Sunday service for 7 December 2025, Second Sunday of Advent
Sunday 7 December 2025, Advent 2
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse Phone: 632143
Email: TPeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Email Charlene, Parish Assistant: CMitchell (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Sanctuary Prelude Music (praise band)
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.
Lighting the Advent Candle
One: God says: look at the world.
All: Eyes wide open, don’t turn away.
One: God asks: do you see life? A future? Hope?
All: All we see is that God alone knows.
One: God commands: speak into the shadow of death.
All: Through the word, light and life come.
~candle~
Online Hymn: O Come Divine Messiah
Sanctuary Hymn 279: Make Way, Make Way (organ)
Prayer
O Lord God,
our breath fails,
our spirits falter,
we long for something we don’t even know how to name.
We don’t know what’s possible,
if anything…
but we trust that you are coming.
In yearning that can’t wait,
in uncertainty that feels like grief,
in anticipation that barely dares to hope,
we look for you.
For Lord God, you know.
We admit that we don’t know — though we often pretend we do.
We like to project an image of certainty,
and to look down on those who doubt.
We confess that in our pretending,
there’s only the smallest space available for you
to do something unexpected,
something outside our frame of reference.
Forgive us when we limit you to our possibilities.
Forgive us when we close the door and remain on our own in the shadow of death.
When our spirits are so dry it seems there’s no point even trying,
enliven us again with your word
bringing light and life even in the most hopeless of places.
We ask in the name of the coming One who is Life,
Jesus the Christ.
Amen.
Hear this good news: whatever your situation today, this is not the end of the story. God’s word brings light and life to all — even to the ends of the earth. Know God’s promise of abundant life is for you, and be at peace. Amen.
Online Hymn: 303 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
Sanctuary Hymn: Take it Easy (praise band)
Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 37.1-14
Last week we heard from the prophet Daniel about three Israelite young men who worked for the Babylonian king but were targeted for refusing to bow down to a statue — they were thrown into the fiery furnace, but were saved by God, and they came out of the fire not harmed at all and not even smelling of smoke! Today we hear from another prophet who lived in Babylon during the exile, the prophet Ezekiel. He too was exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon as a young man, but he had been a priest in the Temple. God not only spoke to him, God also showed him visions and even spiritually took him places to show him things that he was to then tell the Israelites who were waiting and waiting for God to save them. Today we hear about one of these vision-travels, in Ezekiel chapter 37. I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you and will cause flesh to come upon you and cover you with skin and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
So I prophesied as I had been commanded, and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them, but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people, and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”
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 Hymn: O Come, O Come Emmanuel (updated words by Maren Tirabassi; tune 273 Veni Emmanuel) (organ)
Online Reflection (Sanctuary shortened and includes sacrament of baptism) : Hope is Contagious
I think it’s so weird that God asks Ezekiel this question: can the bones live? Because surely God knows that Ezekiel knows that obviously the dried out piles of bones are well past any possibility of healing in this life. What a question: can the dead come back to life? Can the story that is not just finished but so far done that it’s gathering dust and no longer even remembered by the living be re-started?
And yet Ezekiel then gave an answer I wouldn’t have expected. He didn’t say no, which was the most obvious answer from a human perspective. But he also didn’t say “anything is possible for you, O God” which you might have expected from someone who had experienced God doing other strange things. Instead he basically said “I don’t know but you do”…which I often read with a little subtext of “why are you asking little old me, when you’re the all-knowing creator of the universe?”
I think it was brave of Ezekiel to say to God “I don’t know.” I think we often believe we have to know…and saying we don’t know something feels scary, feels like we’re letting someone down. The trouble is that if we believe, either consciously or subconsciously, that it’s not okay to not know, then we make a sort of prison of what we do know. Or what we think we know. Or what we are pretending to know. Or what someone else has said and we’ve just taken as truth without checking. It’s easy to find ourselves trapped in our own understanding if we aren’t allowed to say “I don’t know” and ultimately we end up with a smaller and smaller view of the world, and a smaller and smaller God.
But if we admit we don’t know, then actually we make space for God to do something completely unexpected. Which is what happened to Ezekiel.
He said he didn’t know…and God told him to go and talk to the old dried up bones.
It’s almost like God said “you don’t know, but I do…and I want you to learn by doing.” We all know that one of the best ways to learn is by teaching others, and that’s what Ezekiel has to do. He has to summon up some trust that God isn’t just talking nonsense, and go stand in front of bones scattered all around and speak to them.
He must have felt ridiculous. But from somewhere deep inside, he found just enough courage to speak a word of hope into a situation that was well beyond any hope. And from that tiny spark, the rattling began, the bodies were knit together, the wind blew, and the whole people stood on their feet, and they lived again.
And once he had done that…God sent him to do it again, this time to the living people who felt as if their hope was as dry as those bones, whose eyes were so clouded with grief they couldn’t see a single glimmer of light, who thought they might as well lay down in the grave now because there was nothing to live for. In the hardest of times, God said: speak the truth that seems impossible — that this hard time is not the end of the story. God has more in mind, and the breath of God is coming from the four winds carrying life!
