ And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them, ‘Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.’ So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, ‘Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now.’ Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
For the word of God in Scripture
For the word of God among us
For the word of God within us
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Because I Said So
Can I just ask: has anyone here ever used the phrase “because I said so”? My parents used to use it when I wanted to know why I had to clean my room, or get my shoes on, or watch my brother. My teachers used to use it when I wanted to know why I had to write an outline first instead of just writing the essay, or why I had to show my work rather than just getting the right answer on a maths test. And then one day, when I was teaching in Egypt, I heard myself say these words to a class of P1 girls who were just starting to learn English, and neither my Arabic nor my patience was up to the task of explaining to thirty 5 year olds why they could not run inside the library. A few years later I found myself saying it to a youth group full of cheeky suburban 13 year olds who wanted to know why they had to turn the lights out and go to bed at 1am on a retreat, as that’s hardly the time of day to try to reason with a hyper teenager.
“Because I said so” is the last resort of parents and teachers everywhere. It seems that the mother of Jesus had taken it to the next level, though — she didn’t even technically ask Jesus to do anything, yet when he resisted getting involved, she just gave him a look and said to the servants “do whatever he tells you.” It is pretty impressive to be able to say “because I said so” without even actually saying the words, and to have it work on her 30 year old son!
But far more impressive, I think, is that when Jesus instructed that over 150 gallons of water should be brought in from the well, no one batted an eye. They just all picked up their buckets and walked to the well and carried the water. Back and forth they went, until the jars were filled to the brim. No “why?”, no moaning, no questions, no excuses about how they were in the middle of a wedding and very busy serving guests who were just now realising the bar was closed…they just carried water, because Jesus said so. They had no idea what he was going to do with it, or what all this water had to do with the problem at hand. They’d filled those jars not long before, for the rituals at the start of the wedding ceremony, and now here they were doing it again and they didn’t know why, only that Jesus had told them to do it.
And somewhere along the way, a miracle happened. Scarcity was transformed into abundance, fear and shame were transformed into celebration.
The people carrying the water didn’t see exactly what happened. No one did, in fact. And all that labour: taking the buckets to the well, pulling water up, filling the buckets, carrying them back, lifting them to pour it into the jars, repeat…all of that is glossed over. It just says “Jesus said to fill the jars with water, and they filled them up to the brim.” Depending on how far away the well was, and how many people were doing it, we’re likely talking about an hour or two or more of hard work…with growing anxiety and pressure as the guests sobered up, the gossip was flying around the party, the groom and his family were getting more and more embarrassed, and the other servants were finding it harder and harder to cover. People surely saw them scurrying about, though no one understood what was going on.
But God was at work. We don’t know when, exactly. No one does. But when the first cup was placed under the spout, those people who had spent the entire afternoon running back and forth with buckets of water knew. They knew Jesus had done something amazing, that the God was a God of abundance and goodness and celebration of love. And they knew it couldn’t have happened without them — even though no one else did, and no one thanked them or recognised their work. But though they did not know it while they were doing it, afterward they knew they had participated in a miracle.
Sometimes the Christian life feels like that, doesn’t it? Like we’re just going about these tasks, carrying bucket after bucket of water with no idea why or what it’s for, with no one really noticing, just doing what Jesus said even though it feels silly, or unproductive, or like it might not matter, or it’s just the same small thing over and over…but doing it anyway because Jesus said to…whether that’s cleaning the church every week, or moving chairs, or delivering flowers, or praying for people we don’t even know, or standing at the door as a friendly face week after week, or coming to join our hearts and voices in worship, or phoning people who never seem phone us back, or making the millionth powerpoint hymn, or adding another starter packs item to our shopping trolley, or opening packet after packet of snacks for our youngest youth organisation members, or writing yet another email to our elected officials holding them accountable to our highest ideals, or giving a little extra to the mission we do…whatever that small task, however repetitive it seems, whether you know exactly how God is using it or not…doing it faithfully simply because Jesus said so is the stuff of miracles, though we do not know it yet. When it’s filled to the brim, we will see that Jesus has done something amazing we couldn’t have imagined before.
All those small everyday prayerful acts of love and faithfulness add up. Through our lives lived in response to Jesus’ instruction, even when we do not understand it yet, God’s kingdom unfolds right in front of us, in hospitality and celebration and abundance and grace — more than enough of the best wine for everyone. Because Jesus said so.
May it be so. Amen.
Online Hymn: God of All Comfort (by Resound Worship)
Prayer & Lord’s Prayer
Loving God, your care extends to even the smallest situation,
and you know our need.
In the moments that make up our lives, you are present.
We give you thanks that when we don’t quite know how to ask,
still you answer.
And so we bring you our prayers this day,
for the needs at the forefront of our minds,
and the ones we keep hidden, ashamed even to ask for help.
We bring the prayers we don’t even have words for,
the uncertain and faltering and inarticulate hopes, fears, dreams, longings.
…
We bring ourselves, just as you invited us,
however uncertain we are of our belonging,
and offer our whole selves to the work of your unfolding kingdom.
You are the giver of every good gift.
As you ensured the celebration at Cana,
we pray too you would gladden our hearts with the abundance of your blessing,
confirm us in your way,
and strengthen our spirits to serve you as you call.
We ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,
who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
Benediction
Friends, go into your week to carry water…to live faithfully in every action, doing as Jesus asks, knowing that in the living of each day is the stuff of miracles, though we may not know it yet. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Announcements
* This winter our theme is “Seeing Jesus.” Where do you see Jesus? What is he up to in your life, and in our community’s life?
*You are invited to join in reading the Bible in a year for 2022 — immersing ourselves in God’s word throughout the year. Click here to find a reading plan that’s five days a week (leaving a couple of days for catch up each week!). Watch this space for information about a Bible study as we go through the scriptures together!
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by Jonathan. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word and/or Westminster Wednesdays on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
* Update from Venda: We commenced with the 4th term of school on the 11th of October 2021. The lockdown level fluctuated until the 15 of September 2021, and we are now on Level 1 which means children can do some physical activities like dancing, subject to COVID-19 compliance. It has been very hard to not hug the children, although all staff members got vaccines we don’t want to risk. Children need love and we have missed hugging our children. Now children from the age of 12 years old are also getting vaccines. And there are lots of campaigns encouraging people to get vaccines as most people are still skeptical about it.
Sunday Service for 2 January 2022
2 January 2022
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship
One: Who are you?
All: We are the ones God has called, to tasks large and small.
One: What are you looking for?
1: We are looking for someone who can change things,
2: We are looking for a better future,
3: We are looking for answers to our wonderings,
4: We are looking for justice,
1: We are looking for peace,
2: We are looking for a teacher,
3: We are looking for an easier way,
4: We are looking for hope,
All: We are looking for a million things we don’t even know how to express.
One: Why are you here?
All: We are here hoping to recognise and understand the Spirit among us,
for we trust God is at work.
One: Come and see!
Prayer
Holy One, you will make a way…
A way that leads beyond our established systems and rules,
calling us to new possibilities, new community, new ways of life.
Holy One, you call us to make a way…
A way for those left out to join in,
calling together all who long for a new day.
Reveal our part in your story this day,
that we may take up our role
and use what gifts and power you give us to bring about your will,
here and now.
Loving God, we thank you for the people who have brought us to you — those who have told us your story, who have taken us by the hand and accompanied us in prayer, those who have invited us into the community of your disciples. We remember with gratitude the whole cloud of witnesses who have brought us to this point in our journey with you and your people.
And we confess that we are shy to do what they have done. We admit that we find it difficult to say to another that we have experienced a grace and love that changes our lives. We long for your Church to grow, yet we keep silent about the joy and challenge of Christian community. We read of your disciples calling each other, and we celebrate those who have shared your good news with us, but we confess we can’t quite get there ourselves.
Forgive us our reluctant witness. Forgive us our over-reliance on “use words if necessary” in a world where few see our deeds or even know to ask a question. Forgive us for lamenting decline while holding our faith as private. Forgive us for keeping this experience of grace and mercy and love and hope to ourselves, even while you continually call “Come and see.”
Show us your glory once again, and give us courage to share it. We ask in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Music
online: From Life’s Beginning (let praise resound) by Resound Worship
in person: ‘On Dulci Jubilo’ by F.Liszt/arr P.Norris
Children’s Time: Magnifying glasses
As we enter a new year, you are invited to look at the world, other people, yourself — everything, really — through a new lens. How does the lens through which you look colour the way you see the world? Does looking through a new lens help you to see God more clearly, to look for the movement of the Spirit, to see Jesus?
Magnifying glasses help to make small things visible, large and clear. And they are an essential part of the detective’s kit, as they look for clues. So you are invited to use a magnifying glass word (like the Star Words we have sometimes done before), as a lens to look for clues of God’s work, to enlarge and clarify and colour the details of the world so that you can see Jesus in a new way in your life and in the world around you.
If you would like a magnifying glass word, you can either pick one up from the manse porch anytime, or let Teri know and she’ll pray and draw one out for you and post it to you (or WhatsApp/email a photo until the post can reach you!).
Music: Your Light Has Come by Richard Bruxvoort Colligan
Reading: John 1.19-51 (New Revised Standard Version)
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, ‘I am not the Messiah.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ Then they said to him, ‘Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said,
‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
“Make straight the way of the Lord” ’,
as the prophet Isaiah said.
Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, ‘Why then are you baptising if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?’ John answered them, ‘I baptise with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.’ This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptising.
The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” I myself did not know him; but I came baptising with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptise with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit.” And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’ They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).
