Sunday service 4 October 2026
Sunday 4 October 2026, NL143, Flourish In Faith 4 (all-age)
Gourock St John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
If the video doesn’t play, please click here to view it on our YouTube channel.
Prelude Music (praise band)
Welcome
*loop
*tea/coffee
*Blessings and God-sightings
We Gather As God’s Family (As the Bible is brought in, we stand and sing) (praise band)
A family gathered in love,
striving for justice and joy,
blessing the broken-hearted,
and sharing the hope of God’s kingdom.
Call to Worship and Prayer
One: When the seas roar and the nations rage, do not be afraid:
All: God is making a way.
One: When hope seems lost and fear seems wise, stand firm:
All: God is making a way.
One: When the impossible is all you can see, take courage:
All: God is making a way.
Creator God,
we cannot imagine how you are bringing a new world to birth,
and yet you are.
We cannot understand why you choose the weak to overturn the strong,
and yet you do.
We cannot see your hand in the chaos all around,
and yet you are here.
You promise to open the way before us, O God,
and we confess we are afraid.
All we see are obstacles,
we feel closed in on every side,
and we wonder if what you ask of us is impossible.
And yet your word of life calls us on.
Forgive us when we are held captive by fear
and so cannot imagine another way.
Forgive us when we are bound by the world we know
and so cannot look to your infinity beyond us.
Forgive us when we would rather go back
than face the unknown, even with you.
Liberate our imaginations and our spirits
so that we may follow you into your future with hope.
Amen.
Sanctuary Hymn: Wade in the Water (organ)
Refrain:
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children,
wade in the water, God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Wade in the water, wade in the water, children,
wade in the water, God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
See that host all dressed in white,
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
The leader looks like the Israelite,
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
[Refrain]
See that band all dressed in red,
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Looks like the band that Moses led,
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
[Refrain]
Look over yonder, what do I see?
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
The Holy Ghost a-coming on me,
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
[Refrain]
If you don’t believe I’ve been redeemed,
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
Just follow me down to Jordan’s stream,
God’s a-gonna trouble the water.
[Refrain]
Sanctuary: Shoes
Hymn GWA146: Waymaker (praise band)
Bible Story: Exodus 14.5-7, 10-15, 21-29 (NRSVUE)
When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him; he took six hundred elite chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.
As Pharaoh drew near, the Israelites looked back, and there were the Egyptians advancing on them. In great fear the Israelites cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt? Is this not the very thing we told you in Egypt, ‘Let us alone so that we can serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” But Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm, and see the deliverance that the Lord will accomplish for you today, for the Egyptians whom you see today you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry out to me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided. The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went into the sea after them, all of Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and chariot drivers. At the morning watch the Lord, in the pillar of fire and cloud, looked down on the Egyptian army and threw the Egyptian army into a panic. He clogged their chariot wheels so that they turned with difficulty. The Egyptians said, “Let us flee from the Israelites, for the Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, so that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and chariot drivers.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at dawn the sea returned to its normal depth. As the Egyptians fled before it, the Lord tossed the Egyptians into the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the chariot drivers, the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea; not one of them remained. But the Israelites walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left.
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.
Footprints
Online Hymn: How Firm a Foundation
Sanctuary Hymn GWA142: Everlasting God (praise band)
Sanctuary Offering and Response GWA153: God the Maker of the Heavens, verse 1 (tune: Converse) (organ)
God, the maker of the heavens,
and the planet that we share,
show us how to live, like Jesus, lives of gratitude and care.
Make us mindful of the footprints
from the lives that we pursue.
Make us partners in your mission:
you are making all things new.
Concerns of the Church
*blessing photos
*Bible Study Wednesday
*Tent of Nations Daoud Nasser at GLPC today, also live-streamed on YouTube
*Just Peace for Israel & Palestine 6 October
*Harvest Communion next week
*prayer groups
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Holy, liberating God,
you overcome death
and choose us for life
and we give you thanks.
For your power that brings us out
and sets us free from all that harms us,
for your grace that guides us in the way we should go,
we give you thanks and praise.