It might feel impossible. It might feel like the worst of times. It might feel like we have been waiting forever and there’s no point carrying on. It might feel like the end is near. It might feel like the world is falling apart around us. It certainly felt like that for Ezekiel, and for the people who waited and waited for God to do something…anything.
Advent is a time of waiting….a time of walking in the shadows, the days seeming to be so dark, the nights long. We want God to do something but we don’t know what that could even be…
And into that darkness, God asks us to imagine something impossible.
When we are humble enough to say “I don’t know,” God will show us…and give us the words to speak. The impossible words about the impossible thing, that we will feel ridiculous saying. Words like “this is not the end.” Words like “the best days are still ahead of us.” Words of life, and light, and hope. And all we have to do is be willing to be ridiculous, to speak those words and God will do the rest. Even that tiniest glimmer of hope is contagious…it will spread, the breath will come, life will rise. And then we will know that we are God’s people, and God’s not finished with us, because he is the God of new life — abundant life, life that is the light of all people.
May it be so. Amen.
Online Hymn: Sharing God’s Christmas Light
Sanctuary Offering (Praise band: Lauren Daigle Light of the World) and Sung Response: Hymn 324 v.5 (organ)
All creation, join in praising
God the Father, Spirit, Son,
evermore your voices raising
to the eternal Three in One:
Come and worship
Christ, the new-born King.
Come and worship,
worship Christ, the new-born King.
Concerns of the Church
*choir rehearsal
*Wednesday Bible Study
*Christmas Post — bring cards until 14 December, 50p
*GSCT carol service TODAY
*Christmas Lunch and Gifts
*Communion next week
*Prayer groups
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You put your Spirit within us, O God, and by your word we live.
We give you thanks for your breath that gives us life,
for your promise that holds our hope,
and for your calling that gives us a part to play in your kingdom work.
As we wait to see your fullness revealed,
draw us together with the whole multitude of your people
and help us to know, deep in our bones,
your goodness and power that lead to abundance for all.
Today we lift up to you those who need your peace —
those who feel as if their bones have dried up,
who have lost hope,
longing for what seems impossible;
…
those grieving loved ones,
lost possibility or opportunity,
change;
…
those living in the midst of violence,
oppression,
or fear,
wondering if this is the best we can do;
…
those who are isolated or disconnected,
suffering from the breakdown of the connective tissue of our society,
longing to be seen and known.
…
On the 7th day of the month we join our hearts as your St John’s family to pray
*For your Church worldwide, that your people may be the Body of Christ in every place; and especially for those places where Christians live in fear or under oppression or persecution.
*For those who use the building at St John’s — may they encounter your grace in our hospitality — and for the volunteers who keep the building clean and in good repair.
*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, and Kosovo.
Blow in from the four winds,
send your gifts from north and south, east and west,
and bring your new world to birth,
knitted together in community that works for good.
Open us to receive what you send us,
and strengthen us to hold fast to the sliver of light.
Make us ready to move from merely believing your word
to speaking it and putting it into action,
sharing what we see and know, our trust and hope,
for the building up of your Body.
We pray these and all things in the name of your Son who is coming into the world,
who lives, even now: 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 315: Once in Royal David’s City (organ)
Benediction
Though we can never know the fullness of God’s vision…Trust is contagious. Hope is contagious. Peace is contagious. Light spreads. Go from having seen what God can do to share with a world desperate for a glimmer of good news.
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.
* Every Sunday there is a beautiful flower arrangement in the sanctuary, which is then taken from worship to someone in our church family as a message of our care and love. The flowers are funded entirely by donations specifically to the flower fund. If you would like to donate flowers — perhaps in memory of someone, or in celebration of something in your life, or just as a gift to our worshipping community and our church family, please mark your donations for the flower fund. Thank you for beautifying our worship and extending that beauty to others.
* Starter Packs are in need of Shaving Foam, Shampoo, Soap, Hand Wash. Also in preparation for Christmas they are collecting hats, scarves and gloves for children and adults, selection boxes, chocolates and biscuits.
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 on the 15th of December!
* The Contact Group meets on Tuesday the 16th of December for carols and readings. The syllabus of events is available from Fiona Webster or Anne Armour. The syllabus donation of £5 will go towards our charity fundraising.
* This afternoon at 4pm, Gourock Schools and Churches Together is hosting our annual community carol service in OGA. All our local schools will be performing, plus we’ll be singing many favourite carols. There will be a retiring offering for the foodbank as well. All are welcome — there’s plenty of space so come one, come all!
* Our Youth Organisations will again be delivering your Christmas post — bring your cards by the 14th of December, and get them delivered around Gourock and the west end of Greenock for just 50p per card! All proceeds go to support youth work in St John’s.
