Sunday Service for 21 June 2020, fourth Sunday of Pentecost
21 June 2020: 4th Sunday of Pentecost
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri C Peterson,
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Contact: tpeterson@churchofscotland.org.uk
Welcome and Announcements
Though we cannot be together in person, we can be together in spirit! Please note the following announcements:
* 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 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 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!
* We also now have an audio recording of the service available on the phone! Simply dial 01475 270 037 to listen to the most recent service. Please share this number with your neighbours, friends, family, and fellow church goers who don’t have the internet, so they can listen in!
* The theme for worship this summer is “Postcards of Faith” — we’ll be getting some postcards from God’s people throughout scripture, following their journeys with God and each other.
* This summer we are taking a Church Family summer trip! We’ll be journeying together from Shore to Shore — the shores of the Clyde to the shores of the sea of Galilee, to the hometown of St. John the Evangelist. Keep track of how much time you spend in prayer, reading the Bible, serving others, or going for a walk. For every 10 minutes, you move us 1km along the journey! Then each week send Teri a note, text, or phone call saying how far you “traveled” this week. So far we have made it to the Semenic-Cheile Carasului National Park, Romania!
*Children’s Time happens each Sunday morning at 11am on Zoom. If you would like the login details, please contact Teri.
*Young Adults (age 15-25ish) gather for Bible Study (it’s now BYOP – bring your own pizza) at 1pm on Zoom. If you would like login details, please contact Teri.
*Churches across Scotland are calling people to join together in prayer on Sunday evenings at 7pm, placing a lit candle in the window and spending time in prayer for others. Our Sunday evening prayer services will be shared across our “Fuzzy Parish” (now called CONNECT). Tonight’s service will be led by Teri at 7pm on the new Connect Facebook page, and be sure to like / follow it while you’re there!
*Feel free to share this with others, with the attribution information at the top. If you know someone who does not have access to the internet and who also does not receive the tape ministry, you can either print this service out and share it with them, or let Teri know via email or phone call and we will be sure they receive a printed copy.
*Mid-week there is a devotional email, which is also printed and included with the following Sunday’s sermon distribution to those without internet access. You can subscribe to the email here.
*Also mid-week there is a facebook live video devotional or a Virtual Tea Break on the St. John’s Gourock Facebook page.
*We now have a youtube channel! You can subscribe there so you never miss a video. Don’t miss “wine and the word” — an occasional series during the 5pm hour that helps us transition from one part of the day to the next, via reflections similar to those that would normally have been in the “God’s Story, Our Story” take home inserts given out each week.
*If you or a church member you know is in need of friendly phone calls or help with anything while they self-isolate, please contact Teri. Elders are already in contact with people in their districts as well, and you can pass information to them! We are hoping to continue and even deepen our connections to one another, building up the Body of Christ even when we can’t be in the building.
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If you prefer to read rather than worship by video, you can find the script after the second hymn.
Hymn: I Walk By Faith
Prayers, Genesis 12.1-9 (read by Joe Heffernan), and sermon
Hymn 530: One More Step
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Call to Worship
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is with us, wherever we are, whoever we are, whenever we join in worship.
We are together in spirit, and we trust that our voices will mingle with the whole cloud of witnesses, on earth and in heaven.
So come, from your bedroom or your kitchen, your office or your back garden.
Come, early in the morning or late in the evening.
Come, from next door to the manse or halfway around the globe.
Come, full of faith or full of doubt…or feeling empty, or lost.
Together, hearts joined in hope, we worship the God who calls us.
Let us pray.
God, you speak to us, calling us to come with you.
We thank you for the invitation to be your travelling companions.
We are grateful to be in your presence, and as we turn our attention to you this day, we pause…
…in awe at your beauty and the beauty of all you have made…
…in wonder that you, creator, redeemer, and sustainer, would desire to be in relationship with us….
…in praise for your goodness and faithfulness even when we have faltered in our following.
For we confess, Lord, that we would prefer to have a road map before we set out on your way.
We’d like to know exactly where we’re meant to go, how long it will take, and what we can expect along the way and once we arrive.
We’d like some guarantees of safety, and of having a good time.
Can we get travel insurance?
What sort of cancellation policy do you have?
Forgive us, God…we are so used to being in control.
