Sunday service for 14 May 2023, sixth Sunday of Easter
Sunday 14 May 2023, NL1-43, Sixth Sunday of Easter, Youth Service
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Sanctuary Prelude Music: Praise Band
Welcome and Announcements
Sanctuary Processional Hymn 422: Christ is Alive, and the Universe Must Celebrate
Call to Worship (Anchor Boys)
One: Come and celebrate what God has done!
All: God welcomes all, gives us peace, and sets us on a firm foundation.
One: Come with your whole self, just as you are.
All: God is Love, and God’s love is for us, here and now.
One: Come into the presence of our Holy God!
All: We come, because through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we belong.
Sanctuary Hymn: God Welcomes All (a cappella, Teri; by John L Bell)
Prayer (Brownies)
Creator God,
in love you made us
and in love you brought us into relationship with you,
making space for us to stand before you without fear —
not by our own goodness but by your faithfulness.
We pray you would pour your love into our hearts again this day,
that we may grow in the hope that leads to resurrection life.
Loving God,
we have tried so hard to justify ourselves.
We’ve done everything we can to earn our place,
and made excuses about the rest.
Forgive us for not believing you when you said it was your gift to give,
and ours to live.
We’ve bought the lies of power and wealth,
and wished we had more.
Forgive us for trusting the false peace of this world,
rejecting the deeper wholeness you offer.
We’ve looked down on people, and looked up to others,
believing some are worthy and others are not.
Forgive us for thinking ourselves better than your Son
who came to live and die and live again for all people.
You have reconciled us to yourself, O God,
and we pray now that you would fill us with Christ’s resurrection life,
that all may see your love and we may live for your glory.
Amen.
Online Hymn 153: Great is Thy Faithfulness
Sanctuary Children’s Time
Reading: Romans 3:28-30, 5:1-11 (Common English Bible) (Guides)
We consider that a person is treated as righteous by faith, apart from what is accomplished under the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t God the God of Gentiles also? Yes, God is also the God of Gentiles. Since God is one, then the one who makes the circumcised righteous by faith will also make the one who isn’t circumcised righteous through faith.
Therefore, since we have been made righteous through his faithfulness, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory. But not only that! We even take pride in our problems, because we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. This hope doesn’t put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
While we were still weak, at the right moment, Christ died for ungodly people. It isn’t often that someone will die for a righteous person, though maybe someone might dare to die for a good person. But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us. So, now that we have been made righteous by his blood, we can be even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. If we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son while we were still enemies, now that we have been reconciled, how much more certain is it that we will be saved by his life? And not only that: we even take pride in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, the one through whom we now have a restored relationship with 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: Proud
Let’s talk about this business of pride.
There are plenty of things we can rightfully be proud of — when we have worked hard for something and achieved it, when we’ve tried our best even if the outcome wasn’t what we wanted, when we’ve been faithful through difficult times. Sometimes we might be proud of other people, as often parents and teachers and youth leaders are proud of children and young people as we watch you grow into the people you were created to be, and sometimes we might even be proud of ourselves for whatever small role we have played in that growth.
There are times when we’re not proud of ourselves, too — when we know we’ve done the wrong thing, or hurt someone’s feelings, or not given our best for some reason.
It’s a little weird to think about being proud of something when it comes to our faith, though. What would that even mean?
Paul was writing this letter to people he had never met before, trying to encourage them because they were a small church community in the midst of a big city. The church had big dreams, and wanted to do what God wanted for them, but they were just a handful of people in the midst of the capital city. They weren’t the powerful people in town, and in fact people looked down on them for being Jesus-followers when everyone else was part of groups that helped them make money or meet powerful friends. But this small church thought that God’s word was true, and that Jesus had been raised from the dead, and they wanted to be a part of that kind of power instead. So they kept meeting together, they kept doing their best, they kept trying to encourage others to do what was right instead of what was easy or convenient, trying to change things that were unjust in their city even though they were just a small group of people.
So why would Paul be talking about pride? Especially since it’s pretty clear from the way he’s been writing that it’s God who has done amazing things. It’s God who is bringing together all kinds of people, not just one nation or one type of person or just like-minded people like we might choose for ourselves. It’s Jesus’ faithfulness that has made it possible for us to have a close relationship with God, not our own right thinking or believing. It’s God’s love that the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts, not our own love starting from scratch.
He writes that we take pride in God…that our pride is not about what we can do, but about what God can do. It feels weird to be proud of something that we actually can’t take any credit for! Because then we have to admit that actually, even the things we can take credit for, if we dig deeper, are rooted in something bigger than us. All our achievements are actually built on gifts we have been given — whether that’s the gift of creation, of talents and skills that we can use, the gift of our community and the foundations they built and opportunities provided for us, the teachers who have shared their knowledge and skills with us, the people who have encouraged us, even simple stuff like the roads and buildings and infrastructure built by previous generations that we now take for granted. Everything we are able to achieve, everything of our own effort that we are rightly proud of, is built on a foundation we can’t take any credit for, all the way down to the foundation of the world, which is that God’s love is poured into our hearts, and we only love because God loved us first. We breathe because God breathed in us first. We can only be faithful because God was faithful first.