* We are partnering with the new charity Quinto Community to host a Christmas Lunch in the church hall — if you or anyone you know is on their own this Christmas and would prefer to share a meal with others, please do book in! We’d love to have you. For more information and to book your place please phone Dee at 01475 305035.
* 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.
* Wednesday Evening Bible Study is at 7:30pm in the Manse and we are reading Luke!
* Free period products are available in the church toilets for anyone who might need them, thanks to Hey Girls and Inverclyde Council.
Sunday service for 10 December 2023, second Sunday of Advent
Sunday 10 December 2023 — NL2-14, Advent 2
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
Email Rob, student minister: RThomson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Prelude Music (praise band)
*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.
Welcome & Announcements
Call to Worship
One: In the wilderness, where it’s hard to find our way,
All: God is coming.
One: On the mountaintop, where we shout and hope to be heard,
All: God is coming.
One: In the valley, where shadows threaten to overtake us,
All: God is coming.
One: God’s glory shall be revealed,
All: and all people will see it together.
Sanctuary Hymn 279: Make Way, Make Way
Online Hymn: Light of the World
Lighting the Advent Candle
One: Look at the world —
All: But it feels like endless bad news
hate / climate catastrophe / inequality / war / disaster / hunger
One: Look at the world —
All: The world is weary.
*All sing: (hymn 303 it came upon the midnight clear v3)
But with the woes of sin and strife
the world has suffered long;
beneath the angels’ hymn have rolled
two thousand years of wrong;
and warring humankind hears not
the love-song which they bring;
oh, hush the noise and still the strife
to hear the angels sing.
One: Hush the noise.
Look closely.
You may have to
squint.
You may have to
peer
into the shadows.
But when you do…
~Candle is lit~
compassion / reaching out / new life / prayer / reconciliation / helpers
One: Look at the world —
All: The world God so loves
One: This is where the Messiah comes
not some faraway galaxy
not waiting for a perfect world
not a safe, sanitised, rose-tinted past
not where there’s plenty of room and plenty of time.
Here.
All: A thrill of hope: Emmanuel, God with us.
*Hymn 273, two verses: O Come O Come Emmanuel
O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel,
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
O come, Desire of Nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind;
bid envy, strife, and discord cease,
fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
Prayer
Let’s come before the Lord in prayer.
Gracious, merciful and loving God,
We come before you today with humble hearts,
With empty hands, in awe of the vastness of your love
In the stillness of this moment, we come to confess.
We confess that hope itself sometimes seems like a fool’s gambit.
The world is so dark and so harsh, unfairness seems like the standard,
Justice seems like a theory; we rarely see in practice.
Insanity seems to have taken over the hearts of people the world over, men and women not so different from us, think they can make themselves safe by killing each other.
Time and time again we try to do things our way, we look for comfort in the damp and mouldy blanket of our own strength. We allow bitterness to cloud our trust in your plan for justice and renewal and we seek vengeance.
We are so busy drowning, we resent the intrusion, when you offer us the lifejacket of your Gospel. We lose sight of you in the storm of our own anxiety.
And so, we are thankful that you are the One, the One who keeps His promises,
The true and living God who demonstrates His trustworthiness through action, through mercy. Who calms the storms and commands the waves.
As we seek your truth in the words of your prophet today help us to prepare our hearts today.
Prepare our hearts, to seek comfort not in our own works but be glad in the knowledge that you will provide for our needs, even amid our distress.
Prepare our hearts, to be grateful in the assurance of salvation, despite our flaws and shortcomings, sure in the knowledge that you have adopted us as your children and will not let us go.
Prepare our hearts, to be sure in the knowledge that those who have gone on ahead of us are safe in your company, dancing in the presence of the maker of all things.
Prepare our hearts, to worship the One who is Lord so that we don’t have to be, to whom vengeance belongs, to who mercy is preferable, who can be trusted to be just.
We ask this as always, in the wonderful name of Jesus.
Amen
Sanctuary Hymn: All the Earth Was Waiting (Resound….Praise Band)
Sanctuary Children’s Time
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40.1-11 (New Revised Standard Version)
The reading today is from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 40. Isaiah is speaking to people who have been in exile for more than 50 years already, who have grieved the loss of their homeland, their Temple, their way of life. They have raised families in a foreign land, all while trying to keep alive their connection to God, even though they could no longer worship according to their traditions. It has been a difficult few generations, in which they had lived through war, displacement, learning a new nation and language, a new political and economic system. For decades they’d been going back and forth between wondering if they could ever go home or if they should just fully integrate into the society where they had been sent to live. After all this time, the word of God came through the prophet Isaiah:
~~~
Comfort, O comfort my people,
says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and cry to her
that she has served her term,
that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
double for all her sins.
A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”
A voice says, “Cry out!”
And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All flesh is grass;
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers; the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers; the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good news;
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother sheep.
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: Practice Peace
This is a passage that always brings up such good feelings — I think because it starts with the word “comfort” and ends with God carrying the lambs in his arms, and because of course it brings to mind Handel’s Messiah. How could we not feel good when we’re humming “every valley, shall be exalted…” It just sets the mood, I think!