The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ When Jesus saw Nathanael coming towards him, he said of him, ‘Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!’ Nathanael asked him, ‘Where did you come to know me?’ Jesus answered, ‘I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.’ Nathanael replied, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.’ And he said to him, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’
For the word of God in Scripture
For the word of God among us
For the word of God within us
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Peer-to-Peer
We have begun our journey through John’s gospel, from now through Easter in the Narrative Lectionary…though I confess that today we have actually read the passage assigned for last week as well as the one for today, because the lectionary had cut apart this one long story into two halves, meaning that the second half started with the words “the next day, John was again…” and I was immediately curious about two things. First of all, what happened the previous day? And second, what was John doing a second time? So I had to back up, and when I read the entire story together as it was meant to be, it seemed to make more sense. This is why it matters to read sometimes long chunks all at once, because when we cut it up, we might miss something important!
Today’s story took place over the course of four days. On the first day, the authorities questioned John, and he told them that he was just pointing the way to the one who was coming after him. They were not excited about this answer, because not only does John not fit into any of their categories, he was also engaging in religious rituals without their oversight, and people were finding meaning and belonging in his new way…which means the authorities were losing control over the spiritual lives of people.
On the second day, John saw Jesus and declared him to be the lamb of God that he’d been waiting for. That was a very weird thing to say, especially since John followed up with “I didn’t actually know him, but this is definitely the one” — and apparently those who heard him say it didn’t think much of it. Even after hearing about the Spirit descending on Jesus, nothing seems to have happened! John said that he hadn’t known who Jesus was at first, he didn’t understand, but now he did…and then he went home and went to bed, apparently!
The next day, John was again standing with two of his disciples — which tells us that they heard him say those things about Jesus the day before! I picture the scene like John and his disciples just hanging around in the village square, chatting and having a coffee or whatever they did back then. Jesus walked past, as presumably dozens of people did, and John said “remember what I said yesterday? Here he is again!”
This is the part we normally wouldn’t notice if we only read the little bit assigned for each Sunday: that it was the second time John had said the same thing before these two disciples decided they’d better go see what Jesus was all about.
It makes me wonder if perhaps the night before, after John had said it the first time, did they have an evening of discussion round the fire? Perhaps they talked late into the night about what they saw God doing and what their part was, and he explained a bit more about his role — which he clearly knew was temporary and minor, yet he played his part faithfully — and the role of the One who was to come. Or maybe the disciples just laid there in the dark and thought about what their teacher had said, wondering what it might mean. Whatever happened that night, when Jesus walked past them on the street again the next afternoon, they jumped at the chance to learn more.
That’s when something really fascinating happened. John’s disciples appear to have basically just…left John standing there on the street corner and started following Jesus around, in a way that was hopefully not at all creepy. He could probably feel their eyes on him and hear their footsteps behind him, so he turned around and instead of saying “what do you want?” he said “what are you looking for?”
What are you looking for?
That is the question, isn’t it. We’ve already talked about how we look, and gotten some new lenses to look through…but what are we looking for?
Those two disciples of John didn’t seem to have an answer. I suspect many of us would be similarly paralysed if we were asked this question. Think of when you attend a workshop or class and the instructor starts off asking people to go around the room and say why they signed up for this course, what you’re hoping to learn…and how uncomfortable we all are answering that specific question! Now imagine Jesus asking it, face to face: what are you looking for? I suspect we’d all be even more tongue-tied than usual!
Instead of an answer, they stuttered out their own question: where are you staying? The word there is actually “abiding” — where do you abide? And Jesus doesn’t exactly give an answer. Instead he offers an invitation: Come and see.
Come and see. That’s it. No pressure. No commitment. No prerequisites or vetting. No experience necessary. No need to be able to answer the question. Just…come and see.
Don’t you wonder what they saw?
Whatever they saw, the experience made them want to invite others to come and experience it too. Andrew went home and found his brother Simon Peter and invited him, and he came to check it out and see what had gotten Andrew so excited.
The next day, the fourth day, Jesus met Philip and invited him…and Philip’s experience was also interesting enough for him to go find his friend Nathanael and invite him too. Now Nathanael was likely the studious one of the bunch — to say someone sits under the fig tree was a metaphor for studying Torah. He resisted at first, because he knew from scripture that Nazareth wasn’t an important town…and sometimes when we think we know something, it’s really only part of the story. But operating on that incomplete knowledge as if it’s the whole truth is dangerous — as we see when Nathanael comes out with his prejudiced slur about people from Nazareth! But Philip is persistent, so he uses the same words: Come and see. Just come check it out, and see what happens. Come have this experience with me.
And the experience Nathanael has changes everything — he realised in that moment that for all his studying, he still had only partial understanding, and in the presence of Jesus he met God more fully than ever before.
Come and see…but be prepared that having an experience might change your mind, or your life.
The thing I find fascinating about these four days is that nearly everyone who comes to Jesus comes because of what we might call a peer-to-peer invitation. It’s a friend, a teacher, a brother who invites them. And sometimes they take some convincing, or have to be invited twice! And yet they come, maybe even just to please their friend or brother and then go home later with a good story…but even when they didn’t know what they were looking for, they found the fullness of God dwelling in human flesh and the experience changed them.
This word-of-mouth invitation from a friend is always the best advertising for anything, of course — we all do it. Besides the online reviews many people write, we’re all more than willing to share about a restaurant we’ve visited, or the hotel we loved on our holiday, or where the best walks are around here. And often we’ll say “oh, I’ve been wanting to try xyz place, want to meet there for lunch?” or we’ll offer to show someone our favourite place to take photos of the cruise ships or share the train ride to a favourite show. A few years ago I practically begged one of my friends to come to Disneyland with me, and even though she would have preferred to go kayaking or something, she came and we had a great time, even staying until the park closed at midnight! We share the things we enjoy, and invite people to have their own experience of them because we thought they were great. Maybe even life-changingly good.
But we don’t do it much with church. How often do we have an experience in church, or with our church family, that makes us want to tell other people about it, to invite them to have an experience too? When have we seen God at work and thought “I need to let so-and-so know about this because they will want to see it for themselves”? Maybe we even wonder what people would see, if we invited them to come and see? Would they experience God here? Would they see Jesus in our community? Would they sense the Holy Spirit moving among us? Do we?
The beauty of these four days here at the beginning of John’s gospel is that, paradoxically, those who try to use all the right words to explain what they believe or what they think God is supposed to do are the ones who struggle with the first invitation. It’s the experience of being with Jesus, of abiding with him, in his presence, that changes people. Not the knowledge, and not the pretty words; they actually, in some way, obscure. So often we think “I don’t know enough, I’m not sure what to say” but it turns out that what to say is “come and see” — and then the experience we have together is what opens our eyes and hearts to a new Jesus-life. What matters is to come into the presence of Christ…then we’ll see where it leads.
This season, as we look for Jesus, don’t forget to invite others to come and see with you. Together we’ll be changed in his presence.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn 320: Joy to the World
in person Hymn: New Days Come (words: Tom Gordon, tune: Regent Square)
Prayer for a new year
It’s a new day, O God, and we long to know what the year ahead holds,
but we trust you hold all these days in your hand.
We have high hopes and also significant worries,
looking ahead at what might be.
We pray for your presence to be made known to us, whatever may come.
For those who face days of grief, anxiety, or pain, we ask your comfort.
For those who face empty cupboards and cold boilers,
watching bank accounts drain and wondering where to turn, we ask your providing.
For those whose new year will hold more of the same as the old,
illness or treatments or struggling along day to day with no change in sight,
we ask your healing.
For those who hope this is finally the year when peace comes, when justice is done,
we ask your courage.
For your church, seeking your path
and wondering how to be faithful in a changed world,
we ask your Spirit to strengthen our will to work for your kingdom.
For all the longings and hopes and fears in our hearts,
we ask your help and we trust your grace is enough for us.
As we step into the future you have in mind for us,
we pray for the vision to see as you see.
We ask for your strength to lift our burdens,
that we may enter this year with light hearts,
ready to overflow with compassion.
We ask for your hope to infuse our lives,
that we may enter this year with a spring in our step,
ready to move forward with conviction.
We ask for your wisdom to clear our minds,
that we may enter this year with curiosity,
open to the possibility of your plans.
You know us, God, better than we know ourselves,
and we pray that we may come to know you in all your fullness,
and to follow faithfully through whatever is to come.
Lead us. Guide us. Show us. Keep us. Empower us.
We ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who taught us to pray together:
Benediction
Friends, go out into this new year looking for the kingdom of God come among us, and ready to invite others to come and see what Jesus is doing in your life. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Announcements
* This winter our theme is “Seeing Jesus.” Where do you see Jesus? What is he up to in your life, and in our community’s life?
*You are invited to join in reading the Bible in a year for 2022 — immersing ourselves in God’s word throughout the year. Click here to find a reading plan that’s five days a week (leaving a couple of days for catch up each week!). Watch this space for information about a Bible study as we go through the scriptures together!
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by Jonathan. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word and/or Westminster Wednesdays on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
Christmas Worship!
Happy Christmas!
We will worship in person together at St John’s at 7:30pm, and at OGA at 11:30pm.
On Christmas morning we’ll be on Zoom with all of Connect (formerly The Fuzzy Parish) at 11am, you can click here to join.
And you can worship from home anytime — God is with us, wherever we are, even in our jammies beside the Christmas tree.
Sunday service for 19 December 2021, fourth Sunday of Advent
19 December 2021, 4th Sunday of Advent
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Lighting the Fourth Advent Candle
1: In the depths of night, God’s grace lights the way.
2: In the shadows before dawn, God’s life lights the way.
3: In the confusion and chaos, God’s truth lights the way.
4: In the longing and waiting, God’s Word lights the way.
All: God is coming, and the world will never be the same!