And if the thing we are proud of is actually a thing we can’t take credit for because the credit belongs to God, then it makes us more mindful of the fact that God’s gifts have not been only for us, or only for people like us, but for everyone, and since it isn’t ours we can’t restrict who God gives to! God welcomes all, God’s love is for everyone, God is the God of all, not just some, which means we don’t get to think of ourselves as better or more special or more loved than anyone else. But we also don’t get to think of ourselves as worse or less than anyone else. Because of who God is and what Jesus has done, we are invited to see ourselves the way God sees us: you are enough. You can’t make God love you through your own accomplishments. You are already given God’s love and you are already welcome in God’s family, not because you did a good job but because God did a good job, and you can be proud of being part of this big picture God is still doing.
Now there’s something else Paul says we can take pride in, and it might be even more difficult than the first one. He says we can take pride in our problems, because trouble, or suffering, produces endurance, which produces character, which produces hope.
Maybe we have known some people who seemed to take pride in their suffering…like those who enjoy complaining and want people to pay attention to them, and maybe even believe that their suffering now makes them more like Jesus or more likely to get a heavenly reward. That is not what Paul means by taking pride in our problems.
I think one clue to what he does mean is actually in the way we’ve talked about the other pride he’s mentioned — that this isn’t about pride in something we have done, but about recognising that God is at work in a bigger picture than just us. Our pain is a real thing and we should never pretend it isn’t. And we should never compare our pain to others — sometimes I hear people say “oh, but other people have it much worse” which may or may not be true, but it’s irrelevant because we are only in the midst of our own experience, not the other person’s experience. But sometimes, just as we can see how God’s gifts have helped us to achieve things we couldn’t have done entirely on our own, we can also look back after a time of trouble and see how we have grown, and how God has been with us even in the hard times.
In the moment, of course, we are not thinking about growth or learning opportunities. We endure suffering, just trying to get through it. Though as I pointed out when the Company Section asked me about this, it’s a little bit like that saying “time heals all wounds” — that isn’t really true, it isn’t the time itself that heals, it’s what we do during that time. And I think the same is true of difficulty. When we are in the midst of trouble, the question is how we get through it. Do we just lie down and wait for it to be over? Do we give up and hope someone else will fix it? Do we try different things and see what happens? Do we just keep swimming, trusting that there is a brighter day ahead? The way we approach that time matters. Because the truth is that God is with us in the middle of it, all the time, no matter which approach we take. But some approaches will be healthier for us, and some will help us see God’s guidance a bit better, and some will keep us stuck. Sometimes we might have to take different approaches at different times — it might be that our mental or physical health is poor enough that we just have to lie down for a while and let someone else take over for a bit. Or it might be that just keeping going, getting on with it, is actually keeping us stuck in old ways that are hurting us. But how we respond when hard times come — because they will come! — will have an effect on what our endurance looks like.
Maybe the endurance helps us grow stronger, like a runner who runs a little more every week until they’re ready for a marathon. When that happens, then God is helping us develop character as a person who will be able to help others who aren’t yet resilient. Maybe the character that grows from our endurance is more like a thick skin, and it helps us let go of hurtful words so that we can do the hard work of changing the world even when some people don’t like us for it. Maybe our endurance training will teach us how to wait for God’s right moment, without jumping at every opportunity that comes, because sometimes they aren’t right for us, and we have to learn patience for God’s timing.
We only really see this looking back — in the moment, it might all just feel terrible. And that’s okay. It’s in looking back that we can see how God is with us, working in us to help us become the people we are meant to be. And because we learn about how God has worked through those hard times when we look back, that’s also when we learn to have hope for the future. Because we can see that God has been faithful, even in circumstances we didn’t want to experience, then when we turn our eyes forward we can trust God will be faithful in the future too. And next time trouble comes, we face it with a little more hope than we did before, because we recognise God is always with us through it all, and we have been growing — growing in God’s image, growing in faithfulness, growing in endurance, growing into who God made us to be, growing into hope. And we can be proud of that.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn: Never Once (Matt Redman / praise band)
Offering (Sanctuary only)
Sanctuary Offering Response 420 verse 4 (tune: Lasst uns erfreuen)
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (Junior & Company Section)
Gracious God, we thank you for your love that does not choose favourites
but fills the earth with your goodness.
We give thanks this day for those who have passed your love on to us,
for all who have nurtured us in your word,
and who have encouraged us and let us encourage them.
We give you thanks that in your eyes, each of us is enough,
and you welcome us as we are,
to stand in your grace and experience your peace.
