Sunday service for 13 October 2024

Sunday 13 October 2024
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Teri Manse: 632143 
Email Teri: TPeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Email Charlene, Parish Assistant: CMitchell (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

Prelude Music (praise band)

Welcome & Announcements

*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, and bring your whole self.
All: We bring all our bits and pieces —
thoughts and intentions, hopes and tears, missed opportunities and joyful delights.
One: Come before God, just as you are.
All: Un-edited, uncertain, unfinished —
we come even though we are a work in progress.
One: Into God’s presence, trusting God’s love —
All: We come, hearts open
to pour out what we carry and to receive true good news.

Sanctuary Hymn 43: O God, You Are My God Alone (Psalm 63)

Prayer
Holy God, sometimes we’re honestly kind of a mess.
We hear your call to be perfect as you’re perfect,
so we put on a good front, but underneath we’re falling apart.
We know that your perfect love casts out fear,
but we feel guilty that we’re still anxious so we tone it down and just ask for a little help.
We see the wonders of your world and we don’t want to seem ungrateful or selfish
so we do our best to reframe
which is the nice way to say “squash and hide and hope you’ll look somewhere else”…
anywhere else except at what we don’t want you to see, because we don’t want to look.
Forgive us, God, for trying to hide ourselves from you.
Forgive us, too, for hiding from ourselves and from our family of faith.
Forgive us for the ways our hiding the mess comes out sideways
in unequal love, in harsh words, in un-empathetic quick-fixes,
in broken relationship and judgmental glare.
Forgive us, Living Love, and heal us from the inside out,
from the messiest hidden place out into our everyday life in community,
from the parts we can’t love out into the world you so love.
God who chooses to lift up,
chooses to give and take away,
chooses to turn things around,
give us a blessing today:
the blessing of attention
the blessing of letting go control,
the blessing of trust.
Hear us, O God, and may we hear you, too,
in the good and the hard,
the upside down,
and the impossible possibility.
We ask in the name of the One who knows the fullness of human life,
and yet looks on us with grace:
Jesus the Christ.
Amen.

Online Hymn 43: O God, You Are My God Alone (Psalm 63)

Sanctuary Children’s Time

Sanctuary Song: Bring It All To Me (Fischy)

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 1.1-18 (Robert Alter translation)
There was a man from Ramathaim in the high country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah son of Jeroham son of Elihu son of Tohu son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah had children but Hannah had no children. And this man would go up from his own town year after year to worship and to sacrifice to the Lord at Shiloh, where the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas, were priests. And when the day came round, Elkanah would sacrifice and give portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters. And to Hannah he would give one double portion, for Hannah he loved, and the Lord had closed her womb. And her rival would torment her sorely so as to provoke her because the Lord had closed up her womb. And thus was it done year after year — when she would go up to the house of the Lord, the other would torment her and she would weep and would not eat.

And Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart afflicted? Am I not better to you than ten sons?” And Hannah arose after the eating in Shiloh and after the drinking, while Eli the priest was sitting in a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s temple. And she was deeply embittered, and she prayed to the Lord, weeping all the while. And she vowed a vow and said, “Lord, if you really will look on your servant’s woe and remember me, and forget not your servant and give your servant a male child, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, no razor shall touch his head.” And it happened as she went on with her prayer before the Lord, with Eli watching her mouth, as Hannah was speaking in her heart, her lips alone moving and her voice not heard, Eli thought she was drunk. And Eli said to her, “How long will you go on drunk? Rid yourself of your wine!” And Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord! A bleak-spirited woman and I. Neither wine nor strong drink have I drunk, but I have poured out my heart to the Lord. Think not your servant a worthless girl, for out of my great trouble and torment I have spoken until now.” And Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition which you asked of him.” And she said, “May your servant find favour in your eyes.” And the woman went on her way, and she ate, and her face was no longer downcast.

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.

Reflection
Have you ever thought “no one understands”? That’s where Hannah was at in her life. As a woman in her culture and time, she had one job, and she couldn’t do it. And so she was adrift…no purpose in life. No connections to the rest of the family. No sense of legacy or belonging to something greater, because when she was gone, there’d be no one to carry her in their memory. For all her good life in a well-off household, and for all that her husband loved her and tried his best, for Hannah there was no way around the fact that she was worthless, isolated, and being bullied on top of that.

Hannah’s husband tried his best. He loved her more than anyone else — even though his having a favourite just made everything worse. Everyone knew he loved her more, which made bullying her super easy. But he still tried. She cried on his shoulder, he sat beside her as she lamented. He tried to make it better by giving her extra at the feast even though she technically was only entitled to one, but all that did was highlight that there wa no one for her to share it with, so she pushed the food around but didn’t eat any of it, just sniffled her way through the dinner while everyone else tried to be cheery.

Elkanah didn’t understand. How could he? He already had children. He had a legacy, a connection, a purpose. She had nothing, and no matter what he did or said, he couldn’t change that. He didn’t understand, so he tried to brush it away: Don’t you love me as much as I love you? Can I be enough for you? Though of course he would never have said she was enough for him….he had other family to fill that gap. Which made the chasm feel all the wider.