~candle is lit~
O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
who orderest all things mightily:
to us the path of knowledge show;
and teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
Prayer
Your glory shines, Holy One, yet we confess that we find it easier to live in the kingdoms of this world than in yours. We understand how the systems work, and we admit that though the price the powers and principalities demand is high, still we choose them. We confess that we have fallen into the trap of speaking one way and living another — we claim the truth of your word and at the same time live as if the empires of this world have ultimate power and sway. They obscure your grace and love, and we admit that in the fog and shadows we have gotten turned around, so we find ourselves serving the death-dealing powers rather than your life and light. Forgive us and turn us again to your way, enlightened by your truth and grace. We ask in the name of the one who forever bound word and action together, your Word become Flesh among us, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Online Hymn 274: Comfort, Comfort, Now My People
Children’s Time (in person only)
Reading: John 1.1-18
For several weeks, we have been reading from the prophets, with their concerns and promises for the people in exile, looking for God’s presence and call in unfamiliar territory. Today we transition from the Hebrew Bible to the New Testament. From now through Easter we will be reading from the Gospel According to John, which was written between 90-100 CE to a community struggling with how to differentiate themselves in an increasingly hostile environment, as they no longer fit into synagogue life but were also threatening to the Roman Empire. Each of the four gospels has a unique perspective as they tell the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. We might think of John as looking at Jesus from above, from a cosmic perspective, seeing a big picture rather than small immediate details. We’ll hear this from the very beginning, as the gospel opens with an overture that, just like a musical overture, hints at the themes that are to come. I am reading from chapter 1, beginning at verse 1, from the New Revised Standard Version.
~~~~~
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. (John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” ’) From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.
~~~
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: The Word Became Flesh
This time of year means that everything I read or see calls a song to mind…this week I’ve been non-stop humming
God of God,
Light of light,
Lo! he abhors not the Virgin’s womb;
very God,
begotten not created;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
In just a few sparse lines of poetry filled mainly with words we rarely use anymore, the carol gives us a summary of John 1: the Word was God…light shines in the darkness…the Word became flesh, loving and blessing this human body…and when we see, we will orient our lives around praise.
A few weeks ago, when we read from Isaiah 9 about “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light,” I said that the shining of the light doesn’t change the path on which we walk or the obstacles in our way, it changes us and our ability to navigate the journey to which God calls us.
John’s understanding of the light is the same. The Word, who is the light of all people, became flesh and lived among us, moved right into our neighbourhood and set up home and shop in our community…and we have seen his glory. That glory, that light, illuminates the world around us, showing us things we might not have seen before. Just the same way that a stream of sunshine through the window can highlight the dust floating in the air or the fingerprints on the windows, the light of the world highlights the things we live with everyday without even noticing. Things that the empires of this world want us to not see.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that we are children of God — our ancestry is not the determiner of our status in God’s family. The empires of this world want us to believe that where we’re born, or what we look like, or who our parents are, determines our value, and our place in the world, and how we ought to relate to other people. They have even used this ancient poetry to claim that dark skin is inferior to light skin, so we have to be careful when we use these powerful metaphors. Because the truth is that being a child of God, made in God’s image, has nothing to do with any of that. When we see that truth, we can live differently, walking in the light of life for all people.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that there is power in humility. John the baptiser recognised that though his role was important, he was not the light. He saw his job was to point the way toward the coming Christ, rather than trying to gather fame and power and wealth for himself. And even Jesus did not try to elevate himself or take equality with God for granted, but humbled himself. Which reminds me of another carol:
Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give them second birth:
Hark! the herald angels sing,
‘Glory to the new-born King.’
The empires of this world want us to focus attention on ourselves, and on what we can gain or earn, how we can get ahead, not on God himself laying his glory by the wayside. But when we see the truth of our place in God’s story, we can live differently, pointing the way to the one who is greater than we are.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that even those seemingly small roles matter. John was certain that his task was small and temporary — he wasn’t the light, he was a witness, and he wasn’t the first or the last. But he still went about his ministry faithfully, doing what God needed him to do, and it mattered. It made a difference to the people he baptised, the people who heard his teaching, the disciples he sent to follow Jesus, and even the religious and political leaders who were so disturbed by him. The empires of this world want us to think that small efforts make no difference, that if we can’t solve everything in one go, we should simply give up and let them carry on with their destructive ways. But when we see the truth of our place in God’s story, we can live differently, confidently doing even the smallest thing God asks of us, trusting it matters to God’s kingdom or else God wouldn’t call us to do it!
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that flesh and blood matter, these bodies matter. Surely God could have sent the Word in any number of intellectual or spiritual ways, but God chose to take on a body, to live with the pains and joys and limitations and senses of a human body. Our bodies are not incidental to God’s story, they are a gift, a blessing, and it’s through a human body that God blesses the world. The empires of this world want us to separate mind, body, and spirit, and to believe none of them are good enough, to measure ourselves against some impossible standard so they can sell us more things. But when we see the truth of God’s emBodiment, we can live differently, treasuring the gift of physical presence and honouring and taking care of this body God gave us for a purpose.
The Word became flesh and lived among us, and in the light of his glory we can see that the darkness itself is already past, despite what the empires of this world think about themselves. This reading uses only past-tense words to say “the darkness did not overcome it” while the light shines in ongoing present tense verbs. The powers of this world, which do not have grace and truth at heart and are not serving God’s kingdom, want us to think they are the ultimate reality. I’m reminded of that old quip about “he’s a self-made man, and he worships his creator” — that’s what the ways of the world are like. They think they are the self-evidently correct, ordained since the beginning of time, or even only possible way things could be. And people uphold them because we can’t see any other way, so we assume it’s true that this is just the way things are, nothing to see here, nothing we can do about it. But ultimately that’s idolatry — the empire worshipping itself as if it’s the only way.
In the light of God’s Word, we see that they are past tense, holding on only by keeping us in the dark. When we see the truth of God’s ongoing life, we can recognise what is truly ultimate reality…and then we can live our lives in light of that reality instead of the one the world so desperately wants us to believe. Some do not see, despite the light shining. Some don’t accept the vision the light reveals. Some choose the shadows, because it’s easier and more profitable. But the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. The light overcomes the confusion and obfuscation, offering clarity we can only describe as grace upon grace.
In which kingdom would we prefer to live? Christ was born to shine the light of truth, not from far off but from right here, as close as God could get — pitching a tent in the back garden, moving in to the kitchen, meeting us at the front door — so that we could see God’s glory, up close and personal. This Christmas, and beyond, may we see, and walk, in the light.
Amen.
Online Hymn: Emmanuel – Living Word (by David MacGregor)
In Person Hymn 308: Behold the great Creator makes (vv. 1, 2, 3, 5)
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
We take a deep breath and feel your spirit in our lungs, O God.
We feel your breath expanding, filling, stretching us, bringing us to new life.
We give thanks for these bodies you have gifted us.
As we place our hands on our legs,
we are grateful for muscles and joints,
and for assistive devices like sticks and chairs,
that bear heavy loads,
that move us from place to place.
We pray this day for those who feel trapped, unable to move.
We lift up those who are confined to home or hospital,
those who are self-isolating,
those who live with pain in their joints or muscles,
those who mourn the loss of freedom or mobility.
May they be upheld and moved by your strength.
As we place our hands on our stomachs,
we are grateful for all that goes on inside of us, out of sight.
We thank you for all the organs that keep us going,
for the way you have knit us together
and created a body that cares for itself.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made!
We pray this day for those who do not have enough to eat,
whose tummies rumble and whose systems suffer from lack.
We lift up our neighbours who are ill and awaiting tests or treatment,
whose stomachs are full of butterflies and nerves as they wonder what the future holds.
May they be fed and healed by your power.
As we place our hands on our arms, wrapping ourselves in your gift,
we give thanks for the ability to feel, to know you through our senses.
We are grateful for wonder and tenderness, compassion and joy,
there for us to experience in every way.
We pray this day for those who are starved for touch,
who are lonely and longing for a hug.
We lift up those whose senses show them only pain,
who are surrounded by fear or shadows or abuse.
May they be cared for by your love.
Your word is the foundation of reality,
your grace pre-dates history,
and still you choose to reveal yourself to us,
still you call us your children.
We come, longing to see your glory,
praying you will once again speak life into being, O God,
and call us to walk by your light.
We ask in the name of the Word made Flesh, Jesus the Christ,
the light and life of the world, who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
In Person Hymn 313: See! in yonder manger low (vv. 1, 2, 5)
Benediction
May you walk in the light of grace and truth this Christmas. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Postlude Music
Announcements
* This Advent our theme is “EmBodied” — encountering the Word Made Flesh, in our own bodies and in our own places where God has planted us.
* Follow your St John’s Embodied Advent Calendar! There’ll be a Facebook Live for some of the St John’s Advent Calendar too.
* Bring your Reverse Advent Calendar donations to church or to the manse and we will get them delivered.
* Christmas worship Schedule:
Longest Night (a quieter Christmas service recognising the darkness in which the Light shines) on 21 December at 7:30pm
Joint services for Christmas Eve at 7:30pm at St. John’s and 11:30pm at Old Gourock and Ashton
Christmas Day, 11am, on ZOOM with all of Connect
Sunday 26 December, 10:30am, joint service with St Ninian’s Larkfield and OGA, at Old Gourock.
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by Teri. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
Christmas Services 2021
21 December, 7:30pm at St John’s: Longest Night service (a quieter Christmas service that acknowledges the darkness in which the light shines)
24 December, 7:30pm at St. John’s: joint family Christmas Eve service with OGA
24 December, 11:30pm at Old Gourock & Ashton: joint Watchnight service
25 December, 11am on Zoom: Connect Christmas Service
26 December, 10:30am at Old Gourock & Ashton: joint service with St Ninian’s Larkfield and OGA
Sunday Service for 12 December 2021, third Sunday of Advent
12 December 2021, 3rd Sunday of Advent
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Lighting the Third Advent Candle
1: Listen carefully — God’s word does what God intends it to do,
and all creation jumps for joy.
2: Seek faithfully — God’s mercy is beyond our understanding,
giving us abundant reason to rejoice.
1: Taste and see — God’s feast has room for us all,
offering delight that can’t be bought.
2: Feel the rain and sun, cold and warmth — God’s world reveals God’s way,
calling us to join the celebration.
All: God is coming, and the world will never be the same!
