Sunday service for 18 July 2021

Sunday Service for 18 July 2021, 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Sunday school Revisited week 8
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson, Gourock St. John’s
Manse phone: 632143 
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

To hear an audio recording of this service, phone 01475 270037

Prelude Music (in person only)

Welcome/Announcements

Call to Worship
Teri: Come, the shepherd is calling.
All: The sheep know the shepherd’s voice.
1: Come and rest
2: Come and be nourished
1: Come and be comforted
2: Come and be fed
1: Come and be led into righteousness
2: Come and know goodness and mercy
All: The shepherd is calling, and we know his voice.

Prayer
You, Lord, are our guide and protector, our teacher and healer, our creator and sustainer.
You provide for our needs, yet we confess we always want more.
You bring us to the place of plenty,
and yet there are so many who do not have enough.
While we revel in green pastures and use still waters without thinking twice,
your people around the world thirst for clean water,
and the forests and prairies burn.
Restore your creation, O God.
…
You hold us fast through the darkest times,
even when we can’t see through the shadows,
and your presence gives us strength.
For those who are in fear,
those walking in the shadow of death,
those who wander far from the path or the embrace of the flock,
we ask for your protection.
Surround them with your loving embrace,
that they may know help in hard times,
companionship on the journey,
and comfort in the midst of the pain.
Make your presence known to your people, O God.
…
You welcome us to your family,
invite us to your table,
and call us to your work.
For your gifts of plenty, we give you thanks.
And for those who have no table…
those whose tables are bare…
those who have been denied a seat…
those whose enemies block the way…
we pray your grace would indeed overrun,
that your abundance may be shared by all, not just some.
We claim your goodness and mercy, O God,
and ask your forgiveness for the times we have kept it for ourselves.
In your house there’s more than enough room,
so we ask your help for all who long for a place to live,
a meal to nourish,
and a community of celebration and support.
May your persistent grace follow us, follow all people,
teaching us your ways that together we may dwell in your house, forever.
In the name of the good shepherd, Jesus the Christ, we pray. Amen.

Music
Online: The Lord’s My Shepherd (Townend)
In person:

Children’s Time

Reading: Psalm 23 (NKJV)
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

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: Pursued
These are such familiar words to many of us, as we have so often heard or sung them at funerals or recited them in Sunday school while making crafts from cotton balls. They are words that endure in memories that have long since forgotten everything else. And yet because they are so familiar, it can be easy to miss what the psalmist is saying!

In the beginning, the psalmist tells us about God. It’s almost like an affirmation of faith about who God is and what God does: God provides, God leads, God nurtures and restores. God wants what is best for us. We know all these things are true, and they are what God continually promises and fulfils, even though it isn’t always the way we would prefer, or on the timeline we would want. And the translation into English actually obscures some of the power of this affirmation — the line “he restores my soul” would better be translated as “he brings me back to life.” When we are on the brink, when we can’t breathe, God brings us to a place of peace and plenty, and puts God’s own breath of life back into us. And when we are again breathing freely and we’ve been restored to life, God leads us in the pathways of justice, showing us the road to walk into the kingdom of God.

And then, halfway through, something happens — hardship enters the story. Perhaps it was a tragedy, or perhaps the grief of losing someone dear to them, or perhaps the disappointment of dashed expectations or hopes, or perhaps an experience of physical or mental illness. It’s a universal feeling, one we all know: walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

There, in the valley of the shadow of death, when it seems as if the light is fading, when the world seems a bit less hospitable than it did before, when the certainty of God’s goodness is harder to see, the psalmist changes from talking about God to talking to God. No longer is God an abstract concept, an intellectual exercise, something we talk about or think about at a distance…God is up close and personal. YOU are with me, guiding and comforting, feeding and anointing, filling with good things that the valley of the shadow of death threatened to take away.

In the valley of the shadow of death is often where we meet God face to face. It’s where all our ideas about what God is like become ephemeral, because the fullness of true relationship takes over. No longer is this a creed or rote affirmation that God is a guide and help…in the valley of shadows, God’s love can become more tangible. When it seems as if we are alone, when we can’t see and don’t know how to carry on, it turns out God is closer than our own breath. This isn’t just the kind of relationship where we know God’s there somewhere. In the dark valley we may not be able to see anything else, we may not be able to hear anything but the terrible roaring silence of grief or despair or fear, but it is a place where we can see God face to face, as we stare into the mysterious darkness.

And when we come out the other side, that closer relationship makes the feast table—even with enemies present—more glorious than the peaceful green pastures and still waters had been.