Forgive us for trying to control you, and for trying to lay out our own path and call it yours.
Forgive us for leaning back on our own comfort rather than forward into your kingdom.
Show us again what it means to walk your way, to join your journey, to trust your leading.
In the power of the Holy Spirit we ask your forgiveness and blessing, 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.
Sung Prayer #159 (words: Timothy Dudley-Smith, tune: Lord of the Years by Michael Baughen)
Lord, for ourselves; in living power remake us,
self on the cross and Christ upon the throne;
past put behind us, for the future take us,
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.
Reading: Genesis 12.1-9 (NRSV)
Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’ So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed on by stages towards the Negeb.
Sermon: Pull up the stakes (Postcards of Faith 1)
This summer we are going on a church family holiday — though we can’t physically go away this year, we can still travel spiritually! And we can still tend our physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing along the way. Members of the church have been walking, running, cycling, praying, reading scripture, and serving others to move us along this journey. Adding up every kilometre we’ve moved our bodies, and every ten minutes we’ve spent nurturing our relationship with God and God’s people, we’ve already managed to get ourselves to the border between Hungary and Romania!
I don’t know about you, but whenever I plan to travel to a new place, I like to look things up to see what to expect. So I spent a few minutes looking into what sorts of food we might eat in Romania — cabbage rolls are apparently very popular. I looked at the satellite images and saw a lot of farm fields. I looked at pictures of the architecture of the villages near the border and saw beautiful, colourful, old churches and homes. I looked at photos of the national park that we would be passing through right now if we were walking the journey in person, and marvelled at how much it looked like the Cairngorms. I’ve never been to Romania before, and everything I knew about it really came from watching gymnastics competitions, so it was an interesting place to learn a little bit about!
When God spoke to Abram and Sarai and told them to go on this journey, leaving their country, their birthplace, their family home in order to be a blessing to those they meet, to the community, to the whole world…they didn’t get a chance to google first. They didn’t ask for more information, or for photos of where they were going, they just packed up everything and went.
And we do mean they packed up everything! Clothes, bedding, cooking utensils, work tools, animals, people, and even their tents. They left behind the place they had known their whole lives, and their parents and siblings and cousins, taking only their nephew whose father had died tragically young. Off they went, not really knowing where they were going, or how long it would take, or what it would be like when they arrived.
In every place they went, they would rebuild their home: pitch tents, lay out bedding, set up a kitchen, pasture the animals, and build an altar. And when it was time to move on, they packed it all up again. This week, I learned that the original Hebrew doesn’t say “moved on” but rather literally “pulled up stakes.” They pulled up stakes and went to the next place. It’s a reminder of just how much work we’re talking about for this journey into the unknown: they have to physically and emotionally uproot their home in order to follow where God is leading them. Each time, perhaps they wonder if this is it…they pound the stakes into the ground…and then after a while, pull them up again. That’s what it means to journey on by stages, to put the stakes in, and then take them out. To build a village of tents, and then fold all that canvas again and tie it to a donkey or a camel. To unpack jars and pots, and then carefully roll them in blankets and pack them up so they won’t break along the way. To set up a spinning wheel and loom and make new clothes and bedding and tents, and then put them away again. To set up an altar and meet God there…and then to leave the altar behind as a witness to the encounter between human and divine.
You would definitely learn to live with only the essentials!
I wonder if there is something for us to learn, though many of us have lived in the same place, or even the same house, for years. Not necessarily about our material things, though that always bears thinking about. But today I’m wondering more about our metaphorical journey through this time. We’ve been called out from our comfortable place, and we don’t really know where we are going. We packed up everything and moved into the unknown world of online worship, virtual afternoon tea, and connecting without seeing each other. The “new normal” is still ahead of us and we aren’t sure what it will be like…all we can do is trust that God will show us, just as God promised to show Abram and Sarai their new homeland.
I wonder, though, if when they pulled up the stakes, were they tempted to go back? Were they tempted to go back to where they knew the lay of the land, and the people, and they could re-build their village and resume their old habits and not have to worry about moving on to the next thing?
I know we certainly are tempted that way!
