Sunday Service for 17 July 2022

17 July 2022
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143 
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

Prelude Music

Welcome

Call to Worship (adapted from Iona Abbey Worship Book)
1: Believing God made and loves the world, we gather.
2: Following Jesus who surprised the world with grace, we gather.
3: Trusting that the Holy Spirit has planted gifts within each of us to serve God’s world, we gather.
All: Let us worship God, who is Love, together.

Online hymn: There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy
Sanctuary Hymn 123: God is Love

Prayer
Friends, all of us fall short of God’s vision, and pretending that we have it all together only makes it harder for us to hear Jesus’s voice and follow the Holy Spirit’s gifts. Everyone knows that we’re all projecting an image that isn’t the whole story, and God can never be deceived. When we are honest about our faults and failures, God clears our hearts and minds and spirits so that there is room for the Holy Spirit to fill us and for our faith to bear fruit in the world. So let us join together in prayer.

Loving God, you made us in your image and you planted your word within us, you pour yourself out for us and give us all we need. We confess that we have obscured your image and distorted your word, making it hard to see you in us. And we confess that we have not looked closely enough to see you in one another. We find it difficult to accept that you love without limits, that you love even us, and more to the point, that you love even those we find unworthy or beyond what’s reasonable. We admit that we have sometimes looked at other people and refused to see them as someone you love. We admit that we have sometimes looked at other parts of creation and refused to see them as your delight. We admit that we have sometimes looked at ourselves and refused to see what you see. Forgive us, Lord. Forgive us for putting up boundaries as fast as you tear them down. Forgive us for hardened hearts and closed minds. Forgive us and help us to live as you created us to live, rooted and grounded in your love, sharing your grace, always only for your glory. We call on your Holy Spirit to pray in our weakness, trusting that you will strengthen us to serve you with joy, in Christ’s name. Amen.

If anyone is in Christ, that new life makes the world different — the old has gone, and the new has come! Trusting in the gracious mercy of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit, know that you are forgiven, and live as the beloved body of Christ. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sanctuary: Children’s Time and Song: Wa Wa Wa Emimimo

Reading: Ephesians 3.14-21 NRSV
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

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: Within
Rooted and grounded in love.

Let’s take a moment to think about those words —

Rooted. Roots anchor a plant into the ground, holding it firm when the wind blows, and also holding topsoil in place. Roots burrow into the ground, dig deep, and run along underground in ways we can’t even see, often to places we didn’t expect, farther than we realised. Roots pull nutrients and water from the ground and channel them into the plant, nourishing it to grow and bear fruit. Roots are a means of communication between plants, as they send out spores that carry messages to others.

Imagine yourself being rooted. Like really, close your eyes and put your feet on the floor and imagine roots growing and pushing, anchoring you, nourishing you, communicating with the other parts of creation around you. Picture that…and picture that those roots go deep into love. Deeper and deeper in, farther and farther out, reaching for more love to bring up into your body, reaching to send more out, and holding all that love together.

Without good roots, plants wither. Without good roots, trees fall when it gets windy. Without good soil to reach into, and good water to grow toward, roots can’t do their job. When you picture your roots, what is the soil like? Where is the water? Are you rooted in love? How does that love look in your holy imagination? What is it that flows through your roots and into your heart, soul, mind, and body?

…

Grounded. It could mean the same thing — connected to the ground. But then why use two words? It probably doesn’t mean you’re in trouble and have to stay in your room. Perhaps today we might think of it as how electricity works safely…we need our circuits to be grounded. We need a place for excess energy to go without causing pain or harm to someone else. Imagine you have a grounding wire, a safe place to release your stress, your worry, your fear, your anger — knowing that it is going to be grounded to love. When we are grounded, we have a live connection to love that can hold whatever we need it to hold, so that we can continue to act with grace and compassion. We can let that other stuff go down into God’s love, and that allows us to work the way we’re wired to work, to love our neighbour as ourselves.

Rooted and Grounded.

This letter to the Ephesians is not only a letter for one church, it’s a letter for The Church, including us, and this part of the prayer is also a promise: that as we are being rooted and grounded in love, Christ will dwell in our hearts by faith. The more we are rooted in love, the more Christ dwells in us. The more grounded we are in love, the more Christ dwells in us. The more we are nourished by God’s love, the more Christ is visible in us — that’s what it means for our faith to bear fruit. For our lives to reflect the life of Jesus, more and more and more.

I love that the prayer begins with being strengthened in our inner being by the Holy Spirit — making us ready, with good internal structures that will be able to actually use the nourishment that our roots will bring us…and able to send those unhelpful energies down the grounding wire. When our inner being is weak, we may receive all the goodness from the roots but not be able to turn that love into fruit. Some plants, after all, just never quite grow to maturity. And when our inner being is weak, we turn that unhelpful energy on each other or on ourselves rather than being grounded. We let our angry words fly, we project our fears onto our neighbours, we feel aggrieved by things that are not about us and we end up hurting other people and damaging community. The Holy Spirit strengthens our inner being so that we are ready to use those roots and that grounding, and Christ dwells in our hearts, living his life through our lives.

This is God’s gift to us — from the great riches of God’s glory, which are more abundant than we can imagine. There is no one out there who doesn’t receive this gift…though some of us put God’s gifts to use in different ways than the Spirit probably intended! For instance, this letter prays that we would be able to comprehend the incomprehensible — the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ’s love beyond knowledge. The only way we could ever hope to hold that kind of knowledge is if we were well strengthened and rooted and grounded. Instead, we often try to use that knowledge as a set of boundaries or parameters, as if Christ’s love must have edges that we can see and that some people are outside. But that is not the gift of the Spirit — the gift is to recognise that Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge is broader, longer, higher, deeper than we can actually imagine.

