Sunday service for 3 September, final sunday in the Season of Prayer

Sunday 3 September 2023 — Season of Prayer 5
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse: 632143 
Email Teri: TPeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk
Email Charlene, Parish Assistant: CMitchell (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

Prelude Music

Welcome & Announcements

Opening Responses (St John’s Mission Statement)
One:  Who are we, and what are we called to do?
All:   We are a family gathered in love,
where all ages and experiences sing and study together,
laugh and cry together, grow in faith and life together.
One:  We are not perfect, we are a work in progress
All:   and there’s always room at Christ’s table for more,
so all are welcome!
One:  As a family, we are striving for justice and joy,
All:   by standing up for what’s fair and right,
challenging systems that harm,
working toward a world that sustains us all,
joining our creativity with creation’s joy.
The Holy Spirit has work for us to do.
One:  As a family, we offer blessing to the broken-hearted,
All:   by walking alongside each other,
holding one another’s stories with grace,
sharing comfort and practical support,
with compassion and prayer.
One:  As a family, we are always sharing the hope of God’s kingdom.
All:   standing on God’s promises,
trusting the Spirit’s leading,
we will be the hands and feet of Jesus,
serving with love, joy, and generosity.

Sanctuary Hymn 519: Love Divine, All Loves Excelling

Prayer (adapted from the Iona Abbey Worship Book)

       Take O Take Me As I Am
Eternal God, in this place, for generation after generation,
your people have encountered your living word.
In this place, in this community,
Jesus has surprised, called, challenged, embraced, inspired, and encouraged people.
We come to join the great cloud of witnesses
who have hallowed this place with their prayer and service,
not to worship them as heroes nor to see ourselves only in the best light,
but to nurture our relationship with you
and be strengthened to participate in your future.
       Take O Take Me As I Am
You call us, God.
You call us to walk in your way.
You show us in Jesus how we should live,
and by your Holy Spirit you graft us onto the vine of your love and truth.
And we are grateful.
You have shown us what you require:
to do justice, and love kindness, and walk humbly with you.
We try, sometimes.
Sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we fail.
       Take O Take Me As I Am
We confess that we get mixed up,
we commit ourselves only imperfectly and sometimes
we commit ourselves to other ways…
Forgive us when we have dedicated our energy to the wrong things.
Forgive us when we have offered ourselves in service of false gods that seduce us.
Forgive us when we have given our hearts and our gifts elsewhere than to you.
Forgive us, and set us right.
Take from us all that does not glorify you,
and fill us instead with your grace,
and use us for the purposes of your kingdom of hope.
       Take O Take Me As I Am
We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Online Hymn 501: Take This Moment

Sanctuary Children’s Time

Scripture Reading: John 15.1-16 (The Living Bible)
“I am the true Vine, and my Father is the Gardener. He lops off every branch that doesn’t produce. And he prunes those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops. He has already tended you by pruning you back for greater strength and usefulness by means of the commands I gave you. Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can’t produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me.
“Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can’t do a thing. If anyone separates from me, he is thrown away like a useless branch, withers, and is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned. But if you stay in me and obey my commands, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! My true disciples produce bountiful harvests. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Live within my love. When you obey me you are living in my love, just as I obey my Father and live in his love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your cup of joy will overflow! I demand that you love each other as much as I love you. And here is how to measure it—the greatest love is shown when a person lays down his life for his friends; and you are my friends if you obey me. I no longer call you slaves, for a master doesn’t confide in his slaves; now you are my friends, proved by the fact that I have told you everything the Father told me.
“You didn’t choose me! I chose you! I appointed you to go and produce lovely fruit always, so that no matter what you ask for from the Father, using my name, he will give it to you.

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: So That
Late last autumn, I heard footsteps outside the manse, and when I looked out the study window, there were men with chainsaws looking at the cherry tree. It’s a beautiful tree that blankets the garden with flowers every spring, and provides a place for birds my cats like to watch, and an endless supply of twigs I can use for lessons and projects, and obscures the view into the windows down the street. I spoke to the tree surgeons and said I was glad they were there, the tree needed some TLC as it had grown out over the pavement and had some dead branches and twigs, and I hoped they could clean it up. And I said to them I hoped I wouldn’t come home to a topped-off tree…and then I left for a day of meetings and school and other events.

You likely know what happened when I got home. Walking up Barrhill Road, I got to the corner of Binnie Street, stopped dead, my mouth open, and literally burst into tears on the pavement. I could not believe they had cut off every single branch, all the way back to the trunk. It was basically a 15 foot tall barren dead trunk. No more birds — my cats were inconsolable. No more interesting patterns of light through branches. No anticipation of pink flowers. A perfect clear view into the windows of every flat down Binnie street! And, according to everything I had read about care of these trees, it was likely to be damaged because of how late in the year it had been done.

I have mourned that tree every day since the 4th of November.

Earlier this summer I happened to run into Harry the gardener, who hired the tree butchers, as I call them, and he said it was more severe than he’d anticipated but that there would be new growth, something like this had been done before, and if it didn’t have enough new growth to flower next year then he would personally cut it down and plant me a new one for free. It’s a miracle I didn’t cry while talking to him, but let’s just say I was very skeptical. I think my eyebrows raised about an inch and I just thought “ok well I’d better be thinking about what to do with all that wood.”