I don’t want to ruin that mood exactly…but…I do want to notice some things I hadn’t paid all that much attention to before, which I must warn you *might* affect that warm fuzzy easy peace.
Every valley shall be lifted up…and every mountain and hill be made low…the uneven ground will be made level and the rough places a plain.
Now some days walking up from the train station I might wish for the mountains and hills to be made low, but if we take these words seriously, this is not just a giant construction project, it’s a re-making of creation. This is like earthquakes and volcanoes and landslips. The entire landscape is being re-formed. Every single thing is shifting, and not one landmark will remain in place — we would look around and not recognise anything, as if we’ve never even been here before.
And the prophet says “THEN” the glory of the Lord shall be revealed. Then…as in, after this re-making of creation is accomplished, after we get to the stage where we can’t find our own way because we don’t see anything familiar…then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together.
Not some of us who know where to look. Not some of us who have gone to the same places over and over again looking for God in the same ways. Not some of us who have given poor directions to those who’ve been seeking. Not some of us who have made it as hard as possible to find the way in through the maze of requirements, rules, traditions, and obscure language like a password. All people shall see it together, when everything has shifted to make a way for God to come.
The prophet complains about having to give the message, because people are prone to fading away at the slightest hint of change — notice he says “people are like grass: the grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it.” When the breath of the Lord blows upon it — I don’t know about you, but I also hear a re-creation in that! With all the land changing shape so that God can come to us, we are primed to hear echoes of God breathing life into creation…except this time it’s that God’s breath of life actually withers those who thought they were forever. The sense that when we are flourishing, when everything is going great, we have built something that will last, to discover that in fact all of that is fragile is disorienting. Perhaps as disorienting as looking up to discover that the entire landscape around has changed and nothing looks the way we remember. When we can’t find our way, the breath of life can feel more like a sigh of despair, the end of an era…or a last gasp, trying to re-make the way it was before, only to find we’ve exhausted ourselves and there’s nothing for it but to lie down and fade away.
BUT, says the prophet: BUT — the word of our God will stand for ever.
No matter how faint we feel, no matter how disoriented we may be, looking around at a world where everything is changed. The word of our God will stand forever. And that word includes the promise that when the whole landscape has shifted beyond recognition, that is when God is coming to us so that all people — not just some — may see God’s glory together.
So we come back around to the comforting peaceful vision…but by way of a complicated and perhaps even terrifying journey into the wilderness of the unknown. And isn’t that kind of how the world feels today? We look around and everything feels different, we can’t use any of the old familiar landmarks to find our way, and it’s so exhausting trying to figure out what on earth is going on that even the breath of life feels like too much. The world is being re-made in a new form and we don’t know if we’re going to like it or not. But even when all our old comfortable ways disappear, even when the road we had so reliably traveled is no more — whether or not it took us where we wanted to go, at least we knew where it went! — even when the institutions and buildings we thought were so stable (despite the ways they perpetuated injustice and inequality and ineffectiveness) begin to fall, there is this truth: the word of our God stands forever. It is the only thing, in fact, that stands forever. And in the re-created world where everything else feels strange, that truth will be more visible than ever.
There’s something else in Isaiah’s call and promise here that I think is really important: instructions. Comfort, comfort my people, speak tenderly to them, call out the good news and point to the vision of God coming across this re-made earth to come to us.
These are instructions to the community to comfort each other, speak tenderly to each other, give good news to each other, point out where we see God to each other. These are instructions to God’s people, commanding us to be witnesses of the truth that God’s word stands forever, even when the evidence in the world around us is shaky at best.
And that made me think of how last week we talked about hope as a discipline — something we have to practice over and over again. I think Isaiah is also pointing us to the fact that peace is a discipline. We have to practice speaking tenderly to each other when we’d rather lash out about the constant shifting of the ground under our feet, and when we’d rather get revenge. We have to practice offering comfort for others when what we really want is just to have our own comforts catered for and ignore the basic needs and humanity of others. We have to practice looking for God and sharing that vision with others when the headlines are mostly bad.
When we practice these things, when we practice peace, that actually hastens the re-creating, the re-shaping of the landscape that allows God to come to us. So paradoxically, practicing the discipline of peace may actually lead to more upheaval at first, because peace isn’t about calm, it’s about a reshaped world where God’s wholeness is the norm. So practicing peace also means practicing justice, the kind where those who don’t seem to deserve tenderness or comfort get it anyway, and those who promulgate division as a strategy for calm or inequality as a virtue get sent away to learn God’s more excellent way. Practicing peace moves the goalposts from the ways of this world to the ways of the kingdom, and that can make everything feel unfamiliar and scary when we have relied on those worldly systems. Practicing peace requires speaking up even when we think there’s no point shouting into the chaos, because God calls for the message to be proclaimed even if we don’t think anyone is listening. Peace is a discipline we have to practice every day, with compassion and hope and trust that transcends the evidence of our eyes.