~candle is lit~
O come, thou Key of David, come,
and open wide our heavenly home;
make safe the way that leads on high,
and close the path to misery:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
Prayer
You are a God who sustains us when we faint from thirst,
who feeds us when we have spent our last penny.
Your table is full of good things we could never earn, and by your grace you invite us all.
As you nourish the earth and so it bears fruit,
we pray this day you would nourish us that we too may bear fruit.
For we confess that amidst the many voices of the world calling for our attention,
demanding for our time and energy, offering opportunities to spend and acquire.
we aren’t always sure which voice is yours,
so we often simply choose the one that’s easiest or most fun in the moment and call it you.
Forgive us when we have lost touch with your word, and so cannot recognise your voice.
Forgive us when we spend ourselves for things that can never satisfy.
Forgive us when we choose unsustainable ways that leave some starving and thirsty
while others gorge themselves yet feel empty.
In your abundant mercy, incline our ears to you, and turn us toward your better way,
that we may join all creation in accomplishing your purpose.
We ask in the name of your Word made flesh, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Music
Online: Praise the God of Grace and Glory (Resound Worship)
In person: organ by Philip
Children’s Time (in person only)
Reading: Isaiah 55.1-13
Last week we heard from the prophet Ezekiel, who was a priest who was taken into exile with the leaders and elites of Jerusalem soon after Babylon defeated them. Today we hear from the second prophet Isaiah, who lived nearly a hundred years after the first Isaiah we heard a few weeks ago, and around 60 years after the exile began. This prophet was speaking to the people just before they were about to be allowed to return home. These were the children and grandchildren, or even great-grandchildren, of those who had originally been removed from Jerusalem, people who had grown up in Babylon and other cities of the empire. They had never personally known their homeland, but had heard their parents and grandparents speak of it often, and of the promise that God would rescue them and restore them…but it was a promise that felt far away, as they went about their lives in the only home they’d ever known. I am reading today from Isaiah chapter 55, in the New Revised Standard Version.
~~~~~
Ho, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
See, you shall call nations that you do not know,
and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
for he has glorified you.
Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: From Heaven to Earth
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Is anyone else imagining a hospital corridor, lined with nurses, doctors, and staff, all applauding and cheering as a patient walks or is wheeled through toward the door — clapping them out as they are discharged after a long stay and arduous treatment? Most of us have probably seen the videos, or perhaps even been the patient or a family member coming down the hall after a life-changing illness or injury, heading out into new life after such a difficult journey through trauma and anxiety and hard work. Or maybe we’ve been the hospital staff who have witnessed the whole thing, assisted with even the most private of daily tasks, cared through thick and thin, applied every bit of knowledge and imagination and compassion to get the person to this moment, when they walk back out into the world. There’s so much joy that no one can help themselves, they clap their hands and burst into song.
God says the whole creation will be like that when the people come out of exile and into the place and plan God has for them. The trees and mountains will line the corridor and clap and sing and cheer as God’s people finally, after they’ve been through so much, step out into new life. The joy will be uncontainable and irrepressible, literally just bursting out all over with excitement and wonder and glee.
I’ve talked before about this being my favourite chapter of scripture, and how much I love the picture Isaiah paints of the new life God is calling us out to. That everyone is invited to be nourished and nurtured without first buying or earning anything — not a transaction to be seen, it’s God’s grace upon grace, pulling up a chair at the table and feeding us in body, mind, and spirit. That this extends even to nations we do not know, all the peoples coming together across the various borders and walls we have built, because God wants one community together at this table where we can delight in God’s goodness. That when God calls the sinner, it isn’t for punishment but for mercy. And that every single bit of this is God’s gift to us, not something we can get for ourselves…and in fact what we have tried to get for ourselves is a pale imitation that costs us a lot but leaves us hollow and malnourished. The only way to truly be nourished and sustained and satisfied is to sit at the table God lays out for us and enjoy the feast together with all the others God has called out to new life, knowing that not a single one of us deserves to be there and yet God wants us all and calls us all.
We have a million arguments with this vision, of course. We claim it’s impossible, it’s naive, it’s silly to think that food and drink are a human right, or that everyone — even those people — should have a seat at the table. Or we think we, for some reason, don’t belong at the table. We hear this and think it’s about heaven, or maybe even like end-of-the-world heaven, what happens after the book of Revelation is done, perhaps. Or sometimes we decide it can’t be about actual physical food and bodies and nations and creation, so it has to just be a spiritual meaning. But ultimately all those arguments are like noise that make it hard to hear the message God is trying to give us, drowning out God’s voice. There’s no evidence in the actual scripture for any of them, they’re thoughts we’ve had but not thoughts God is having.
And so God says “incline your ear and come to me.” Like when you’re in a noisy room and you need to lean in a little to hear what your friend is saying across the table — incline your ear. Focus. Lean in and tilt your good ear and try to mentally block out all the chatter…listen carefully, so that you may live.
That’s what God wants for us — to come out down that long corridor into new life, even after everything we’ve been through. And the first thing we’ll see is a giant table with enough for everyone, even us.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, says the Lord. God is literally thinking about different things than we are. While our minds are full of reasons why this vision can’t be true, God is busy making it happen, turning word into action, even word into flesh, to make the impossible possible.
How, exactly?
Isaiah invites us to picture the heavens and the earth. The skies are far above us, just as God’s ways are far above ours…yet they are not disconnected, remaining far away and inaccessible. The rain and the snow come down and water the earth, so that it will bear fruit, as it is created to do — fruit that in turn feeds others in the creation. The heavens reach down to earth, and nourish it. And God’s word, too, reaches down, comes down, and feeds us, so that we will bear fruit, as we are created to do — fruit that in turn feeds others. It’s never only for us, it’s always continuing the cycle, expanding the welcome, ensuring no one is hungry or thirsty — for food or for justice or for love.
The earth can’t bear fruit that feeds others if it isn’t first fed by the rain. We don’t bear fruit that serves others if we aren’t first fed by the word and the table. And God promises that the word always bears fruit.
What celebration there will be, when we finally follow the voice that is calling us out to new life…the mountains and the trees will line the way, clapping and cheering and singing for joy. And God is persistent and insistent that the word will accomplish God’s purposes…so insistent that the Word will even take on flesh and live among us, to cut through the chatter and chaos to call us more directly, more clearly, to this table of plenty where, in accordance with God’s will, there is a seat for everyone at the joyful feast.
May it be so. Amen.
Online Hymn 316: Love came down at Christmas
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
star and angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, Love Divine;
worship we our Jesus:
but wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
love be yours and love be mine,
love to God and all men,
love for plea and gift and sign.
in-person Hymn 277: Hark the glad sound!
Hark the glad sound! the Saviour comes,
the Saviour promised long:
let every heart exult with joy,
and every voice with song!
He comes, the prisoners to relieve,
in Satan’s bondage held;
the gates of brass before him burst,
the iron fetters yield.
He comes the broken hearts to bind,
the bleeding souls to cure;
and with the treasures of his grace
to enrich the humble poor.
The sacred year has now revolved,
accepted of the Lord,
when heaven’s high promise is fulfilled,
and Israel is restored.
Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
thy welcome shall proclaim;
and heaven’s exalted arches ring
with thy most honoured name.
Invitation to a Generous Advent
During the season of Advent, many people traditionally open a door of an Advent calendar to find a treat of some kind. This year we are invited to a different kind of advent calendar, in which each day we do something. Connect is gathering together for a Reverse Advent Calendar in which we put something into a box each day, and then those things are donated to the food bank and starter packs — these will be collected at our family film night on Saturday the 18th at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk, or you can bring them to church or the manse that weekend so we can get them to the right people — a tangible way to put Jeremiah’s instruction into practice. St John’s also has an advent calendar to help us explore the them of an EmBodied Advent, and each activity will help us go deeper into living out what we hear in scripture on Sundays. These advent calendars are available in print and online.
As this is also a season of gift giving and generosity, I also encourage us all to consider our spiritual practice of generosity and perhaps to make a special gift to the ministry of the church in this place and time, as we seek to serve our community in new ways that put Jeremiah’s words into practice. You can give a one time gift, change your regular offering, or create a new standing order either by talking to Peter, giving online, or arranging things with your bank. Or if you use envelopes or prefer cash/cheque donations but are not able to join in-person worship at this time, please let us know and we can arrange a collection. Thank you for your generosity, at this time and every time of year, as we try to be faithful to God’s mission for us.
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Your word always bears fruit, O God,
and we give you thanks that even now you are working toward your purposes in the world.
In the beginning you spoke and all things came into being.
Throughout time and in every place your grace falls like rain on your creation,
bringing forth your goodness and nurturing all that you have made.
In Christ you came to live among us, that we might see your glory,
full of grace and truth.
(Hymn 315 v. 2)
He came down to earth from heaven
who is God and Lord of all,
and his shelter was a stable,
and his cradle was a stall.
With the poor and meek and lowly
lived on earth our Saviour holy.
Draw near to us, Holy One,
as we come seeking your light in the shadows of this season.
We carry with us our neighbours
whose cupboards and tables are bare,
whose water is contaminated,
who hide their poverty behind a facade,
who live in food deserts or rely on the generosity of others.
May they experience the joy of plenty.
In your kingdom, there is enough for everyone,
so we pray for the will to participate in your reality, even now.
We carry with us our neighbours
who languish in loneliness,
whose spirits are parched,
whose energy is depleted with no source of renewal in sight,
who live with addictions that numb or fill them with empty promises.
May they experience the joy of connection.
In your kingdom, your grace calls together stranger and friend,
so we pray for the compassion to reach out in love.
We carry with us our neighbours
who suffer from a ravaged creation,
for whom rain and snow and harvest have become disconnected,
who long for the sound of trees clapping their hands
yet hear only the groans of an earth under strain.
May they experience the fruitful beauty of your world.