Trusting in your mercy and your justice,
we bring our prayers,
crying out for our neighbours who suffer —
for all those who trust the power of violence
and have it turned back on them;
for those who have been used and tossed aside as collateral damage;
for those who are not free and can’t imagine what it would be like;
for those who long for another way and yet lament its impossibility;
for all those caught up in the ways of the world.
Surround them with your courage, your peace, and your hope.
Make a way where it seems there is no way.
Carry your people where they can’t take another step into the deep.
Strengthen the faint-hearted and hold the tears of the grieving.
And we bring our prayers too
for the slowing of the wheels of those who come with violence
and for weapons to be stopped in their tracks.
Disable the power they hold over us.
Make a way where it seems there is no way.
Enable us to stand firm and to stretch out our hands to resist evil
and push us past our fear to seek peace and pursue it.
Open us to your impossible possibilities,
and lead us into the new world you are creating
even now.
On the 4th day of the month we join our hearts as your St John’s family to pray
*For the churches of CONNECT: St John’s, Old Gourock & Ashton, St Ninian’s, St Margaret’s, the Lyle Kirk, and Westburn.
*For the many volunteers who keep St John’s ministry vibrant: the pastoral care team, the flower team, Bowl & Blether volunteers, sound and powerpoint volunteers, those who serve on Season teams, those on door duty, those who count the offering, and so many others.
*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria.
We bring you all our prayers in the name of Jesus the Christ,
who opened the way of life to us 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.
Sanctuary Hymn: How Firm a Foundation (organ)
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in God’s excellent Word!
What more can be said than to you God hath said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?
“Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
for I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
for I will be near thee, thy troubles to bless,
and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.
“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
my grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
the flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
“The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavour to shake,
I’ll never, no, never, no, never forsake.”
(The story of Nahshon, who walked into the water when there was no way…)
Sending
Stand firm, and see what the Lord will do — God makes a way, where there is no way, so that we can flourish going forward.
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 if you thought you were 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) (organ)
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 (organ)
Announcements
* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and Sunday worship is also online.
* The first Sunday of the month at 11am is an all-age service, with different ways of encountering God’s word without a traditional sermon. All people — young and old, different personalities and learning styles, are welcome! You’ll find a more informal service with a variety of music, a Bible story, prayer, and some more interactive elements. The online service for the first Sunday will therefore also be different — there will still be a reading, prayers, and music, but usually not a sermon.
* Wednesday Bible Study is at 7:30pm in the manse and we are doing a study of the five “festival scrolls” guided by the book Forgotten Books of the Bible by Robert Williamson Jr.
* Bowl & Blether is on the first Mondays of the month, with doors open from 11:30-1:30, and lunch served from noon. All are welcome for a bowl of soup, a toastie, a friendly chat in our warm hall! See you TOMORROW on 5 October.
* The Contact Group meets on Tuesday 6th October at 2pm. The speaker is Isabel Lind who will be talking about the 100th anniversary of Inverclyde Music Festival. All are welcome. The syllabus of events is now available for a donation of £5.
* On Tuesday 6 October at 7:30pm we have an opportunity to learn more about how we can play a part in working toward a Just Peace for Israel and Palestine. It’s a complicated situation that we often lament and rarely want to risk getting involved in, but Christian Aid has produced resources to help us learn, pray, and act for peace. Come along as we hear the voices of people living there, learn more of the context, and discover what we can do with our one small voice added to others.
* The Rev. Jeanette Peel has accepted a call to be the minister of Airdrie: New Wellwynd Parish Church in deferred union with Airdrie: St Columba’s, and her induction will be on Wednesday 18 November. All are welcome!
* Starter Packs are in need of Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner, Washing Up Liquid, Shaving Foam, Hand Wash,Toothbrushes for Adults.
The FoodBank are short of Biscuits and Juice as well as the usual items: Meals, Beans, Vegetables and Soup.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!