So yes: the landscape is shifting. Yes, everything feels unfamiliar and scary. And yes, the more we practice peace the more the earth will move and the more things will change. But that re-shaping is required, if we truly long for the day when all peoples will see God’s glory together — together in peace.
May it be so. Amen.
Online Hymn 304: O Little Town of Bethlehem
Sanctuary Hymn 274: Comfort, Comfort Now My People
Sanctuary Advent Gift Day Mission Focus: Inverclyde Faith in Throughcare
Sanctuary Offering (praise band — Light of the World)
*Sanctuary Offering Response: Hymn 305 verse 5
What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb,
if I were a wise man I would do my part,
yet what I can I give him,
give my heart.
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
God of all comfort,
we thank you that all things are held in your hand,
and your word stands forever.
We come before you with gratitude for the ways you have fed and carried us,
and placed us in community together that we might nurture, comfort, and encourage each other.
In times of trouble, we have looked for comfort in so many places,
while you have been reaching out to us through the hands of our neighbours,
and longing to reach out to our neighbours through our hands.
We pray this day that all people would see your goodness,
and learn to extend a hand of comfort and peace to one another,
that together we might experience the liberation of your kingdom come on earth.
We pray this day for those who see no reason for hope,
whose day-to-day life has no evidence of good news,
whose longings for justice, for companionship, for grace
go unanswered.
May they hear and believe the truth
that you are indeed present with power to change things,
that this present situation is not forever,
that your breath will always have the last word.
We pray this day for the world that needs re-shaping,
for all the places where obstacles stand between your people and abundant life,
for people who will suffer in the disruption of the re-creating,
and those who cannot wait any longer for it to begin.
Especially we remember the people of
Palestine and Israel, Ukraine, Yemen, Venezuela, the Congo…
and people closer to home, those sleeping rough in these cold wet days,
those who aren’t safe in their homes,
those who have to rely on food banks and donations,
those who struggle with addiction and isolation.
May your creation’s healing begin,
may the systems that need to turn upside down start to shift,
and may all people have enough to flourish for their time
and to bear witness to the power of your breath of life.
However disorienting your work in the world may prove,
ground us in the truth that your word stands forever,
and draw us along your way into the peace of your kingdom.
We ask in the name of the One who embodies your will for the world,
Jesus the Christ, coming among us to reconcile us to you forever,
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 304: O Little Town of Bethlehem
Benediction
Go forth from this time of worship to hold hope for one another, to make peace together, to speak up with good news that reveals the presence of our God who is even now making a way in the wilderness.
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
* This Advent we are asking everyone to update your Gift Aid information, so we can ensure we are maximising our Gift Aid opportunities. Please fill in a new Gift Aid form so that we can update our records!
* Christmas Post: Our youth organisations will again deliver Christmas cards in Gourock and in the west end of Greenock. Delivery will remain at 30 pence per card, and they can be brought to church by Sunday the 17th of December. The money raised by the Christmas Post funds our youth ministries throughout the year, so it’s a good cause as well as saving you a lot of money compared to the post office!
* A funeral service celebrating the life of Mr. Alex Fairhurst will be held in the sanctuary this Tuesday, 12 December, at 1:45pm, with a committal afterwards at Greenock Crematorium.
* The next meeting of the Contact Group is this Tuesday, 12 December at 3pm (note later time) in the large hall for a service of carols and readings.
* Clydeview Academy is hosting a Christmas lunch for our mature members on Wednesday 13 December at 1pm. Tickets are available from Teri.
* Next Sunday the 17th of December will be our Advent communion for “joy” Sunday, at 11am.
* The next Bowl & Blether is 18 December, with doors open from 11:30-1:30. It’s a great opportunity to get out and meet some people and have a meal and some social time! This month our donations at Bowl & Blether are going to support those who use the Grieve Road Pantry with some groceries for Christmas.
* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and all 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.
* Starter Packs are short of Razors/Shaving Foam, Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner, Tea Towels and Cleaning Cloths. The FoodBank are requesting UHT milk, rice pudding, long-life fruit juice & confectionery. You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!
* 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 new 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!
* Registration is now open for Jump Into January, the Winter mini-Exploratorium: 3rd-4th January, 9am – 1pm, we’ll be Jumping Into January with children in P1-P7 — tell all the kids you know! If you can volunteer for breakfast club (8am), during the morning, or in the kitchen for snacks and lunch, please speak to Teri or Charlene or Graham Bolster.
* Wednesday Evening Bible Study meets at 7:30pm at the manse.
* This year our Advent Gift Day will be received TODAY Sunday 10 December, and will be an offering for Inverclyde Faith In Through-care, which supports people coming out of prison and re-integrating into society. IFIT believes everyone deserves the chance to learn new life skills, access training and employment opportunities, and develop positive relationships. Their goal is to empower individuals to realise their full potential and make positive changes in their lives.