In your kingdom, the cycles of creation nourish us all in turn,
so we pray for the wisdom to live lightly in our rightful place in your world.
(Hymn 295 v. 1)
Who would think that what was needed
to transform and save the earth
might not be a plan or army,
proud in purpose, proved in worth?
Who would think, despite derision,
that a child should lead the way?
God surprises earth with heaven,
coming here on Christmas Day.
Restore your people, O God.
Send your word again to dwell among us,
to fulfil your purpose and create the world anew.
We ask in the name of Jesus the coming Christ,
who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
In-Person Hymn 316: Love came down at Christmas
Love came down at Christmas,
Love all lovely, Love Divine;
Love was born at Christmas,
star and angels gave the sign.
Worship we the Godhead,
Love incarnate, Love Divine;
worship we our Jesus:
but wherewith for sacred sign?
Love shall be our token,
love be yours and love be mine,
love to God and all men,
love for plea and gift and sign.
Benediction
Having been nourished by God’s word and table, go and bear fruit that feeds others. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Postlude Music (in person only)
Announcements
* This Advent our theme is “EmBodied” — encountering the Word Made Flesh, in our own bodies and in our own places where God has planted us.
* Follow your St John’s Embodied Advent and your Connect Reverse Advent Calendars! There’ll be a Facebook Live for most of the St John’s Advent Calendar too.
* The Youth Organisations are again running the Christmas Post — drop cards in at the church by today, th e12th of December, for delivery by the 19th to addresses in Gourock and Greenock West End, 30p per card with all proceeds going to youth ministry. If you can’t get to the church, let us know and we may be able to make arrangements to collect!
* Connect is hosting a family film night on 18 December at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk (Union Street). Bring your Reverse Advent Calendar with you so we can take the donations to the Foodbank and Starter Packs!
* Mark your calendars for Christmas worship: Longest Night (a quieter Christmas service recognising the darkness in which the Light shines) on 21 December at 7:30pm Joint services for Christmas Eve at 7:30pm at St. John’s and 11:30pm at Old Gourock and Ashton Christmas Day, 11am, on ZOOM with all of Connect Sunday 26 December, 10:30am, joint service with St Ninian’s Larkfield and OGA, at Old Gourock.
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by David. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
Sunday Service for 5 December 2021, the second Sunday of Advent
5 December 2021, 2nd Sunday of Advent
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
~~~
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Lighting the Second Advent Candle
Teri: In a time when breath has been short, or dangerous, or obstructed,
we call on the breath of God to fill us and bring us to life.
1: Breathe in the hope that God offers to those who don’t quite know how to hope.
(deep breath)
2: Breathe in the peace that passes all understanding.
(deep breath)
3: Breathe in the winds of the world, the creation itself.
(deep breath)
4: Breathe in the promise of the restoration of community.
(deep breath)
All: God is coming, and the world will never be the same!
~candle is lit~
O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s dark shadows put to flight:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
Prayer
Come, O Breath, come and breathe upon us, that we may live.
When we are feeling disconnected —
from traditions that we have had to lay aside for now,
from people we long to see,
from the creation itself —
reach out and re-member us by your powerful hand.
You are a God who creates and re-creates,
who gets your hands dirty and who puts pieces together
and who takes on flesh and lives in a human body.
You are Holy, yet not far off…
you care about this physical world, your creation,
and you choose to dwell among us in this place.
We confess that we are prone to separating our bodies and spirits,
this world and your kingdom.
We admit that we think of ourselves as different from the rest of your created world,
and that sometimes all that thinking keeps us from being fully present with you in this place. Forgive us when we forget that this life, in all its mess and beauty,
is your gift, blessed by your breath.
Forgive us when we become so separated in mind and body
that we end up numb to your presence among us.
Re-integrate us, that we may know your grace in our very bones.
Bring us up from the dry valley
and set us firmly on your path toward hope and peace,
following the One who was, and is, and is to come.
Amen.
Hymn: O Come, Divine Messiah, Come
Children’s Time (in person only)
Invitation to a Generous Advent
During the season of Advent, many people traditionally open a door of an Advent calendar to find a treat of some kind. This year we are invited to a different kind of advent calendar, in which each day we do something. Connect is gathering together for a Reverse Advent Calendar in which we put something into a box each day, and then those things are donated to the food bank and starter packs — these will be collected at our family film night on Saturday the 18th at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk, or you can bring them to church or the manse that weekend so we can get them to the right people — a tangible way to put Jeremiah’s instruction into practice. St John’s also has an advent calendar to help us explore the them of an EmBodied Advent, and each activity will help us go deeper into living out what we hear in scripture on Sundays. These advent calendars are available in print and online.
As this is also a season of gift giving and generosity, I also encourage us all to consider our spiritual practice of generosity and perhaps to make a special gift to the ministry of the church in this place and time, as we seek to serve our community in new ways that put Jeremiah’s words into practice. You can give a one time gift, change your regular offering, or create a new standing order either by talking to Peter, giving online, or arranging things with your bank. Or if you use envelopes or prefer cash/cheque donations but are not able to join in-person worship at this time, please let us know and we can arrange a collection. Thank you for your generosity, at this time and every time of year, as we try to be faithful to God’s mission for us.
Reading: Ezekiel 37.1-14
Last week we heard from the prophet Jeremiah’s letter to the people who had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. That first wave of exile involved the royal family, the nobility, the priests, the artisans and merchants, and other cultural influencers and power people. Included in that group was a priest named Ezekiel. A few years into their exile in Babylon, God showed Ezekiel some very striking visions, and asked him to do some symbolic actions to get the attention of the people who were beginning to lose hope and forget God’s way. Ezekiel’s visions and prophecies are often confusing, full of images that are hard to imagine and sometimes even a bit scary to picture. Remember that a prophet is not someone who sees the future, a prophet is someone who sees with God’s vision…and sometimes that’s hard for us to understand! Today we hear about a conversation between God and Ezekiel that takes place in an unusual location. I am reading from Ezekiel chapter 37, in the New Revised Standard Version.
~~~~
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Not Another Zombie Movie
For a while, a few years ago, it felt like zombies were everywhere in pop culture — zombie movies, the Walking Dead television show, and constant social media memes about the coming zombie apocalypse and who among your friends was most likely to be useful, or get eaten, or whatever.
I have to confess that zombies have never really been my thing…I’m more of the vampire type myself.
Zombies and vampires do have something in common, though: they’re both dead. Or rather, undead. They walk, talk, and have survival instincts, and in many ways act much like normal people, with feelings, thoughts, and even relationships.
On first glance, today’s story seems a bit like a zombie story. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy and bring to life a mass grave full of bones…these bones have been there for so long they’re completely dried up and disconnected, basically just a jumble of bleached bones in a valley, with no sense of who they were or what happened to them, or what their lives had been like.
Remember that Ezekiel was talking to his fellow exiles — people who had been taken from everything they knew, whose homes and Temple and lives had been destroyed, people who were certain that they were alone, abandoned, hopeless. These are the people who gave us the lament “how can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” The light had gone out from their eyes, the songs had fled from their lips, and they may as well have been dried up and dead. Ezekiel’s vision begins in a mass grave, the bones jumbled together and dried out, not even a possibility of hope.
Sometimes life feels like that, doesn’t it? Like we just have nothing left to give, or like nothing is turning out how we imagined. Our dreams seem shattered, our expectations have not been met, and all we can think about is what was, or what should have been…and in comparison, what is and what might be are just not worth singing about.
Or sometimes maybe we feel like Ezekiel — God asked him to prophesy to the bones, even though it seems like bones wouldn’t be able to hear a word he said. They’re just piles of dried up old bones, after all. And Ezekiel found that he didn’t exactly feel hopeful himself…but he wasn’t so hopeless that he just laughed in God’s face either. He said “Oh God, you’re the one who knows what’s possible…” and somehow that tiny smidge of not-hopeful-but-not-completely-hopeless-either was enough for him to speak into that silence where it seemed nothing would make a difference.
When Ezekiel speaks God’s word to the valley full of bones, several things happen. The first step is that God pulls this jumbled mess of bones together, bone to its bone, in the right order so they can be whole. But just a complete skeleton is still not a body. Sure, we might have all the right pieces, but that doesn’t make us ready.
The second step is God putting flesh and sinews—holding together the bones with tendons and ligaments, muscles and fat, organs and tissues. Bones by themselves aren’t much use, really. They only stick together if they’re immobilized, like in a museum. This second step makes movement possible, so we’re not a museum piece, but still not a whole body either—though it’s starting to look familiar!
The third step is God covering the bodies with skin. The largest organ in the body, skin not only holds everything in, but protects too. We may want to get moving, but without skin the body is susceptible to injury, infection, and falling apart. This step may be uncomfortable, because we don’t like boundaries. But without them, bacteria multiply and pieces fall out.
At this point, stuck together with all the right pieces, we’re chomping at the bit, ready to go! This is the moment most of us as both individuals and churches get to, and then we’re off. We look like the body, feel like the body, and feel perfectly put together and prepared. Three steps is just right for our attention span and for our capacity for waiting for God to get to work already.
So we walk around, doing things, trying our best, and still can’t figure out why people aren’t flocking to churches or why there’s a budget deficit or where the families are going. We listened when God called us together, so how come things still aren’t the way they used to be, when children always grew up to be better off than their parents, when we had a strong community with lots of opportunity, when pews and classrooms and offering plates overflowed? God promised to restore us, so why aren’t we reliving the good old days yet?
At this point in the process, we’re not jumbled up skeletons, but not full of life either. That’s still exile. Yes, we go about our daily lives, we do what we’ve always done, we get by…but there’s nothing transformative happening. It’s just day in and day out. We don’t experience life, we’re not touched or changed, we just…are. Just exist. The Israelites in exile seem to have swung between these two positions—dried up and hopeless, and just waiting out life without expectation.
Because at just three steps, that valley is full of zombies. And zombies are, by definition, living in the past. All the undead can do is try to re-live the lives they once had, over and over again.
