Sunday service for 8 November 2020: Remembrance Sunday

8 November 2020
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri C Peterson
Gourock St John’s Church of Scotland
Contact: tpeterson at churchofscotland dot org dot uk

Though we cannot yet be together in person, we can be together in spirit! Please note the following announcements:

* We have received permission from Clyde Presbytery to open our church buildings on a limited basis. Youth organisations will have access to the large hall beginning tomorrow. Sunday services will begin next week. Click here to learn more and see how to book a place for worship. If you are able to volunteer to help with door duty / stewarding on a Sunday, or with cleaning the sanctuary on a Thursday, please contact Anne Love.

* Coffee Fellowship Time will be on Zoom at 11:45.

* An act of remembrance led by all the Gourock Clergy will be online on Wednesday, 11 November.

* 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!

* Children’s Time happens each Sunday morning at 11am on Zoom. If you would like the login details, please contact Teri. 

* The Young Adult Bible Study (BYOPizza) meets today via Zoom at 1pm, reading chapter 6 of the Book of Revelation! If you’re aged 15-25 and would like the 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 CONNECT. Tonight’s service will be led by Karen, beginning at 6:57pm on the 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.

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Processional w/piper (Highland Cathedral) & colours

Call to Worship
Some days, we hear God’s call and we answer faithfully.
Some days, we would rather run and hide.
Some days, we hear God’s call and we wish it was for somebody else.
Some days, we wonder if God misspoke.
Wherever you are today, whatever the state of your spirit,
come to encounter the living God,
who calls us into transformative Holy relationship.
Let us worship God together.

Let us pray.
God, you do not confine yourself to one place or one people.
You are the God of heaven, earth, and sea,
and your care extends beyond our boundaries.
We thank you for your compassion,
and we pray for the grace to hear and respond to your call to new life.
May your word enter our hearts and bear fruit in our lives,
immediately and forever.
For you are merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love.
Holy God, you call us to lay aside our ways of destruction, selfishness, and violence.
You long for our repentance, for us to turn around and face a new direction.
We confess that we do not know how to change our ways.
We are so enmeshed in systems of injustice, we cannot envision a different world.
And if we are completely honest,
we don’t always want something different for “them”, only for us.
We confess that we find it easy to say we are sorry and we want your way,
but we find it difficult to put our repentance into action,
especially if we can’t see immediate benefit for ourselves.
Yet you insist on the value of all people and all creation,
so you continue to call us to transformation.
Forgive us, God.
You know our faults and our failings, our desires and our disconnects.
Forgive us and turn not only our hearts but also our everyday lives to your way of grace,
and help us to trust your vision for the world.
We pray 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.

God’s compassion is for all, even for “them” and even for you. Now let that compassion fill you and overflow into your life, that you may live as Christ’s holy people, forgiven, loved, and free. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Reading: Matthew 5.1-16 (NRSV)
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.
‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Poem: The Dead by Rupert Brooke
These hearts were woven of human joys and cares,
Washed marvellously with sorrow, swift to mirth.
The years had given them kindness. Dawn was theirs,
And sunset, and the colours of the earth.
These had seen movement, and heard music; known
Slumber and waking; loved; gone proudly friended;
Felt the quick stir of wonder; sat alone;
Touched flowers and furs and cheeks. All this is ended.

There are waters blown by changing winds to laughter
And lit by the rich skies, all day. And after,
Frost, with a gesture, stays the waves that dance
And wandering loveliness. He leaves a white
Unbroken glory, a gathered radiance,
A width, a shining peace, under the night.

Piper: Lament

Call to Remembrance / The Tryst
Today we remember the colourful, frail and human lives
cut down in time of War
especially those known to us
and loved by us.
Let us ask for God’s blessings
that we might work for peace,
pray in Hope
and be the reconciling presence
which this world
and every home and community
so desperately needs.
With one minute we look back
in sorrow and gratitude
and with the second we look forward
dedicating ourselves to God’s future of peace,
and in so doing we hallow this space
to remember and to give thanks
and to honour those whose ultimate price
contributed to the freedoms we claim as ours today.

“They shall grow not old,
As we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them,
Nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun,
And in the morning,
We will remember them.”

Last Post

Two Minutes Silence

Reveille

Poem: In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Wreaths laid

Prayer (from Common Order, for Remembrance Day)
Let us pray.

God of power and love,
bless our country and commonwealth.

Give wisdom and strength to the Queen,
govern those who make the laws,
guide those who direct our common life,
and grant that together we may fulfil our service
for the welfare of the whole people
and for your praise and glory.

Bless all members of the armed forces.
Defend them in danger.
Give them courage to meet all occasions with discipline and loyalty.
So may they serve the cause of justice and peace,
to the honour of your name.

Bless our young people.
May they never see the flames of war,
or know the depths of cruelty to which men and women can sink.
Grant that in their generation they may be
faithful soldiers and servants of Jesus Christ.

Bless our friends and those who were our enemies,
who suffered or are still suffering from war.
Grant that your love may reach out
to the wounded, the disabled, the mentally distressed,
and those whose faith has been shaken
by what they have seen and endured.

Comfort all who mourn the death of loved ones,
and all who this day miss the comradeship of friends.

Bless those who are homeless,
those who are refugees,
those who are hungry,
those who have lost their livelihood or security.
Help us to pledge ourselves to comfort, support, and encourage others,
that all may live in a world
where evil and poverty are done away
and where human life reflects the radiance of your kingdom.
Bless those in authority in every land,
and give them wisdom to know and courage to do what is right.

Encourage those who work for peace,
who strive to improve international relations,
who seek new ways of reconciling people
of different race, colour, and creed.

Bless your Church throughout the world.
By your Holy Spirit,
draw the scattered flock of Christ into a visible unity,
and make your Church a sign of hope to our divided world.
Grant that we who bear your Son’s name
may be instruments of your peace,
bringing peace to our homes, our nation, and our world.

And now, rejoicing in the communion of saints,
we remember those whom you have gathered
from the storm of war into the peace of your presence,
and give you thanks for those whom we have known,
whose memory we treasure.

May the example of their devotion inspire us,
that we may be taught to live by those who learned to die.

And at the last, grant that we, being faithful till death,
may receive with them the crown of life that never fades;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Benediction
As you go forth, carrying the light of memory and the commitment to peace, 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.

Recessional – piper