There are a number of ways to participate in this Gift Day. We are looking for donations to enable the staff to provide supermarket vouchers during the holiday period and to help provide a trip to Camas next year; for items that can go into gift bags for the participants (shower gel kits, hats, scarfs, gloves, socks, etc — most participants are men but there are a few women as well); and for items for children of participants: four girls, aged 7, 9, 14, and 15, and two boys aged 11 and 16.
* Free period products are available in the church toilets for anyone who might need them, thanks to Hey Girls and Inverclyde Council.
Sunday Service for 5 December 2021, the second Sunday of Advent
5 December 2021, 2nd Sunday of Advent
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by the Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: tpeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
To hear the audio recording of this service, please phone 01475 270037. It’s a local landline number so minutes should be included in your phone plan.
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Prelude Music
Welcome and Announcements
Lighting the Second Advent Candle
Teri: In a time when breath has been short, or dangerous, or obstructed,
we call on the breath of God to fill us and bring us to life.
1: Breathe in the hope that God offers to those who don’t quite know how to hope.
(deep breath)
2: Breathe in the peace that passes all understanding.
(deep breath)
3: Breathe in the winds of the world, the creation itself.
(deep breath)
4: Breathe in the promise of the restoration of community.
(deep breath)
All: God is coming, and the world will never be the same!
~candle is lit~
O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s dark shadows put to flight:
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
shall come to thee, O Israel.
Prayer
Come, O Breath, come and breathe upon us, that we may live.
When we are feeling disconnected —
from traditions that we have had to lay aside for now,
from people we long to see,
from the creation itself —
reach out and re-member us by your powerful hand.
You are a God who creates and re-creates,
who gets your hands dirty and who puts pieces together
and who takes on flesh and lives in a human body.
You are Holy, yet not far off…
you care about this physical world, your creation,
and you choose to dwell among us in this place.
We confess that we are prone to separating our bodies and spirits,
this world and your kingdom.
We admit that we think of ourselves as different from the rest of your created world,
and that sometimes all that thinking keeps us from being fully present with you in this place. Forgive us when we forget that this life, in all its mess and beauty,
is your gift, blessed by your breath.
Forgive us when we become so separated in mind and body
that we end up numb to your presence among us.
Re-integrate us, that we may know your grace in our very bones.
Bring us up from the dry valley
and set us firmly on your path toward hope and peace,
following the One who was, and is, and is to come.
Amen.
Hymn: O Come, Divine Messiah, Come
Children’s Time (in person only)
Invitation to a Generous Advent
During the season of Advent, many people traditionally open a door of an Advent calendar to find a treat of some kind. This year we are invited to a different kind of advent calendar, in which each day we do something. Connect is gathering together for a Reverse Advent Calendar in which we put something into a box each day, and then those things are donated to the food bank and starter packs — these will be collected at our family film night on Saturday the 18th at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk, or you can bring them to church or the manse that weekend so we can get them to the right people — a tangible way to put Jeremiah’s instruction into practice. St John’s also has an advent calendar to help us explore the them of an EmBodied Advent, and each activity will help us go deeper into living out what we hear in scripture on Sundays. These advent calendars are available in print and online.
As this is also a season of gift giving and generosity, I also encourage us all to consider our spiritual practice of generosity and perhaps to make a special gift to the ministry of the church in this place and time, as we seek to serve our community in new ways that put Jeremiah’s words into practice. You can give a one time gift, change your regular offering, or create a new standing order either by talking to Peter, giving online, or arranging things with your bank. Or if you use envelopes or prefer cash/cheque donations but are not able to join in-person worship at this time, please let us know and we can arrange a collection. Thank you for your generosity, at this time and every time of year, as we try to be faithful to God’s mission for us.
Reading: Ezekiel 37.1-14
Last week we heard from the prophet Jeremiah’s letter to the people who had been exiled from Jerusalem to Babylon. That first wave of exile involved the royal family, the nobility, the priests, the artisans and merchants, and other cultural influencers and power people. Included in that group was a priest named Ezekiel. A few years into their exile in Babylon, God showed Ezekiel some very striking visions, and asked him to do some symbolic actions to get the attention of the people who were beginning to lose hope and forget God’s way. Ezekiel’s visions and prophecies are often confusing, full of images that are hard to imagine and sometimes even a bit scary to picture. Remember that a prophet is not someone who sees the future, a prophet is someone who sees with God’s vision…and sometimes that’s hard for us to understand! Today we hear about a conversation between God and Ezekiel that takes place in an unusual location. I am reading from Ezekiel chapter 37, in the New Revised Standard Version.
~~~~
The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all round them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, ‘Mortal, can these bones live?’ I answered, ‘O Lord God, you know.’ Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.’
So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’ I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.
Then he said to me, ‘Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.” Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.’
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: Not Another Zombie Movie
For a while, a few years ago, it felt like zombies were everywhere in pop culture — zombie movies, the Walking Dead television show, and constant social media memes about the coming zombie apocalypse and who among your friends was most likely to be useful, or get eaten, or whatever.
I have to confess that zombies have never really been my thing…I’m more of the vampire type myself.