And the undead are different from the living in one major way:
They don’t breathe.
Scripture tells us over and over, God is a God of the living, not the dead, and not the undead — and God’s word of life points us forward, not backward. God’s promise is not just that we’ll walk through life, but that we’ll breathe life. God’s promise is not just that the bones will organise into skeletons and be covered with flesh and skin, but that they will be filled with breath, coming from the four winds, blowing into their bodies and hearts and minds and souls so that they can love God and love their neighbour with everything they’ve got. God’s promise is not that we’ll be undead, God’s promise is Everlasting Life Abundant, even when we can’t see how it could be possible.
And God keeps promises. Every time. Even impossible ones. Even ones we hesitated to speak, even ones we weren’t sure we could stand to hear. If my options are to go through the motions like a zombie or to feel the stretch and burn of God’s breath in my lungs, I’ll take the breath of life every time.
The Hebrew word for breath is ruach, the same word that’s translated as wind and spirit. When the wind blows, that’s the breath of God. When we breathe, that’s the Spirit of God filling our bodies. The very air we breathe, in other words, is God’s presence, God’s promise, God’s hope, entering our lungs. When God tells Ezekiel to call the breath from the four winds, that’s the Spirit that comes rushing in, from every corner of creation, bringing life and hope and possibility and love — and setting us in motion to live for the future God has planned, rather than simply re-living the past that’s dead and gone.
The first sentence God gives to Ezekiel is “I will cause breath to enter you” and the last is “I will put my Spirit within you.” This entire story is literally filled with the ruach, the breath of God blowing everywhere, in and around and through the people who thought there was no hope, the prophet who spoke even though there was no point, the place that was dead and then undead and then alive. No longer a jumble of bones, no longer zombies, but life in all its fullness — for everyone.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn 291: When Out of Poverty is Born
When out of poverty is born
a dream that will not die
and landless, weary folk find strength
to stand with heads held high,
it’s then we learn from those who wait
to greet the promised day:
‘The Lord is coming; don’t lose heart.
Be blest: prepare the way!’
When people wander far from God,
forget to share their bread,
they find their wealth an empty thing,
their spirits are not fed.
For only just and tender love
the hungry soul will stay.
And so God’s prophets echo still:
‘Be blest: prepare the way!’
When God took flesh and came to earth,
the world turned upside down,
and in the strength of woman’s faith
the Word of Life was born.
She knew that God would raise the low,
it pleased her to obey.
Rejoice with Mary in the call,
‘Be blest: prepare the way!
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You promise peace,
not merely the peace of the grave but the peace of resurrection life.
You restore your people, O God,
and we give you thanks for knitting us together,
piece by piece, thread by thread, bone by bone.
We pray this day for those whose hope is lost,
those who feel cut off,
those who have been left behind or left out,
those whose lives have dried up from the inside out.
Lift them in your hand, hold them close, and bring them to your heart.
We pray this day for those who speak words of encouragement they do not yet feel,
those who share good news they can’t allow themselves to hope,
those who look through half-open eyes at the future you are creating, even now.
Put your breath in them, and your word in their hearts, and give them a glimpse of your vision.
We pray this day for those who can’t get a deep breath,
whose anxiety or grief or illness makes it impossible to fill their lungs,
who live in danger or uncertainty that makes it safer to hold their breath.
Set them free from constraint and fear, heal them in body, soul, and situation.
Hymn 303 verse 4
And you, beneath life’s crushing load
whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way
with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing;
oh, rest beside the weary road,
and hear the angels sing.
We pray this day for your creation,
winds and waters and mountains and valleys,
for the gifts it gives in supporting us,
and for the burden it bears under our weight.
May your breath revive your earth as well as your people.
When we don’t know how to hope, you lead us.
When we can’t see our way to peace, you lead us.
When we feel dismembered and alone, you lead us.
We give you thanks for you always keep your promise.
Hymn 303 verse 5
For lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophet bards foretold,
when, with the ever-rolling years,
still dawns the Age of Gold,
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendours fling,
and all the world give back the song
which now the angels sing.
We bring our gratitude and longing to you,
in the name of the One who embodies your truth, Jesus the Christ,
who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
Benediction
Take a deep breath, and feel the Holy Spirit bringing you to fullness of life, setting you in motion to move forward into God’s future. Take a deep breath, and get ready to speak God’s word even into the most hopeless of situations. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Postlude Music
Announcements
* This Advent our theme is “EmBodied” — encountering the Word Made Flesh, in our own bodies and in our own places where God has planted us.
* Follow your St John’s Embodied Advent and your Connect Reverse Advent Calendars! There’ll be a Facebook Live for most of the St John’s Advent Calendar too.
* The Youth Organisations are again running the Christmas Post — drop cards in at the church on the 5th or 12th of December for delivery by the 19th to addresses in Gourock and Greenock West End, 30p per card with all proceeds going to youth ministry. If you can’t get to the church, let us know and we may be able to make arrangements to collect!
* Connect is hosting a family film night on 18 December at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk (Union Street). Bring your Reverse Advent Calendar with you so we can take the donations to the Foodbank and Starter Packs!
* Mark your calendars for Christmas worship: Longest Night (a quieter Christmas service recognising the darkness in which the Light shines) on 21 December at 7:30pm Joint services for Christmas Eve at 7:30pm at St. John’s and 11:30pm at Old Gourock and Ashton Christmas Day, 11am, on ZOOM with all of Connect Sunday 26 December, 10:30am, joint service with St Ninian’s Larkfield and OGA, at Old Gourock.
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by David. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
Sunday Service for 28 November 2021, first Sunday of Advent
28 November 2021, 1st Sunday of Advent
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
~~~
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Lighting the First Advent Candle
1: To those who are far from home:
2: A word of hope.
2: To those who have been left behind:
1: A word of hope.
1: To those uncertain of the next steps:
2: A word of hope.
2: To those counting down the days:
1: A word of hope.
All: God is coming, and the world will never be the same!
~candle is lit~
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
Prayer
You are a God who takes the long view yet never loses sight of the now,
and you have set us here, calling us to live life to the full.
We confess that sometimes we get caught up in looking ahead, missing you in this moment.
Bring our attention to your call for us today, and show us how to live in your presence,
wherever we find ourselves.
We confess that sometimes we get so comfortable here in our own ways,
we don’t want to step out to follow your lead.
We forget that your coming will change this world and the next,
and what we know, or think we know, is not your norm.
May we not save up hope for the future, but embody it now,
for ourselves, for this community, and for generations still to come.
Forgive us, and plant in us your hope,
that we may grow into the new beginning you have planned.
We ask in the name of the One who was, and is, and is to come. Amen.
Online Hymn: Lift Up Your Eyes (Resound Worship)
Children’s Time (in person only)
Reading: Jeremiah 29.1, 4-14
Last week we heard from the first prophet Isaiah, who spoke to the northern kingdom of Israel in the time leading up to their destruction by the Assyrian empire. Over the next hundred years, the southern kingdom of Judah alternated between anxiety that something similar would happen to them, and hope for a restored united kingdom. Ultimately the northern kingdom was consigned to history as the “ten lost tribes” of Israel. The rise of the Babylonian empire brought new threats to Judah, and God called the prophet Jeremiah, when he was still a young person, to speak out about how the unfaithfulness of the leaders and people meant they were vulnerable. Jeremiah was unpopular as he criticised the moral, religious, and political compromises that were being made, and he was often imprisoned or threatened. About 25 years into his turbulent career as a prophet, in the year 597 BCE, the Babylonian empire won the first round and took many of the ruling class, merchants, and artisans into exile. One of the royal court prophets claimed it would last only two years, but Jeremiah knew he was just saying what people wanted to hear, not what was true. Today we read the letter Jeremiah sent from his home in a changed Jerusalem to those who had been taken to Babylon in this first round of exile, which can be found in chapter 29. I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.
~~~~
These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let the prophets and the diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, says the Lord.
For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Get On With It
I think I have finally found the biblical basis for what may be the most common Scottish phrase: “you’ve just got to get on with it.” Almost no matter what happens, it’s what people say. It could be a tragedy or a massive achievement to celebrate, or anything in between, and I’ll hear “well, you’ve just got to get on with it, haven’t you?” Sometimes I think we use it as a way to bury feelings in activity, just doing doing doing without ever processing our emotional lives. But sometimes it really is all you can do in the face of an overwhelming situation, is just get on with one thing, and then the next.
Jeremiah was writing to people who were in the early stages of a great trauma. It was ongoing, and it was so awful it didn’t really bear thinking about. It would have been unbelievable if it hadn’t happened to them. The Babylonian army had won, and overrun Jerusalem. The royal family, the leaders, the cultural influencers, and the artisans and merchants had all been marched away to Babylon so they couldn’t gather up support or make weapons to resist. A puppet king had been installed in the royal palace. And there were puppet prophets, too, telling them to just sit back and wait because God was going to get them out of this soon, don’t worry about anything, don’t even bother to unpack in Babylon, this will all be over in a year or two.
Jeremiah’s letter wasn’t so chipper or full of false promises. He knew this was a big disaster, and that the people who were deported were never coming back…maybe their children, hopefully their grandchildren, yes, but these families were going to be away from their homeland for a long time. So rather than sitting on their boxes and wailing and gnashing their teeth, Jeremiah tells them: get on with it.
It actually sounds a little like crazy advice, at first. They’ve been removed from their homes, from everything comfortable and familiar. They’re surrounded by people who speak a different language. The weather patterns are different, the food is different, the culture is different, the religion is different. They’re grieving the loss of everything they’ve ever known. And Jeremiah tells them to build houses and plant gardens and get married and have families.