Broader. More of creation, and more of our neighbours, are inside the circle of Christ’s love than we could ever know.
Longer. Christ’s love goes on further into the past and future than we realised.
Higher. Christ’s love has a higher birds-eye view, a bigger picture, and extends into the universe, well beyond our simple wee planet or our limited human minds.
Deeper. Christ’s love reaches into the depths of despair, into the very recesses of our own hearts, the parts we keep hidden, and shines light that redeems even those who are sure they’re in too deep to ever get out.

When we are well rooted and grounded, then we can join all God’s saints, the whole cloud of witnesses, in recognising that the boundaries of Christ’s love are not human boundaries at all…and that is the moment when, at last, we will be filled with all the fullness of God.

Can you imagine that feeling? It’s something famous mystics have written about getting a glimpse of, but reading about God and experiencing God are two different things. This letter to the Church does not pray that we will finally have read the right books or learned the right words…it is a prayer that we will put in the effort to know God, not only know about God. That we will be filled with God’s fullness, that our lives will be so filled with abundant life that we see the kingdom here and now…and through us, others see it too.

We may put in the effort — and we should put in the effort — but the truth is, it’s a gift from the One who can do more than we even know how to ask for. To be strengthened, to be filled, to be rooted and grounded in love: all of it is a gift from the one who loves us more deeply than we can possibly imagine. And that gift is within us, waiting to be used for God’s glory, waiting to be shared, waiting to be shone out like a beacon that both calls people into this rootedness and grounding, and points people to the Truth that they are also loved more deeply than they can possibly imagine, and they too can shine this light, and so the cycle goes on and the light of love grows, and Christ is revealed.

May it be so. Amen.

Online Hymn: One Thing Remains
Sanctuary Hymn 722: Spirit of God, Come Dwell Within Me

Prayer & Lord’s Prayer
More than we can ask or imagine, O God, you are.
More than we can ask or imagine, you give.
More than we can ask or imagine, you love.

Our words fail as we try to give thanks
for your goodness, for your help, for your creation, for your constant presence with us.
We see the wonders of your world revealed,
the joy of community,
the grace you continually pour out.
All we can say is wow and thank you.
Gratitude wells up and we trust you know our hearts
when we cannot express the depth of our praise.
…
…
Our words fail, too, when we try to pray for this world.
So much need.
So much hurt.
So much injustice.
So much to worry about, to lament, to work on.
All we can say is please.
Please strengthen your people with your Spirit.
Please root and ground us all in love.
Please break down the boundaries we have created to confine you.
Please reveal your power and overcome our limitations.
Please make peace.
Please open us to be the answer to the prayers of others.
Please, God, we don’t even know how to actually ask for all this world needs,
but we trust you know and that your love never fails or gives up.
…
…
More than we can ask or imagine —
that’s what you promise you can accomplish by your power at work in us.
May your Church choose to participate in your work,
rooted and grounded in love,
and so be filled with all your fullness.
…
We ask these and all things in the name of the One
who promised never to leave us nor forsake us,
who dwells even now in our hearts and reveals your love for all, 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.

Hymn: The Lorica

Sending
Friends go out into the world rooted and grounded in love, trusting in the power of God to strengthen you and the presence of Christ dwelling in you. 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.

Sanctuary: Postlude Music

Announcements

*Teri is away from today (17 July) until 10 August. If you have a pastoral need, please contact Cameron or your elder and they will put you in touch with the minister on call as needed.

*You are invited to join in reading the Bible in a year for 2022 — immersing ourselves in God’s word throughout the year. We get together to discuss each week on Wednesday at 7:30pm in the Sanctuary. Please enter via the front door on Bath street — if you can’t manage the stairs, let us know and someone will meet you at the St John’s Road door. All are welcome, no experience necessary! Feel free to invite a friend, too! Anyone who has ever wondered just what the Bible actually says and what it has to do with us is welcome. ***NOTE: Bible Study will not meet on 20 July or 3 August. On 27 July we will discuss 1 Kings 9-15, 2 Chronicles 5-14, and Psalms 47 and 121.

• On Friday 29 July at 7:30pm we are hosting a fantastic concert by the Music Academy For Schools, on tour from Staffordshire. Their wind band performs favourites from a variety of films, and their swing band will set your toes tapping! Entry is by donations to be split between local ministry and Drake Music Scotland, making music accessible to people with disabilities.. During the interval, tea and coffee will be served. If you’d like to make a treat to share, please bring it before the concert starts. Invite a friend or neighbour! It’ll be a wonderful evening of music and fellowship, a good chance to support young people, and a chance to donate to a good cause.

* It’s nearly time for A Bowl and a Blether to start off August! Can you believe it’s nearly August already? Come along for a bowl of soup and a chat with friends old and new on the 1st of August. doors open for tea and coffee at 11:30, and soup is served from 12 noon – 1:30pm. Why not invite a neighbour to join you?

*The Inverclyde Historical Society invites you to “Windows of the Old West Kirk” on 30 July at 11am — a talk by Alec Galloway. Please RSVP to isabellind (at) iCloud.com

*All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in the sanctuary at 11am. Hand sanitiser is available at every entrance, and mask-wearing is optional. Masks are available at the door if you would like one. 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.

* 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!

*If you or anyone you know is in your 20s and would like to join our young adults’ Bible study, please contact Teri for more information. The group will resume on 28 August at the new time of 7pm, studying the gospel according to John in the manse or another nearby home, with pizza and fellowship.