Sunday service for 18 June 2023

Sunday 18 June 2023
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143 
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

Prelude Music

Welcome and Announcements

Call to Worship (bold lines to be sung to Old Hundredth)
The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it —
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
In this is love — not that we loved God, but that God loved us first —
Praise Christ all creatures here below!
God breathed life into the world, and called us his children —
Praise Holy Spirit, evermore!
We are a family, gathered in love to worship —
Praise Triune God whom we adore!
Amen.

Sanctuary Hymn 198 vv 1 & 3: Let Us Build A House

Prayer
We gather together in love, O God,
called to be your family,
called to be your Body.
Christ is the firstborn, the Head,
and you have made us brothers and sisters
with him and with each other.
We confess that we have not always acted like a loving family.
Sometimes we squabble, sometimes we hurt each other,
sometimes we rebel, sometimes we push others out.
And we admit that we find it difficult to grow together,
to be vulnerable enough to make connections,
while each playing our own part and not trying to control others.
We confess we are tempted by the idea of a body that’s all the same,
so we wouldn’t have to do the hard work of understanding or compassion or grace.
Forgive us for our part in your family breaking down, Lord,
and for the ways we have injured your Body.
Forgive us for thinking we can keep ourselves separate,
ignoring your call to come together.
Forgive us and heal us,
that we may truly live as your family, gathered in love,
held in your hands and in your heart,
blessed to be a blessing to the world.
We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Online hymn 623: Here in this place / Gather Us In

Sanctuary Hymn 601: Look Upon Us, Blessed Lord

Sanctuary Children’s Time
– including the reading

Reading: Mark 6.30-44 (New Revised Standard Version)
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognised them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

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
I’m going to read this story again, slowly, and I invite you to close your eyes and picture the scene. Try to imagine that you’re there, as part of the events. — What do you see — colours? People? Movement? What do you hear? What do you smell? What can you feel with your senses? What is it like to be part of this day?
…
Now open your eyes….what perspective did you have? Were you a character? Looking from above or outside?
…
The Kirk Session has been talking a lot about this story and how it speaks to us as the church family of St John’s. We’ve talked about how we see ourselves in the story, and I wonder what you think — who is St John’s in the story?
We’ve got the disciples…
Jesus…
The crowd…
The hillside…
The bread…
The baskets…

…

The session has talked about how we feel like we’ve often been like the hillside, providing a space, visible, hospitable, open to being used. People come and hear Jesus, they get fed, and they go away again to go about their lives, and we’re still here…and ultimately the hillside gets sort of left behind, a place people remember going and having an amazing experience, but not a place they go back to. It’s a fixture, they’d notice if it was suddenly gone from the landscape, but it isn’t a place they seek out again and again, instead it’s a place they tell a story about going to, a place something happened, a place they look back on fondly, reminiscing, but not a place that continues to play a part in their lives after that day. And it’s always in the one spot, never moving to where the people are or doing much of anything besides just…being there.

And we’ve talked too about how we think our calling, the identity and purpose God has in mind for us, is to be more like the bread. Sure, we’re only a small number of loaves, at least at first…we’re to be gathered into the hands of Jesus, blessed by Jesus, and shared out to feed and nurture everyone…so much that there are even unexpected leftovers so the sharing continues beyond that one moment. To be held by Christ, and to be filled with his blessing, so much that we are able to be a blessing to far more people than we could ever imagine…and that bread travels beyond the hillside.

It’s maybe weird to think of ourselves as bread, but then again Jesus said that we are his Body…and he also said that he was giving us his body in the bread at the Lord’s Supper, so perhaps the way he feeds us with himself gives us a bit of a clue about how we can give of ourselves to nourish and feed others!

I think the way Mark tells this story is fascinating, because when Jesus tells the disciples to give the crowds something to eat, their first response is “are we supposed to go buy a bunch of bread?” That’s the only thing they can think of to do — their imaginations are constrained by their past experience, and even further narrowed by their panic at the overwhelming situation in front of them, so they can’t fathom that there’s any other option. They don’t even think to look or ask anything else. (We’ve obviously never had that experience!)

Jesus — I like to imagine him being very calm and gentle, while inside he’s restraining himself from rolling his eyes — says “how many loaves do you have? Go check.” Don’t just flail about saying “we don’t have enough!” Go and look at what you DO have, rather than immediately jumping to what you don’t. Look honestly at what resources are actually available to you.

Sometimes one of the hardest things for us to recognise is our own assets. We are so used to looking at what’s missing, what the needs are, where there’s a deficit, that we neglect to pay attention to our gifts.

What do we already have? What gifts has God already given us? What are our assets?

When you think about St John’s — what do we already have? What do you think are our gifts, as a church family?

…

It’s so easy for us to get caught in the narrow way of only thinking about what we’ve done before, what we’ve known how to do. The disciples are too scared to be able to think creatively, all they can see is “the way we’ve always done it isn’t going to work this time, the problem is too big.”

When we pause, take a step back, and listen to Jesus’ instructions to go and look at what we already have, we will find that we are already blessed in ways we never recognised before, or never bothered to name as a blessing. And it’s only then, when we start from what God has done for us, that we are able to see more clearly how to do what God calls us to do.