The psalm ends with words as beautiful as the beginning — surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…but yet again, the translation softens what is one of the most powerful images you can imagine. In Hebrew it says that goodness and mercy will pursue me. Not just follow, but follow in pursuit, hot on our heels, insistently, not letting us out of their sight. This isn’t a blessing that will just saunter behind us and offer a little continual comfort now and then, this is an almost aggressive goodness and mercy. This is God’s goodness and mercy — persistent and not taking no for an answer. God is good all the time, and that will be true wherever we go. Even if we encounter another valley, even if we struggle on the pathway of justice, even if we feel we can’t catch our breath and need another respite in the green pastures…even if we end up going back to talking about God instead of to God, goodness and mercy will pursue us all the days of our lives, calling us back to dwell in God’s house, forever.

May it be so. Amen.

Hymn 462: The King of Love My Shepherd Is (tune: St. Columba)

Baptism (in person only)
A sacrament is an outward sign of the grace that God has already given us—and this sacrament of baptism is the ultimate sign of grace, the ultimate lesson in hospitality. Before we can receive, before we can respond, before we can ask for forgiveness or change anything about ourselves, God loves us, reaches out to us, and marks us as God’s own people, promising that whatever paths we walk, whatever shadowed valleys we encounter, whatever we learn about God and however we learn to talk to God, God’s goodness and mercy will pursue us all our days.
……
……
……

Let us pray.
God of love, we rejoice again to receive your grace in hearing your word.
We have heard your call, we are made new by your Spirit,
we have committed ourselves to your path.
Guide and guard us all our days.
May your love hold us, your truth guide us, your joy delight us.
Bless our families, community, nation, and world
with wisdom and courage, laughter and peace,
and the love that endures all things.
God of grace and glory, you have called us to your
One Church, proclaiming One Faith, One Baptism, One Lord.
Help us to profess this truth with our lives, not only our words.
Remind us of the love poured on us
and bring us once again to new life with you.
Water the seeds that have been planted this day,
and help us bear fruit for your kingdom, living in your love.
We pray to you, our Creator, with the power of the Holy Spirit, in the name of 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 only: Sung Hymn 511, Your hand, O God, has guided

Benediction
Friends, whether you find yourselves in need of a deep breath in the green pastures, or striding confidently the pathways of justice, or walking the seemingly endless shadowed valley, know this: God is good, all the time, and God’s goodness and mercy pursues us all the days of lives. The Spirit of God will go above you to watch over you. The Spirit of God will go beside you to be your companion. The Spirit of God will go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And the Spirit of God will 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 (tune: Gourock St. John’s, words by John L Bell)
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

* Teri will be off from the 19th – 29th of July. Please contact Cameron or your elder for any pastoral emergencies. 

* 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, and some limited singing! We can welcome approximately 35 people for worship, so if you would like to come in person, please phone Cameron (630879) on a MONDAY afternoon between 1-3pm or Anne Love (07904 617283) on a Saturday morning between 10-12 to book a place.

* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page. Teri is leading tonight’s service, 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!

* VENDA UPDATE:
We are in the middle of the winter here in Venda and cold days are very cold with a little bit of rain sometimes and warm days are very hot. The country has moved to Level 4 as of 27 June 2021, no gathering, restaurants only open for takeaway, no sales of alcohol, and all schools will be closing on the 30th of June 2021 until the 19 of July 2021. The minister of Education made the announcement on the 20th of June 2021 that all teachers and all the people working at schools will be getting vaccines starting with government schools and then the private school will follow later as of the 23rd of June 2021. This is great news if all goes well, by the 19 of July 2021 we will all have got the vaccine. Adults from 60+ have been getting vaccines since the 1st of May 2021.

Since the school opens on the 3rd of May 2021, all has been going very well. The 3rd wave of COVID-19 is heating SA very hard especial in Johannesburg and Pretoria, here in Venda High school students and teachers are testing positive every day.

The grade R and grade 1 students are enjoying computer lessons and now they are capable of using the Computer on their own, we are very proud of the progress and the next step will be to introduce the internet.  On the 25th of June 2021, we host a birthday celebration for all students born from January to June and was a great ceremony as last year there was no birthday celebration. The covid-19 pandemic has made us aware that we need to be well advanced in technology and educate our children from a younger age.  VMS was one of the NGO’S invited by the Global Skills Initiative South Africa to attended training on Basic digital skills. The training just came at the right time for us and we are very excited. Myself and Reason Sithagathaga (member of VMS support group) attended the training and we are receiving ongoing support. This week we are sharing with the Educators and on the 1st of July Reason will be training youth and other community members here at VMS, we can only have 5 people per day due to COVID. We are doing a weekly talk show on Radio, educating the community about HIV/AIDS, bullying at schools, and domestic violence.  And the Youth on a Mission is having more likes and follows and we are posting articles weekly. The aim is to reach more adolescents.

VMS was planning to host winter school as additional to our program, as most children from the government school are not attending school daily. We had a plan to help children catch up with their school work during school holiday for primary schools. Now we have cancelled due to country moving to level 4.  The office, outreach program and vegetable garden will remain open during level 4.

Regards,
Khathu