* In this time of Harvest, and turning our attention to how God’s faithfulness ensures our flourishing, through every season. To help us celebrate that He keeps His promise to be with us always, no matter the circumstance, you might like to bring to church a photo capturing what this has meant to you, personally. The photo could be of a person who has been a particular help or encouragement to you, or of an occasion or point in time that has been important to you in your faith.
Please place your photo in an envelope with your full name written on the front and give this to Anne Love. Anne will photocopy the photo, and return the original to you. Or if you have a digital photo, please email it to anneelovee4@gmail.com. These pictures, over a period of weeks, will form a collage of gratitude on the board we have put up on the wall: a visual testament to how we form part of a living story, a legacy, blessed by many hands to be fruitful, that we may in turn bless others.
* Free period products are available in the church toilets for anyone who might need them, thanks to Hey Girls and Inverclyde Council.
* Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £3000 per week and we are currently running about £500 short? Everything we do is funded by your generous giving — all our support for young people, older people, bereavement care, community outreach, worship, study, spiritual growth, and community work is because of your offering. If you would like to 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 Teri and she can give you the treasurer’s details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received.
* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email newsletter! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word and Theology Thursday on Youtube, get snippets of thought or inspiration following Teri on TikTok, and of course keep up with announcements and events on Facebook and our weekly email.
Harvest 1 (Anne Love, Seonaid Campbell, Ann Stephenson, Nicola and Jamie Amott)
Have you ever received something that you felt you did not deserve? A good thing, that you had not worked for? A trial that felt unjust? Or have you ever trusted in a promise that seemed to take a while to be realised? Or have you felt you were being asked to do something you did not feel experienced enough or brave enough to do?
When we studied the readings set for the harvest season, we noticed that God’s sending is often uncomfortable, requiring us to leave the familiar and face the unknown. We also saw that God was eager to bless, keen to take our burdens, generation after generation and for all time, His spirit pushing us into places we might not go if we thought we were alone so that all might ultimately flourish. And so our theme this season is flourishing in faith, and this flourishing is how we are blessed, because there is always room for more, and always enough for all.
The story of God’s faithfulness in and through every season stretches back thousands of years.
It is our heritage. The theme of God’s constancy to His people winds its way through our readings this season, through characters just like ourselves: undeniably human, complicated, fallible, finding themselves in all kinds of challenging situations, having to make choices, being victors and being vulnerable. We see how the beautiful partnership between God and his people unfolds in:
* Noah’s trust in God’s oddly specific building instructions and surviving the end of the world;
* Abram’s obedience in a late age relocation to a land he did not know, with no map to get there, yet he did;
* Joseph’s diligence, both as a valued servant and then as a valued prisoner, blessed in the worst of times;
* Moses’s leadership, guiding a disgruntled, homesick people through a wilderness to an uncertain future; yet he receives God’s timeless commandments for his people;
* Joshua’s strength, succeeding Moses in leadership, carrying that burden to reprimand a people going astray, yet ultimately driving them to renewed commitment to God.
In these stories we won’t see easy prosperity, quick wins or magic formulae for success. Rather, we will see something more like our own lives. We will recognise being in a difficult place, outside our comfort zone, far from what has been home, or perhaps being misunderstood, maligned or even misused. But so too, will we be reminded of the times we have benefitted at some point from receiving a gift we did nothing to earn: be it friendship, guidance, a kind word, a helping hand, a helping cheque, an opportunity to grow, an encounter that changed our lives. And through the constant change life brings, so too does God’s love remain constant, blessing us that we may be a blessing to others. And we flourish not because everything has always gone well for us, but because God intends for us to be fruitful through the seasons and gives us what we need to get where He wants us to be.
This season we will acknowledge God’s love in our lives through people, places and times on the Blessing Board which Teri will tell us about in more detail. We plan to host a Christian Aid Just Peace film study and discussion night on 6 October. We will have our Harvest Service on 11 October, with a particular focus on the plight of refugees. We will also be looking at how we can encourage and support a new baby group.
So, as we move into Harvest time, we reflect on what we have received and what we can give, on our inheritance and our legacy, gratitude for God’s generosity, and giving generously where we can, when we can, flourishing in our faith to bless our community and our world now, and in the times ahead.