But instead it says they journeyed on, in stages. Pulling up stakes, and pounding them in. Without even the benefit of google to show them what the landscape looked like or what sorts of foods they should try. Every time they set up camp it would have been slightly different than the one before — different landscape means different organisation of tents and pastures and workspaces, perhaps different arrangements inside their sleeping spaces to take advantage of different light or wind. And I suspect every time they pulled up stakes, they decided on something else that didn’t need to make the next stage of the journey — something whose value wasn’t worth the weight or space or effort of bringing it along. Putting down stakes, and pulling them up…on, and on, because God called them forward into something new, and promised that in them and through them, the entire world would be blessed.
In these days when we have left behind the comfortable ways of being church, the familiar routines and rituals, we have had to learn to build altars wherever we are — to encounter God in our homes, or out on a walk, or in phone conversations, or even over the internet. As we journey on by stages, each time we pull up stakes there’ll be temptation to go back, to settle into old familiar ways. But God is showing us something else…if we are traveling light enough to see it and follow. What things are necessary to take with us? What things are weighing us down and making it harder to move? What markers can we leave behind as a witness to the encounter between human and divine?
Abram and Sarai clearly expected to meet God everywhere they went — otherwise, why build an altar in every camp? And they expected God to lead them onward, stage by stage. Otherwise, why pull up the stakes?
If we, too, expect to meet God everywhere we go, and if we expect God to lead us onward, stage by stage, or phase by phase, we might even say, then perhaps we, too, can be confident enough to pull up the stakes. To leave behind some of the things that have served us well in the past but are not necessary to this part of the journey, and find new ways of living and worshipping and witnessing and serving. We don’t know exactly where we’re going, or how long the journey will be. We do know that the reason behind the journey is to become a blessing to others, perhaps even those we will never meet, and we do know that we are not alone. So we must go forward, step by step.
May it be so. Amen.
Faith Begins By Letting Go (words: Carl P Daw, tune: Dix)
Faith begins by letting go,
giving up what had seemed sure,
taking risks and pressing on,
though the way feels less secure:
pilgrimage both right and odd,
trusting all our life to God.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Holy and Gracious God, we come before you with gratitude for your constant presence, for your faithfulness to your promises, and for your trust in us to be bearers of your blessing in the world. We come with thanks for those who have shown us an earthly image of your heavenly fathering, loving us unconditionally, teaching us, picking us up when we fall and setting us back on the right path when we stray. We remember too that some find today painful, as they long to be a parent, as they grieve the loss of a loved one, as they remember more hard days than good ones — and so we are especially grateful for your perfect love for us, in every circumstance of life.
We also come with burdens, to lay them down with you, for you have promised rest to those who are weary and heavy laden. The world feels in disarray, and we cannot carry this alone…and indeed, you call us not to carry it alone but to bring all things to your care.
And so we bring our grief, the tears we have shed and the ones we have held back, for those we have lost…especially during these times when we cannot be together to weep and laugh and hug. May your comfort surround us.
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We bring our fear, for loved ones near and far, for key workers, for jobs on the line, for news that seems to change by the minute. We are practicing courage, O God, but if we’re honest, we could use a rest. May your strength carry us.
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We bring our prayers for those who are ill, in body, mind, or spirit. We ask your healing power to cleanse and restore, to knit together what is wounded and to lift up what is under pressure. We bring before you those who work so hard to be your healing hands, care workers and nurses and doctors, researchers and scientists, kitchen staff and cleaners, volunteers and family members and neighbours. May your grace flow through them.
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We bring our longing for a better world…for justice and peace, for abundant life for all, and for your creation. We lift up those who are working toward justice, even when it is hard and uncomfortable for us. We remember that this planet is still entrusted to our care, and groaning under our weight. We call to mind those who suffer most — those living in poverty, in refugee camps, in the midst of war; those who look or sound different; those who have known violence and hunger and thirst; those we do not want to see. Make us your hands and feet, visible signs of your love for the outcast, the stranger, the marginalised, the poor. May your justice flow down like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
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You call us to walk by your side, into the unknown. You call us to be a blessing through our living. Help us, O God, to trust you enough to follow your way, in our words and in our deeds, today and all days.
We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
Benediction
As you live this resurrection life, preparing to be a witness to Christ’s love and God’s grace, may you build always on a foundation of Love. And remember: the Spirit of God goes above you to watch over you; the Spirit of God goes beside you to be your companion; the Spirit of God goes 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 goes 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 Response (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.
