Sunday service for 4 January 2026

Sunday 4 January 2026, all age service
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143 
Email: TPeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Email Charlene, Parish Assistant: CMitchell (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

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Sanctuary Prelude Music

Welcome

*We Gather As God’s Family (As the Bible is brought in, we stand and sing)
A family gathered in love,
striving for justice and joy,
blessing the broken-hearted,
and sharing the hope of God’s kingdom.

Call to Worship
One: Come with your questions
All: but not with pre-conceived answers.
One: Come looking for the One God sends
All: without deciding in advance who it will be.
One: Come seeking an experience
All: even if its meaning is a mystery.
One: Come and be open to what God will do!

Sanctuary Hymn: Come All You People

Prayer
You send your witnesses, Lord God,
who testify to the wonders they have seen…
and we confess that we aren’t entirely sure we trust them.
We don’t like to take someone’s word for it,
and there’s so much fake news and so many influencers,
on top of advertisements and echo chambers,
that we don’t even know what to believe anymore.
Forgive us when we cannot discern because we insist on our own categories instead of yours.
Forgive us when we will not allow those outside the system to speak your word.
Forgive us when our attention is captured by the wrong thing, so we miss out on what you are doing.
Holy One,
open us to wonder today.
Open us to possibility,
to mystery,
to unexpected grace.
May this time together
gathered around your word,
singing your praise,
seeking your will
bring us into closer communion with you.
As you reveal your purpose here,
turn us to follow your way
whatever you have in store.
Amen.

Online Hymn 465: Be Thou My Vision

Sanctuary Sung Prayer: Hymn 611 Holy Spirit, Fill Our Hearts, verse 1

Holy Spirit, fill our hearts
overflowing with love.
May we shine with the light of God,
come, Spirit, come.

Sanctuary quiz: Who Is It?
(Sandal, megaphone, water, point to the lamb?)

Scripture Reading: John 1.19-34
This is the testimony given by John when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?” He confessed and did not deny it, but he confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” He said,
“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ ”
as the prophet Isaiah said.
Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, “Why, then, are you baptising if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptise with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandal.” This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptising.
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but I came baptising with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptise with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptises with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Chosen One.”

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.

Sanctuary: Re-membering Baptism
*with hymn 636 v. 3 – organ (Bunessan)
Baptised in water,
sealed by the Spirit,
marked with the sign of Christ our king;
born of one Father,
we are his children,
joyfully now God’s praise we sing.

Reflection: Who Are You?

Online Hymn: Take My Life (Resound)

*during the passing out of 2026 words we’ll sing: (CH4 795)
Take O take me as I am;
summon out what I shall be;
set your seal upon my heart
and live in me.

Sanctuary Song: You Are a Star (Fischy video)

Sanctuary Offering – organ

Sanctuary Hymn 465: Be Thou My Vision vv. 1, 2, 4

Concerns of the Church
*Wednesday Bible Study
*Bowl & Blether tomorrow
*Prayer groups

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You are the One who reveals paths that looked impossible,
You are the One who sets us free from what harms us,
You are the One who opens the way of life,
and we give you thanks.
With gratitude we offer our praise
for even when we don’t understand,
you are in our midst.
And because we trust that you are here even when our vision is clouded,
we are bold to bring you our prayers for the living of these days.
As one year turns to another,
we give thanks for your timelessness
that steps into our human time,
bringing eternity down to us, in the flesh.
We ask for bigger vision and broader minds,
that in the year to come we might recognise you more clearly,
and be ready to bear witness to your kingdom breaking in among us.
As one year turns to another,
and so many of us are trying something new yet again,
we hold in our hearts and before you
those who are seeking something they don’t yet know how to name,
those whose longing is unfulfilled,
those who have tried many ways to fill an emptiness and found them all wanting.
May your Word take root in their hearts,
and your love be made real in community,
and your truth be heard in every place.
As one year turns to another
and there’s so much emphasis on being made new,
we hold in our hearts and before you
those who have been made to feel not good enough,
those who see themselves as broken or incomplete or ruined,
those who see others as problems or issues or labels,
those who struggle to recognise your image in every face.
May your glory be revealed in the mirror, and in the neighbour and stranger,
may your love be made real in community,
and your truth heard in every place.
As one year turns to another
we hold in our hearts and before you
those whose tomorrow will be the same as yesterday —
hungry, cold, grieving, overwhelmed,
surrounded by violence or fear,
lonely, worried, scared, lost.
For all whose days are an endless march
of appointments, applications, dashed hopes, and unanswered calls.
May your healing and peace and providing strengthen faint hearts and hands,
may your love be made real in community,
and your truth be heard in every place.
On the 4th day of the month we join our hearts as your St John’s family to pray:
*For the churches of CONNECT: St John’s, Old Gourock & Ashton and St Ninian’s, the Lyle Kirk and St Margaret’s, and Westburn.
*For the many volunteers who keep St John’s ministry vibrant: the flower team, Bowl & Blether volunteers, sound and powerpoint volunteers, those who count the offering, and so many others.
*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Austria.

Your Word made flesh changes things, O God —
give us the courage to be changed,
and to follow where you lead.
We ask in the name of the One who is indeed 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 530: One More Step (praise band)

Sending
Go out from this place to live as God’s beloved people, set free by Christ, following the Spirit’s lead.
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 (organ)

Announcements

* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and Sunday worship is also online. 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 first Sunday of the month at 11am is an all-age service, with different ways of encountering God’s word without a traditional sermon. All people — young and old, different personalities and learning styles, are welcome! You’ll find a more informal service with a variety of music, a Bible story, prayer, and some more interactive elements. The online service for the first Sunday will therefore also be different — there will still be a reading, prayers, and music, but usually not a sermon.

* Starter Packs are in need of Shaving Foam, Shampoo, Soap, Hand Wash. 
The FoodBank are short of everything except pasta, so anything you can donate will be gratefully received!
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* Bowl & Blether is on the first and third Mondays through the winter, with doors open from 11:30-1:30, and lunch served from noon. All are welcome for a bowl of soup, a toastie, a friendly chat in our warm hall! See you tomorrow, 5th of January!

* The Contact Group meets on the 13th of January when Teri will be the speaker. The syllabus of events is available from Fiona Webster or Anne Armour. The syllabus donation of £5 will go towards our charity fundraising.

* Wednesday Evening Bible Study resumes Wednesday 7 January at 7:30pm in the manse.

* Free period products are available in the church toilets for anyone who might need them, thanks to Hey Girls and Inverclyde Council.

* Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £3000 per week and we are currently running about £500 short? 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. 
It is also possible to donate to the work of the parish assistant, speak to Anne Love about how to go about directing new donations to that item in the budget.

* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email newsletter! 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.