Zombies and vampires do have something in common, though: they’re both dead. Or rather, undead. They walk, talk, and have survival instincts, and in many ways act much like normal people, with feelings, thoughts, and even relationships.
On first glance, today’s story seems a bit like a zombie story. God tells Ezekiel to prophesy and bring to life a mass grave full of bones…these bones have been there for so long they’re completely dried up and disconnected, basically just a jumble of bleached bones in a valley, with no sense of who they were or what happened to them, or what their lives had been like.
Remember that Ezekiel was talking to his fellow exiles — people who had been taken from everything they knew, whose homes and Temple and lives had been destroyed, people who were certain that they were alone, abandoned, hopeless. These are the people who gave us the lament “how can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” The light had gone out from their eyes, the songs had fled from their lips, and they may as well have been dried up and dead. Ezekiel’s vision begins in a mass grave, the bones jumbled together and dried out, not even a possibility of hope.
Sometimes life feels like that, doesn’t it? Like we just have nothing left to give, or like nothing is turning out how we imagined. Our dreams seem shattered, our expectations have not been met, and all we can think about is what was, or what should have been…and in comparison, what is and what might be are just not worth singing about.
Or sometimes maybe we feel like Ezekiel — God asked him to prophesy to the bones, even though it seems like bones wouldn’t be able to hear a word he said. They’re just piles of dried up old bones, after all. And Ezekiel found that he didn’t exactly feel hopeful himself…but he wasn’t so hopeless that he just laughed in God’s face either. He said “Oh God, you’re the one who knows what’s possible…” and somehow that tiny smidge of not-hopeful-but-not-completely-hopeless-either was enough for him to speak into that silence where it seemed nothing would make a difference.
When Ezekiel speaks God’s word to the valley full of bones, several things happen. The first step is that God pulls this jumbled mess of bones together, bone to its bone, in the right order so they can be whole. But just a complete skeleton is still not a body. Sure, we might have all the right pieces, but that doesn’t make us ready.
The second step is God putting flesh and sinews—holding together the bones with tendons and ligaments, muscles and fat, organs and tissues. Bones by themselves aren’t much use, really. They only stick together if they’re immobilized, like in a museum. This second step makes movement possible, so we’re not a museum piece, but still not a whole body either—though it’s starting to look familiar!
The third step is God covering the bodies with skin. The largest organ in the body, skin not only holds everything in, but protects too. We may want to get moving, but without skin the body is susceptible to injury, infection, and falling apart. This step may be uncomfortable, because we don’t like boundaries. But without them, bacteria multiply and pieces fall out.
At this point, stuck together with all the right pieces, we’re chomping at the bit, ready to go! This is the moment most of us as both individuals and churches get to, and then we’re off. We look like the body, feel like the body, and feel perfectly put together and prepared. Three steps is just right for our attention span and for our capacity for waiting for God to get to work already.
So we walk around, doing things, trying our best, and still can’t figure out why people aren’t flocking to churches or why there’s a budget deficit or where the families are going. We listened when God called us together, so how come things still aren’t the way they used to be, when children always grew up to be better off than their parents, when we had a strong community with lots of opportunity, when pews and classrooms and offering plates overflowed? God promised to restore us, so why aren’t we reliving the good old days yet?
At this point in the process, we’re not jumbled up skeletons, but not full of life either. That’s still exile. Yes, we go about our daily lives, we do what we’ve always done, we get by…but there’s nothing transformative happening. It’s just day in and day out. We don’t experience life, we’re not touched or changed, we just…are. Just exist. The Israelites in exile seem to have swung between these two positions—dried up and hopeless, and just waiting out life without expectation.
Because at just three steps, that valley is full of zombies. And zombies are, by definition, living in the past. All the undead can do is try to re-live the lives they once had, over and over again.
And the undead are different from the living in one major way:
They don’t breathe.
Scripture tells us over and over, God is a God of the living, not the dead, and not the undead — and God’s word of life points us forward, not backward. God’s promise is not just that we’ll walk through life, but that we’ll breathe life. God’s promise is not just that the bones will organise into skeletons and be covered with flesh and skin, but that they will be filled with breath, coming from the four winds, blowing into their bodies and hearts and minds and souls so that they can love God and love their neighbour with everything they’ve got. God’s promise is not that we’ll be undead, God’s promise is Everlasting Life Abundant, even when we can’t see how it could be possible.
And God keeps promises. Every time. Even impossible ones. Even ones we hesitated to speak, even ones we weren’t sure we could stand to hear. If my options are to go through the motions like a zombie or to feel the stretch and burn of God’s breath in my lungs, I’ll take the breath of life every time.
The Hebrew word for breath is ruach, the same word that’s translated as wind and spirit. When the wind blows, that’s the breath of God. When we breathe, that’s the Spirit of God filling our bodies. The very air we breathe, in other words, is God’s presence, God’s promise, God’s hope, entering our lungs. When God tells Ezekiel to call the breath from the four winds, that’s the Spirit that comes rushing in, from every corner of creation, bringing life and hope and possibility and love — and setting us in motion to live for the future God has planned, rather than simply re-living the past that’s dead and gone.