In other words, Jeremiah tells them to use this ending as a new beginning. Jeremiah’s first words are “live where you are.” LIVE. This is a time for a new creation story, just like the first: plant gardens. Be fruitful and multiply. Live your life to the full, right where you are. However much this feels like a disaster, like the end times, like everything has changed around you and there’s no way forward because there’s no way back…live. Don’t wait for rescue, or for something to change. Don’t defer everything and live in a holding pattern. Just get on with it. Live where you are, in these bodies, in this community, with all these new customs, in this new reality.
Given how easily we say “just get on with it,” this might feel like easy advice from the prophet. But I’m not sure it is. While most of us have not been displaced from our homes, sometimes for the church it feels like our home has been displaced from us. Some among our community remember times when the culture and customs were different, when church was more central to our lives, when nothing else happened on a Sunday, when school children began each day with the Lord’s Prayer and sang hymns at assemblies. Sometimes we might even feel like we are the church in exile, like we long for the things we remember and teach our children that we’re just waiting to go back. As the world around us has changed, sometimes we have followed the puppet prophets in believing things could get back to the way they used to be, or that people would come back to us when they had kids, or that if we just kept doing the same things we did in the old world, it would eventually work in the new world. But that isn’t the case, and our holding pattern is not the same as living life to the full in the here and now, where God has sent us.
Jeremiah’s second words are even harder. He says to seek the welfare of the community where you are, and pray for it, because the only way to prosper is together. If the community where you’re living flounders, then so do you…if it does well, then so do you.
Jeremiah tells his people to work for the good of the city where they are living in exile — to pray for the very people who had defeated them in battle and brought them out to this unfamiliar place. They were to seek the welfare of their enemies, and to work together to create a thriving community — nearly 600 years before Jesus would teach “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” It was a hard message in the 590s BCE, a hard message in the first century, and a hard message today. But it is as true now as it was then — that we rise or fall together. Perhaps when we are tempted to moan about all those Sunday activities or other changes to the culture while we hold fast to what was meaningful to us about the way things used to be, Jeremiah is speaking to us, too…pray for the community in which you live, the people who surround you, the very people who have done this terrible thing to you. Pray for them, and also seek their good. Work for the welfare of the whole town, not just yourselves. Don’t just live in this place, but live fully here with these people, because God’s blessing comes to us together.
Then Jeremiah says that when they’ve done this, when they’ve learned to live faithfully in the place where they are, to be grounded both in the earth, planting gardens, and in the community, putting down roots, then God will reveal himself to them and they will know the new life that God has planned for them. They have to learn in exile what they didn’t manage to learn in their old comfortable land where they took God’s blessing for granted. If they follow Jeremiah’s call, they will learn connection to God’s creation by participating in a new creation. They will learn faithfulness in prayer. They will learn how to serve others, not only to be served. They will learn to be flexible and resilient, to follow God’s call in unfamiliar territory, adapting to the reality around them as they didn’t have the Temple or any of their traditional worship options available. They will learn to trust God’s promise rather than simply relying on their own ways. And a future of hope will open before them, and God will restore them, gather them, listen to them, and fulfil God’s plans for them.
But first they have to learn to live where they are. They have to learn to care about the community that they’re pretty sure doesn’t care about them. They have to get on with it, rather than simply waiting for something around them to change so they can continue on as they always have. And when they do — when we do — we’ll be a sign, a foretaste of what God’s kingdom can be like on earth.
This Advent, while we await the coming of Christ once again, of God with us, in the flesh, living where we are, seeking the welfare of the community who cares little for his message and is sometimes actively hostile, may we too wait like this. Not sitting around passively waiting for God to fix everything, but following Jeremiah’s call to live where we are, to be embedded in our community, to pray for those around us, and to seek the welfare of the place where God has sent us — even if they aren’t interested. God knows the plans for a future with hope, so we too look forward with expectation even as we live life to the full here and now. Let’s get on with it.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn: O God, who gives us life and breath (words: Carl P Daw Jr; tune: NOEL)
Invitation to a Generous Advent
During the season of Advent, many people traditionally open a door of an Advent calendar to find a treat of some kind. This year we are invited to a different kind of advent calendar, in which each day we do something. Connect is gathering together for a Reverse Advent Calendar in which we put something into a box each day, and then those things are donated to the food bank and starter packs — these will be collected at our family film night on Saturday the 18th at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk, or you can bring them to church or the manse that weekend so we can get them to the right people — a tangible way to put Jeremiah’s instruction into practice. St John’s also has an advent calendar to help us explore the them of an EmBodied Advent, and each activity will help us go deeper into living out what we hear in scripture on Sundays. These advent calendars are available in print and online.
As this is also a season of gift giving and generosity, I also encourage us all to consider our spiritual practice of generosity and perhaps to make a special gift to the ministry of the church in this place and time, as we seek to serve our community in new ways that put Jeremiah’s words into practice. You can give a one time gift, change your regular offering, or create a new standing order either by talking to Peter, giving online, or arranging things with your bank. Or if you use envelopes or prefer cash/cheque donations but are not able to join in-person worship at this time, please let us know and we can arrange a collection. Thank you for your generosity, at this time and every time of year, as we try to be faithful to God’s mission for us.
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Loving God, we come with thanks for your care.
You have placed us in community,
and we share our gratitude around table and hearth,
across miles and through the miracle of technology.
Hear our praise for your gift of togetherness,
in all its many forms.
Where community is complicated, O God,
we ask for the grace to embody your way.
We offer our prayers for those among
our families, friends, neighbours, and community who have hurt us,
and ask for your healing for their hearts, and ours.
Transform us all ever more into your likeness.
Where people are suffering in body, mind, or spirit,
we ask for the grace of your wholeness.
We offer our prayers for those whose fullness of life is restricted by illness or treatment,
and for those who care for them.
We lift up our neighbours near and far who long for healing, freedom, and peace.
Reveal your loving kindness among us and through us.
We especially pray for those who have left their homes,
seeking refuge, seeking hope, seeking peace.
We ask your protection on their journeys,
that they may encounter welcome and help, solidarity and support.
We ask your comfort for those who grieve —
lost homes, lost familiarity, lost families, lost loved ones, lost livelihoods.
And we ask for your compassion to infuse us, that we may be a haven,
a community that makes space for all to live life to the fullest
where you have planted us together.
We trust your promise, Living God,
that when we seek you, you will be found.
We offer our prayers for all who are desperate for your new thing to be revealed,
for this world is not yet in alignment with your will.
Give us the courage to live expectantly,
and to act hopefully,
carrying on the good work you have begun in us.
We ask these and all things in the name of the One
who lived your hope in the flesh, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
(in-person hymn 479: View the Present Through the Promise)
Benediction
Friends, go into this Advent season with expectation, to live as the Body of Christ in this place, seeking God’s future of hope for the whole community. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Postlude Music
Announcements
* This Advent our theme is “EmBodied” — encountering the Word Made Flesh, in our own bodies and in our own places where God has planted us.
* Follow your St John’s Embodied Advent and your Connect Reverse Advent Calendars! There’ll be a Facebook Live for most of the St John’s Advent Calendar too.
* Connect is hosting a family film night on 18 December at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk (Union Street). Bring your Reverse Advent Calendar with you so we can take the donations to the Foodbank and Starter Packs!
* Mark your calendars for Christmas worship: Longest Night (a quieter Christmas service recognising the darkness in which the Light shines) on 21 December at 7:30pm Joint services for Christmas Eve at 7:30pm at St. John’s and 11:30pm at Old Gourock and Ashton Christmas Day, 11am, on ZOOM with all of Connect Sunday 26 December, 10:30am, joint service with St Ninian’s Larkfield and OGA, at Old Gourock
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by David. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
Sunday service for 21 November 2021, Christ the King Sunday
21 November 2021, Christ the King Sunday, Uncovered 9 //
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Call to Worship
One: In ages past, God was at work,
All: revealing the grace and wonder of the word.
One: In these days, God is at work,
All: empowering us to create communities of justice and peace.
One: In the time still to come, God will be at work,
All: making things right and good, just as in the beginning.
One: Through the gloom, we see light,
All: and the light of our Sovereign God reveals all.
One: So let us come into the light, to worship in spirit and in truth.
Prayer
We stumble along, uncertain and unsteady in these unsettled days,
reaching out for something familiar,
worrying what might be around the next bend.
We cannot see the whole story, Lord.
Yet we trust that you are present in the darkness,
and that your dawn will reveal your work,
bringing your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Let the zeal of your living word enlighten our way,
that we may live toward your future, even now.
For your counsel is wonderful, O God.
You guide us in your way of loving-kindness with your everlasting care,
and choose to use your power in service of peace.
We confess that we love to talk about peace, but our lives rarely reflect it.
Forgive our tendency toward destructive power.
We confess that we pray for your light to shine,
even as we prefer to keep some things in the shadows.
Forgive our part in obscuring the light of your truth.
We confess that we long for freedom from injustice,
but we are not willing to give up the burden of authority just yet.
Forgive our stubborn insistence that everyone must be like us.
Shed your light on our lives and hearts, our church and nation, this day,
that all that is hidden may be revealed, and so be healed.
Then turn us again to rejoice in your kingdom of justice and peace.
We ask in the name of Christ our King. Amen.
Music
Online: Hymn 455: I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art (tune: Toulon)
In Person: organ by Philip
Children’s Time (in person only)
Reading: Isaiah 9:2-7
Last week we heard from the prophet Amos, who worked in the northern kingdom of Israel in the mid-700s BCE. Today we will hear from the 1st prophet called Isaiah, who worked in the southern kingdom of Judah, mainly in the city of Jerusalem, a few years after Amos. Isaiah was speaking to people who were weathering attacks from the northern kingdom and other surrounding tribes, and were tempted to make political alliances with bigger empires to protect themselves, and Isaiah was insistent that they should rely on God and God’s promise. While the kings in Jerusalem were mostly as corrupt as the northern kings were, there were two who weren’t terrible and who made an effort to turn the people back to God’s way so that they would be able to live faithfully in God’s promise. One of those was Hezekiah, who became king sometime around the time that Isaiah wrote the words we hear today, from chapter 9. I am reading from Robert Alter’s translation.