When no one listens or understands, it’s easy to start to feel like maybe something is wrong with you, you’re the one who’s crazy, you’re the problem.

Finally Hannah got up from that torturous dinner table and went into the temple, and spoke to the only One who could understand. She was a wreck. Ugly cry and all, with no voice, she just threw herself down on the ground and mouthed the words of her desperation and sadness. She brought it all, the whole mess, and poured it out to God. She didn’t pretend it was okay, she didn’t dress it up in nice words, she was 100% real: anger, frustration, despair, loneliness, purposeless-ness, disconnection, loss, dashed hopes, and desperate dreams.

Eli, the priest, had no idea what he was looking at. He didn’t understand. How could he? And out of his non-understanding, he scolded Hannah.

Having been speaking so urgently and so truthfully to God, Hannah did the only thing she could after that: she spoke urgently and truthfully to Eli too. She found her voice and stood up for herself: I’ve been pouring my heart out to God, don’t you dare think ill of me! Prayer is the only thing I can do because every other human being doesn’t get it. No one understands…but God listens. God hears. God cares even though I haven’t even got words for it all.

And Eli, to his credit — this is his one good moment really — added his “may it be so” to her prayer that he trusted God to hear even if he didn’t.

Hannah got up, and wiped her face, and went back to the table and joined the feast. She ate and drank and her heart was light.

She didn’t get an answer to her prayer. There was no pronouncement that at this time next year, she’d have a son, no promise for her to look forward to, nothing at all. She had spoken silently, and God had listened in silence. But the act of praying, of pouring her whole heart, of being 100% real and honest…something about that prayer changed Hannah, even before it changed her situation.

She brought her burden to God…and she left it with him. And it changed her.

That can happen for us too — it doesn’t have to be a last resort, it could be our first! When we pray, it changes us. Being real with God, even when we are a mess, even when we’re pretending not to be a mess, even when we feel all alone and no one understands, even when we have absolutely no idea what to do…being real with God will bring us lighter hearts even before the situation itself is changed. We can trust God to take the burden…if we will bring it and leave it with God, we can have peace that will carry us through.

God is not just one who makes promises, God keeps them. And one of those is “I am with you always.” Always listening, always helping, always transforming, always healing, always making a way where there seems to be no way, always shining a light, always with us, for us, here.

Hymn GWA146: WayMaker (praise band)

Scripture reading: 1 Samuel 1.19-20, 2.1-10 (New Revised Standard Version)
They rose early in the morning and bowed before the Lord and returned and came to their home in Ramah. And Elkanah knew Hannah his wife and the Lord remembered her. And it happened at the turn of the year that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, “For from the Lord I asked for him.”

When the boy was weaned she took him up to the house of the Lord at Shiloh, with an offering.

And Hannah prayed and she said:
‘My heart exults in the Lord;
   my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies,
   because I rejoice in my victory. 
‘There is no Holy One like the Lord,
   no one besides you;
   there is no Rock like our God. 
Talk no more so very proudly,
   let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
   and by him actions are weighed. 
The bows of the mighty are broken,
   but the feeble gird on strength. 
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
   but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
   but she who has many children is forlorn. 
The Lord kills and brings to life;
   he brings down to Sheol and raises up. 
The Lord makes poor and makes rich;
   he brings low, he also exalts. 
He raises up the poor from the dust;
   he lifts the needy from the ash heap,
to make them sit with princes
   and inherit a seat of honour.
For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s,
   and on them he has set the world. 
‘He will guard the feet of his faithful ones,
   but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;
   for not by might does one prevail. 
The Lord! His adversaries shall be shattered;
   the Most High will thunder in heaven.
The Lord will judge the ends of the earth;
   he will give strength to his king,
   and exalt the power of his anointed.’

Reflection
What a different prayer, when Hannah came back to the sanctuary again, with her toddler-son in tow. This time, her prayer is not distress and angst and tearful frustration. This time, her prayer is an affirmation of faith, a song of joy at what God has done…and what God has done is not just care for her, but care for the whole people, the whole world. Where before it was only God who could hear her and understand, now she adds that it is only God who can — AND DOES — take care of everyone.

And that’s “take care of” both in the sense of compassionately listening and helping those in distress, and also “take care of” in a little bit more mafia sense, bringing down the bullies who make others’ lives miserable, the rich who don’t notice that their wealth comes at the expense of their neighbours, the powerful who care more about their position than about serving the common good. Meanwhile, the poor are raised up to sit with the royalty, ensuring no one goes hungry because those who used to be insulated from reality now share their table.

What might happen when this part of God’s kingdom comes to fruition? When the poor are lifted up to sit at table with princes, when the seat of honour goes to those who don’t even know which of the million forks to use?