Remember: we love because God loved us first. We didn’t choose Jesus, he chose us and enabled us to follow him. And the Spirit gives gifts for the purpose of doing God’s work and revealing God’s kingdom.

It’s when we know ourselves to be loved that we are able to love God and love others and love ourselves.

It’s when we know Jesus and the ways he gives himself to us, invites us into his life, that we are able to follow.

It’s when we recognise the gifts already present among us that we are able to see what we are supposed to do. Not starting from all the problems and needs — there are so many, we’d never be able to focus! — but starting from the assets God has given us and asking how we are to use them to do God’s work.

I hope you’ll be thinking more this week about the gifts that God has put into our community here, what assets each of us has, and how we might be gathered in love into the hands of Christ, filled with his blessing, and shared out among the world that is hungry for bread, for justice, for good news, for love, for hope.

May it be so. Amen.

Online hymn: Thrive
Sanctuary Hymn 623: Here In This Place

Offering (Sanctuary only)

Sanctuary Offering Response 557 verse 1
O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee:
I give thee back the life I owe,
that in thine ocean depths its flow
may richer, fuller be.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Loving God,
we thank you for your grace that gathers us in as your family,
calling us to you, yes, and also to each other.
We love to celebrate together,
rejoicing in birthdays and anniversaries,
successes in school and work,
new relationships and wonderful opportunities.
And we are grateful to be together in hard times, too,
walking together through the valley of the shadow of death,
supporting one another through illness and treatments,
sharing our stories and experience,
and our resources and help
when life just doesn’t seem to be going according to our plan.
As you have gathered us together to be your family,
wherever we find ourselves we are bound together
by your love and your call to us:
to love as we have been loved,
to follow your way of truth and life,
to reach out with healing and hope,
to share your good news.
So today we pray for those who have felt like the hillside,
used and left behind, remembered but not revisited,
so easily overlooked because they’re just always there, unremarkable.
May they know their strength,
and be cared for as the foundations of our communities.
We pray for those who have felt like the disciples,
facing a big problem and unable to see a solution,
afraid of what the future holds,
anxious about not having enough…
not enough resources,
not enough energy,
not enough people,
not enough imagination,
not enough hope.
Remind them…remind us, O God,
that with you, there is always enough.
With you, all things are possible
even when under our own power they’d be impossible.
In your hands, even the smallest gift can become the biggest blessing.
Turn our eyes to what is already present,
and open our minds and our hearts and our hands and our will
to new ways of using those gifts,
that there might be enough for all.
We pray for those who have felt like the crowds,
hungry for bread and for your word,
yet disorganised, like sheep without a shepherd.
For those who seek and seek yet do not find,
for those who feel as if they are wandering,
for those just following the crowd but not sure why,
we ask for your nurturing and challenging grace.
May they be fed, in body, mind, and spirit,
and so brought together round your table, in your family.
We pray for those who have been like the bread,
feeling insufficient to the task,
called upon to do more than they can really manage,
hearts broken by the needs of the world,
bodies stretched to their limit trying to do it all.
May they receive the blessing of Christ,
and find that in the sharing they are renewed,
in every new break, there is more to give,
for in giving we receive.
And, O God, we pray for those who have felt like the baskets,
holding all the bits and pieces,
refusing to let even a crumb of your grace be lost,
carrying nourishment out to those who couldn’t be here today.
May they be strong and flexible and light-hearted,
holding the treasure of your gifts and miracles
and sharing them with those in need.
Whatever our role in your story, O God,
give us the gifts we need to play our part,
to be faithful to your vision and purpose,
and to grow your kingdom in each place we find ourselves.
We ask 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.

Sanctuary Hymn 340: When Jesus Saw the Fishermen

Benediction
Go into the world as Christ’s family, to live out the love you have received, to share the blessing he has given 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. 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

* Clyde Presbytery will meet on Tuesday 20 June when we expect that the Presbytery Mission Plan to be finally approved so we can move into the implementation phase, which includes pursuing St John’s vision of becoming even more of a community church. The General Trustees have made an amendment to the Presbytery’s Mission Plan saying that we need to put our plans into more formal format and into action, including making significant progress at each annual report during the life of the Plan (the next 4 years). If you have questions about that, please feel free to ask Teri!

* Registration is open for 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.

* 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!

* Wednesday Evening Bible Study meets in the manse on at 7:30pm. All are welcome as we finish our Bible-in-a-year…it’s the final week, we’re studying the second half of Revelation!

* Young Adult Bible Study is on a summer break — see you again soon.

* The Kirk Session meets on the 15th of June at 7:30pm in the sanctuary.

* A funeral service for Jim Hay will be held on Wednesday 21 June at 12 noon at the crematorium.

* A funeral service for Betty Kemp will be held on Thursday 29 June at 11am at the crematorium.

* Organist Philip Norris will play a recital in the St John’s sanctuary on Friday 23 June at 730pm. Donations at the door will be for both the church and Starter Packs.

* 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.