The first sentence God gives to Ezekiel is “I will cause breath to enter you” and the last is “I will put my Spirit within you.” This entire story is literally filled with the ruach, the breath of God blowing everywhere, in and around and through the people who thought there was no hope, the prophet who spoke even though there was no point, the place that was dead and then undead and then alive. No longer a jumble of bones, no longer zombies, but life in all its fullness — for everyone.
May it be so. Amen.
Hymn 291: When Out of Poverty is Born
When out of poverty is born
a dream that will not die
and landless, weary folk find strength
to stand with heads held high,
it’s then we learn from those who wait
to greet the promised day:
‘The Lord is coming; don’t lose heart.
Be blest: prepare the way!’
When people wander far from God,
forget to share their bread,
they find their wealth an empty thing,
their spirits are not fed.
For only just and tender love
the hungry soul will stay.
And so God’s prophets echo still:
‘Be blest: prepare the way!’
When God took flesh and came to earth,
the world turned upside down,
and in the strength of woman’s faith
the Word of Life was born.
She knew that God would raise the low,
it pleased her to obey.
Rejoice with Mary in the call,
‘Be blest: prepare the way!
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You promise peace,
not merely the peace of the grave but the peace of resurrection life.
You restore your people, O God,
and we give you thanks for knitting us together,
piece by piece, thread by thread, bone by bone.
We pray this day for those whose hope is lost,
those who feel cut off,
those who have been left behind or left out,
those whose lives have dried up from the inside out.
Lift them in your hand, hold them close, and bring them to your heart.
We pray this day for those who speak words of encouragement they do not yet feel,
those who share good news they can’t allow themselves to hope,
those who look through half-open eyes at the future you are creating, even now.
Put your breath in them, and your word in their hearts, and give them a glimpse of your vision.
We pray this day for those who can’t get a deep breath,
whose anxiety or grief or illness makes it impossible to fill their lungs,
who live in danger or uncertainty that makes it safer to hold their breath.
Set them free from constraint and fear, heal them in body, soul, and situation.
Hymn 303 verse 4
And you, beneath life’s crushing load
whose forms are bending low,
who toil along the climbing way
with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing;
oh, rest beside the weary road,
and hear the angels sing.
We pray this day for your creation,
winds and waters and mountains and valleys,
for the gifts it gives in supporting us,
and for the burden it bears under our weight.
May your breath revive your earth as well as your people.
When we don’t know how to hope, you lead us.
When we can’t see our way to peace, you lead us.
When we feel dismembered and alone, you lead us.
We give you thanks for you always keep your promise.
Hymn 303 verse 5
For lo! the days are hastening on,
by prophet bards foretold,
when, with the ever-rolling years,
still dawns the Age of Gold,
when peace shall over all the earth
its ancient splendours fling,
and all the world give back the song
which now the angels sing.
We bring our gratitude and longing to you,
in the name of the One who embodies your truth, 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.
Benediction
Take a deep breath, and feel the Holy Spirit bringing you to fullness of life, setting you in motion to move forward into God’s future. Take a deep breath, and get ready to speak God’s word even into the most hopeless of situations. 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
* This Advent our theme is “EmBodied” — encountering the Word Made Flesh, in our own bodies and in our own places where God has planted us.
* Follow your St John’s Embodied Advent and your Connect Reverse Advent Calendars! There’ll be a Facebook Live for most of the St John’s Advent Calendar too.
* The Youth Organisations are again running the Christmas Post — drop cards in at the church on the 5th or 12th of December for delivery by the 19th to addresses in Gourock and Greenock West End, 30p per card with all proceeds going to youth ministry. If you can’t get to the church, let us know and we may be able to make arrangements to collect!
* Connect is hosting a family film night on 18 December at 4pm at the Lyle Kirk (Union Street). Bring your Reverse Advent Calendar with you so we can take the donations to the Foodbank and Starter Packs!
* Mark your calendars for Christmas worship: Longest Night (a quieter Christmas service recognising the darkness in which the Light shines) on 21 December at 7:30pm Joint services for Christmas Eve at 7:30pm at St. John’s and 11:30pm at Old Gourock and Ashton Christmas Day, 11am, on ZOOM with all of Connect Sunday 26 December, 10:30am, joint service with St Ninian’s Larkfield and OGA, at Old Gourock.
* All worship is online (or on the phone at 01475 270037, or in print) and we also meet in person, subject to the usual protocols for distancing, hand hygiene, mask wearing. We can now welcome up to 85-100 people for worship with 1m distancing between households. No booking is required. Masks are required at all times inside the building, including while singing. 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.
* Tonight we will gather with Christians across the nation for evening prayer on the Connect Facebook Page, led tonight by David. Log on at 6:58pm to join in.
* 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 by clicking 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 or the manse 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!
* 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!