The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light.
Those dwelling in the land of death’s shadow—
light has beamed on them.
You have made great the nation,
and heightened its joy.
They rejoiced before You
as the joy in the harvest,
as people exalt when they share out the spoils.
For its burdensome yoke,
and the rod on its shoulders,
the club of its oppressor,
You smashed, as on the day of Midian.
For every boot pounding loudly
and every cloak soaked in blood
is consigned to burning, consumed by fire.
For a child has been born to us,
a son has been given to us;
and leadership is on his shoulders.
And his name is called wondrous councillor,
divine warrior, eternal father, prince of peace,
making leadership abound and peace without end
on the throne of David and over his kingdom
to make it firm-founded and stay it up
in justice and righteousness, forever more.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
For the word of God in scripture,
For the word of God among us,
For the word of God within us,
Thanks be to God.
Sermon: Light Changes Us
Sometimes there’s a word or phrase in a reading that just stops me in my tracks, calling to mind all sorts of connections or questions that draw me down deep rabbit holes…though at least they are rabbit holes through scripture so even if they don’t lead anywhere in the end, they’re always still worthwhile to explore! After all, spending time with God’s word is never wasted time, whether or not it’s productive.
For the past several weeks as I’ve been working on this reading, I’ve been pondering the word “zeal” from the very last line. You may know that I love the word “zeal” so much — it’s slightly old fashioned but conveys something passionate. Reading that word conjured up memories of the ordination questions we’re asked, about zeal for the glory of God being our chief inducement to take up a ministry. And it also drew me back to the story from a couple of weeks ago, about Elijah on the mountain with God. In that story Elijah described himself as “very zealous for the Lord”…so zealous, in fact, that after God had revealed power that the false gods didn’t have, Elijah had taken the opportunity to kill all the false prophets. That’s certainly one kind of zeal. Perhaps it’s even the kind of zeal we are used to thinking about — passion that finds its outlet in really dramatic ways, often loud and flashy and forward…and maybe violent.
So I had that violent zeal called to mind when I read that the zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. But when looking at exactly what the zeal of the Lord will do, it’s a pretty different picture than Elijah’s zeal. Isaiah tells us of endless peace, founded on justice and righteousness, and all the accoutrements of attack — the soldiers’ boots and bloody uniforms — will be burned up. It feels very different to think of being zealous for peace, almost a contradiction in terms. And yet there it is, that’s what God’s zeal is directed towards: peace founded on justice, not on military might, not on oppression of subjects.
It’s hard to imagine, honestly.
It’s the kind of thing we consign to the future, like the afterlife future, or even after the end-of-days. We are so used to a form of leadership that comes from power-over, putting others down to lift ourselves up, conquering and fighting our way to the top. The idea of a leader who breaks the yoke and allows everyone to stand tall, who sets fire to the military supplies because they won’t be needed anymore, who bears the full weight of leadership that does justice, and so leads us in the way of endless peace…it sounds impossible. Which might be why we have made the prophet be talking about Jesus, 700 years before he was born — because it is absolutely true we see this fulfilled in Jesus, but also because it lets human leaders off the hook a bit. If this is only about God’s work in Christ, then it means it doesn’t have to be about God’s work in us, in our systems and structures, in our nation, in our time, in our lives.
But of course prophets give messages that have meanings for their own time and for future times…Isaiah was likely originally speaking about a very human king of his own time, one of the few who did more right than wrong. And we see that his words shone new light when God took on flesh and lived among us, and bore himself the weight of the world that we are not able to carry. And also we are the Body of Christ in the world today, so this poetry, this prophecy, must also be for us.
It’s certainly not unusual to still feel we are walking in darkness. Remember that before electric light, and in many ways still today, to be out in the darkness highlights our vulnerability. When we can’t see what, or who, is around us, we walk differently. Perhaps we walk more hesitantly, feeling our way. Perhaps we walk only on known routes so we can be a bit more confident even when we can’t see. Perhaps we even walk aggressively, determined that anything or anyone we run into we’ll just push past or bowl over. Whatever the case, when it’s dark, we move differently than when the light shines and we can see the way ahead — even though, of course, the light doesn’t actually change the obstacles and the path and the people around us, it only changes us.
The second line, the poetic parallel that intensifies the meaning of the first line, gives us the second rabbit hole of my week:
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.
Those dwelling in the land of death’s shadow—light has beamed on them.
Dwelling in the land of death’s shadow.
That’s not exactly the same as walking in darkness, is it? It feels different — more like the darkness is inside rather than surrounding us. It can be any time of day, any state of sun or moon or even artificial light, and we can still feel the gloom of the shadow of death, almost as if it infuses our very being. It makes our inner landscape feel more threatening and more vulnerable — we never know what feelings or thoughts or memories are going to pop up without warning and cause us to stumble. So it often does feel like the shadow of death is a place we dwell, rather than walk through — it becomes a place we live, a new normal when any old normal feels like a lifetime ago.
And, of course, it’s a phrase that pulls us to new depths of meaning, as it calls to mind the 23rd psalm.
Remember what it says in that line?
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Even when we can’t see, God is there, with all the tools of shepherding that will guide us in the right way.
Some of you will have heard me say about the 23rd psalm that this moment is when the writer changes from talking about God to talking to God, recognising that God is not just far off and theoretical, but close at hand. God is with us, not just as eternal father or prince of peace but also as a counsellor, a guide.
Think how differently we would walk through the world, how differently we would travel this journey of life, if the beam of light cut through the shadow of death and revealed this truth: that God is with us, carrying the load that has burdened us, destroying the weapons of war, calling us to be zealous for peace. Not just for days long ago, but still today.
Today is Christ the King Sunday, which is a feast day that was established in 1925 — when across Europe, fascism and nationalism were on the rise. In the midst of calls to give our allegiance to a nation or a leader, to define our identity by our ethnicity or our language or the place where we were born, and to build structures and systems that would burden most while privileging the few, the Church declared that our primary allegiance is to Christ and his kingdom, not to any of our earthly kingdoms or political leaders or parties. In the dark days of staggering wealth inequality, political turmoil, division, and post-pandemic exhaustion, we were called to turn our attention to the light of Christ, calling us forward. The lay of the land was still the same — the light doesn’t change that — but followers of Christ had a new way of seeing, because the light changes us.
And when we see differently, we can move differently. Whether we feel like we’re groping about in a blind darkness, taking halting steps or aggressively pushing through, fearful of what obstacles or dangers might be out there…or whether we’ve set up camp in the shadow of death, unable to move because our inner landscape is so confusing it’s safer to dig in and stay put in the comfort of the familiar…the true light of the world changes us. In the light we see that we are not alone. Because God is with us, leading us in paths of righteousness and preparing tables that bring enemies and friends together at the feast and putting endless peace into motion, then regardless of what obstacles the world puts in the path, we can move confidently toward Christ’s kingdom. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this!
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn 543: Longing for Light, we wait in darkness
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You are the God who provides in every place,
bringing us through the difficult days into your gift of plenty,
and we are thankful.
We give you thanks,
and we pray for your strength for those who are vulnerable or afraid.
We give you thanks,
and we pray for your liberation for those who are burdened by an oppressive load.
We give you thanks,
and we pray for your peace for those whose nights are disturbed by the sounds of violence.
We lift up to you our community —
your church, this parish, this town, this nation —
and pray that your light would shine,
revealing the way forward through the obstacles we face.
For our neighbours who are suffering,
whose lives are marked by pain, addiction, grief, or poverty,
and for those who are tasked with leadership,
with helping others,
with serving the good of all,
we ask for your presence to be tangible,
your compassion to overflow,
your justice to be made real.
You are Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
We ask this day for your clarity to meet our obscurity,
that we may know your way and follow it.
We ask for your joy to meet our despair,
that we may trust your constancy.
We ask for your promise to meet our fear,
that we may be empowered to live in your kingdom.
We pray these and all things in the name of Jesus the Christ,
on whose shoulders all authority rests,
and who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.
In-Person Hymn 455: I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art (verses 2-5) (tune: Toulon)
Benediction
Friends, may the light shine, changing you and the way you live and move in Christ’s kingdom among us now. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.
Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.
Postlude Music
Announcements
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. If you are able, please enter by the front door in Bath street, and only those who need step-free access should use the back door.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by Teri. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* The Kirk now has online giving! If you have not already set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Peter Bennett, our treasurer, or Teri and she can give you his details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. Remember: no one is coming to your door to collect your envelopes, so please stay safe!
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email devotions! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word on Youtube, pray with video devotions on Facebook, and consider a new angle on something with a devotional email. Feel free to share with your friends, too!
* During the Harvest season (continuing in Ordinary Time until Advent begins at the end of November), the theme for worship is “Uncovered” — we’ll be looking at things God is calling forth that we didn’t know we had in us.
* Greenock Rotary – Smalls for All 2021 Appeal: The club is appealing for people to buy a pack or single pair of pants for a woman or child. These will be given to vulnerable women, girls and boys in Africa where there is a severe lack of ‘smalls’. Women and girls with no underwear are very vulnerable, it is a health and hygiene problem as well as a matter of human dignity for those affected. Ladies briefs in UK size range 8 to 16 and for children aged from 3 to 15 years will be gratefully accepted. You can place your donation in the box placed in the front vestibule during November.
* Volunteers needed for Bubblegum & Fluff on Monday, 29 November and Friday 3 December. Bubblegum & Fluff happens in the Old Gourock and Ashton church hall, and the time commitment is roughly 9-12. Volunteers will need to be able to sit down (probably on the floor though some choose a chair with the children on the floor) and to stand at a table to help facilitate activities with groups of around 6 children. No public speaking is required, and all instructions will be given to you on the day. All adults must wear masks in the building, but children will not be required to do so. If you are willing to come and help out with P5s learning the Christmas story, please let Teri know.