In a moment we’re going to hear Alison sing a setting of Psalm 23 and there’s a line that kept ringing in my mind when I was reading Hannah’s prayer — “thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” I always think that’s such a strange thought in the middle of a beautiful image. But perhaps this prayer of Hannah’s gives us a little insight — imagine the poorest of the poor, the needy, the grieving, sitting at the table with the royal family and their friends. It isn’t clear who would think the other was the enemy, honestly. But when the table is prepared and both take a place, their cups filled and lifted in a toast, I think that is the moment when God’s adversaries would start to shatter. Because those who stand against God and God’s kingdom are those who demand separation, class structure, keeping the differences between us as a chasm we can’t cross. God’s kingdom brings people together from all walks of life…and when that actually happens, frankly God’s adversaries don’t stand a chance. Their whole system of superiority and inferiority, of have and have-not, of human-made rules that protect the powerful, is revealed as a house of cards, and it falls apart when we refuse to be divided. When we insist on coming together in love and justice, turning the systems upside down, then God’s kingdom becomes visible. The very kingdom Hannah declared has not only come to change her life, but the life of the world.

And it all started with her pouring out her heart, trusting God’s presence, and finding God’s power.

Waymaker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness: that is who God is. We can trust that God is here, moving in our hearts and lives, showing us how to play our part in God’s purpose of turning the world upside down and making God’s kingdom visible, even in our days.

May it be so. Amen.

Offering: Special Music: The Lord is My Shepherd

Offering Response: The Doxology (tune: Old Hundredth)

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
We come into your gracious presence, O God,
grateful that you hear us when we call out to you,
grateful that with you, change is possible.
And so we bring our prayers that you would
lift up those who are downtrodden —
fill the hungry with good things,
hear the voice of the silenced,
comfort the afflicted,
heal the sick,
wipe away the tears of the grieving,
raise up those the world has pushed aside.
~silence~
And we bring our prayers too that you would
lay low the plans of the greedy,
thwart the will of the war-monger,
bring down those who use power to oppress and harm,
change the hearts of those who think this doesn’t apply to them.
~silence~
Set your kingdom in motion, O God —
your vision of community and equity,
of gracious friendship and merciful compassion,
of justice that builds a foundation for peace.
We desperately long for your will to be done on earth as in heaven —
make us desperate as well to put our energy and resources to work for your abundant life
for all, not just for some.
All that is and all that will be rests in your hands, O God,
and we trust you will hear us and respond,
change the world and change our lives
to better reflect your glory in the world.
In the name of the One who was lifted up so all might be raised to new life, 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 GWA27: My Soul Rejoices in the Lord (words: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette based on 1 Samuel 2, tune: Seven Joys of Mary)

Benediction
Beloved, made in God’s image, go from this time of honest worship to live an honest life: to listen and love, trusting in the God who hears us, Christ who knows us, and the Spirit who breathes love into us. 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.

Postlude Music

Announcements

* Starter Packs are in need of soap, shampoo, Kitchen Towel, Cleaning Cloths
The FoodBank are in need of bottles of squash, tinned fruit, tinned ham, tinned soup, biscuits, ladies & gents toiletries. You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* Charlene, our parish assistant, will be available for “Conversation Corner” (Vestry Hour) in the Vestry every Wednesday this month from 12:30-1:30-ish pm. Feel free to stop by for a chat, a pastoral conversation, or anything else on your mind! Please use the St John’s Road door, and ring the bell if it’s locked, she’ll come to let you in!

* Wednesday Evening Bible Study is in the manse at 7:30pm each week, and we are currently studying the book of Jonah.

* 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 Sunday evening service is TONIGHT and on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month. We’ll have toasties and sandwiches together from 5:30 and the service will start at the back of 6. All are welcome for this simple meal and time of worship. The Sunday evening service is informal and reflective, with guitar-based music, Bible readings, and prayer for our parish. Come along and discover practical ways to apply the word to your life, in a chilled vibe that fosters connection and reflection.

* The first Sunday of the month at 11am is now 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.

* Bowl and Blether is Monday 21 October, and on the first and third Mondays of each month through the winter. Doors open at 11:30am, soup and toasties are served from noon – 1:30. All are welcome to join us for lunch and a chat in our cozy warm hall. Volunteers are also needed and welcome, please speak to Teri or Charlene if you’d like to volunteer for set up, toastie-making, serving, or clean up. 

* The Contact Group meets on Tuesday 22 October at 2pm we will welcome Janice McAvoy to talk about Calum’s Cabins. Our Syllabus of Events is available for £5.

* Come along to OGA on the Sunday 27 October at 2:30pm to learn some of the songs from the new hymnbook God Welcomes All. No experience required, just a desire to sing or to listen to others sing and make a joyful noise to the Lord!

* The Kirk Session will meet on Monday, 28^th October, at 7.30pm.

* We are excited to host a Resound Worship concert on Thursday 7 November at 7:30pm! We’ll also have an opportunity for a meet-n-greet with the band, when we can hear more about their music and also their charity that their proceeds support, at 6:30pm. You can register online for free to help us plan for chairs and catering, and then entry is by donation at the door.

* Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £3000 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. 
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 new item in the budget.

* 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!

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