You, Lord, are God of every nation and people,
and so this day we pray for peace among the nations.
We cry out for an end to conflict, and also for the building of justice,
for communities that practice compassion and kindness,
and for the determination to care for the earth so that all people have enough.
We pray for those who are suffering,
that they may know your presence with them and sense your care.
We pray, too, for your Body — for when one member suffers, all suffer together,
and so we ask for the grace to reach out with compassion and with help,
without platitudes or clichés,
trusting your love to flow through us.
We offer our prayers for those whose patience is wearing thin,
who are tired of enduring, and long for progress toward healing,
for bodies
and minds
and communities
and nations
and the earth.
May there be growth and movement toward a better future
that looks ever more like your kingdom vision.
We lift up this day especially
young people who are discerning who they are,
whose character is being formed,
that they may know themselves in your image,
and surround themselves with people, ideas, and opportunities
to grow into the people you would have them be,
to serve and lead, to be generous and kind,
to build one another up and move the world toward abundant life.
And we pray this day for those who hope, O God,
and for those who have lost hope.
When we have hit the bottom, may we find your hope there holding us up.
When we dig down deep, may we find your hope welling up inside us.
You have promised that hope does not disappoint us,
and so we look to you,
praying you would show a way forward when all seems lost,
a breath of possibility when other doors have closed,
just enough light for the next step.
In this world where we so often feel we are not enough —
not good enough, fast enough, smart enough, pretty enough, fit enough, rich enough —
you declare that in Christ,
we belong.
We give you thanks for making a place for us in your family,
and for giving us all we need to fulfil your plans for us.
Help us to recognise your gifts, and to use them well,
for the building of your kingdom on earth.
We ask in the name of the Risen One
who brings us into fullness of life through his own life among us,
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.
Sanctuary Hymn 256: May the God of Hope Go With Us Every Day
Sanctuary Hymn 703
God save our gracious King,
long live our noble King;
God save the King!
Send him victorious,
happy and glorious,
long to reign over us:
God save the King!
Not on this land alone,
but be God’s mercies known
from shore to shore.
Lord, make the nations see
that all should kindred be,
and form one family
the wide world o’er.
Benediction (Smurfs?)
May you know and live from God’s love poured into your heart this day, and evermore.
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. 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
* The Spring 2023 Church Notes are now available, click here! Many thanks to Notes editor, elder Seonaid Knox!
*We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and all Sunday worship is also online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print). 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. If you feel unwell, please worship online, to protect both yourself and others in our community.
*Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £2700 per week? 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 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!
* In March Starter Packs provided packs to 57 homes within these homes were 30 single people, 27 families including 45 children and in April the figures were 44 homes within these homes were 29 single people,15 families including 24 children. As well of the monthly focus of toilet roll, kitchen roll, washing up liquid and cleaning cloths we are short of shampoo, shaving foam, razors and bathroom and kitchen cleaner. You can bring donations to church and leave them in the collection box inside the front door.
*Wednesday Evening Bible Study meets in the manse at 7:30pm. All are welcome as we continue reading through the Bible in almost exactly a year and a half!
*Young Adult Bible Study meets in the manse on the 2nd and 4th Sundays at 7pm for a meal and discussion of the gospel according to John. Everyone in their 20s is welcome!
*We look forward to celebrating the weddings of Paul Mulvaney & Allison Crighton on Friday the 19th of May at 2pm, and Alan Marshall & Sharon McKinnon on Saturday the 20th of May at 2pm.
*The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland meets from the 20th – 25th of May, in Edinburgh and online. You are invited to pray for the Assembly and to follow along on the live stream. Teri will be attending as a commissioner this year, so if you have a pastoral need during the Assembly, please contact your elder or Cameron.
*Looking Ahead: St John’s Summer Exploratorium, our new summer holiday club for P1- P7 children, will be from 24-28 July, 9am – 1pm. More information and registration will be available soon. If you would be interested in helping with advance preparation (decorating, advertising, etc), or during the week in the kitchen (breakfast club from 8:30am, or lunch), or during the week with the programme (which requires being added to our Safeguarding/PVG register), please speak to Teri or Graham Bolster.
*2023 marks the 125th anniversary of the 2nd Gourock Boys’ Brigade. Our anniversary Grand Charity Ball will be Saturday 9th September 6.00 for 6.30pm in Greenock Town Hall. Tickets priced £50 or £500 for a table of 10 are available now from BB leaders. The benefitting Charities have been selected and will be announced shortly. We are delighted to announce that every penny raised from ticket sales and our charity auction on the evening will go directly to our chosen charities. This event is open to all so please spread the word, book your table, put the date in your diary and look forward to what we are sure will be a Second To None evening of enjoyment and celebration.
*Free period products are available in the church toilets for anyone who might need them, thanks to Hey Girls and Inverclyde Council.