This past week, Harry pulled up outside as I walked up the street and he asked about the tree. From where we were standing we could both see it has leaves…so I said “it has some leaves” and he said “It has a lot of new growth, look at it!” And I had to grudgingly admit he might have been right. Maybe. Hopefully. It isn’t entirely obvious yet but I suppose the leaves do look pretty good and full given what they had to work with…so maybe, possibly, there might be flowers next spring.

I have grieved what it feels like I’ve lost of that tree, and doubted Harry’s word while trying to trust his promise, and grudgingly admitted he might have been right, and now I’m in the phase of realising that my grief over the tree that was could be obscuring my vision of the tree as it is or will be in future, and I’m trying to see what Harry sees. Honestly even just thinking about how beautiful it was brings tears to my eyes, even though I know it was struggling with the deadwood and tangles crowding its canopy and making it hard for new branches to grow or for leaves and flowers to get enough nutrients to thrive. I know the tree wasn’t healthy but it was so pretty!

It turns out that sometimes pruning — which Jesus says will bring greater strength and usefulness and a bigger harvest — is more dramatic and painful in practice than it sounds in theory. And sometimes even things that seem to only need a little tweaking actually need a bigger cut back than we would prefer, if they are going to flourish the way God wants them to. And possibly, just possibly, our own understanding of what’s needed isn’t exactly the same as God the master gardener’s understanding and vision. It can be very difficult to come to terms with God’s pruning, and with the fruit God wants us to bear as individuals and as a community, and sometimes our commitment to the vision can waver when we see the pain of the process unfolding.

But Jesus says: “you didn’t choose me, I chose you! And I appointed you to go and produce lovely fruit always.” God chose us before we could ever choose, and Jesus’ call is not in any way dependent on our putting ourselves forward. That does not mean we have no part to play in the bearing of lovely fruit. Because God chose us, because Christ called us, because the Spirit has gifted us, we offer ourselves, we commit to doing what needs to be done for God’s kingdom, to growing and becoming what we are meant to be.

That commitment comes with risks, of course. Sometimes, God might call and gift us for something we don’t particularly want to do…something difficult or out of our comfort zone. Sometimes, God might ask us to let go of things we’d really like to hold onto. Sometimes, we might be sent somewhere that we won’t be well received, or that could be dangerous in some way. Maya Angelou once summed this up by saying that “courage is the most important of all the virtues, because without courage you can’t practice any of the other virtues consistently.” To be committed to Christ’s way will require courage.

What I think we don’t remember often enough is that courage comes in waves. It needs to be renewed, time and again. It isn’t as if we are able to be constantly courageous and committed, without a single rest or lapse. We are human, after all! Jesus says we are to “take care” to live in him…he did the choosing, and part of our response to his call is to put in the effort to follow, which will include both accepting his pruning, and also regularly re-dedicating ourselves in prayer and action.

Sometimes a prayer of dedication might include a symbolic action — like attaching our branches to the cross as we did several weeks ago when we heard some of these verses, or lighting a candle, or putting a stone in a cairn. Sometimes it might be responsive where we offer our “I do and I will” or make other promises and ask God to help us keep them. Sometimes it might be as simple as a line at the end of another prayer, where after praising God, confessing our failures, or asking for help, we say something like “so that I might ____.” Be more faithful, witness to your goodness, have courage to stand up for what’s right, know the right words to say, or even just get through this and live to praise you another day! Jesus uses this same language when he says he has told us all these things so that we may be filled with joy…and he appointed us to bear fruit so that whatever we ask might be given. Even the hard things, like God pruning us back or lopping off things that aren’t bearing fruit, are so that we might have greater strength and usefulness and bear a bigger harvest in God’s garden. Everything God does has a purpose.

I don’t want to give the impression that our prayers of dedication are in some way like a payment or a bargain for God to answer our other prayers. There is no way to bargain with God, and even if there was the reality is that we couldn’t afford it. I’m sure some of us have tried it — I know I have — but that isn’t how God works, and that fact is grace itself, as I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been desperate enough to promise things I could never have delivered!

Instead, a prayer of dedication is an offering of ourselves in response to God’s call and God’s goodness. In the same way that our monetary offerings are a recognition that everything we have is a gift from God and a response to what God has done for us, dedicating our whole selves — mind, body, and spirit, resources and energy and gifts — to serving God’s purpose is a response, not a bribe.

Our response to being grafted into the vine is to grow and bear fruit. Not to stay the same forever, but to grow. Not to just be pretty to look at, but to bear fruit that nourishes. And when a vine doesn’t grow, or when the fruit isn’t right, or things start to get crowded with old or dead wood that’s blocking the light or taking nutrients without producing, the pruning shears come out and cut branches back. If we are dedicated to bearing fruit for God’s kingdom, it means trusting God’s pruning and not allowing our grief over it to obscure our vision of what God is doing next — God has even larger crops in mind, and joy overflowing, and love made complete.

So in offering ourselves to God’s purpose, committing ourselves to obeying Christ’s commands, deciding to use the gifts the Spirit gives, it’s best to pray prayers of dedication and commitment with eyes wide open, because God will take them seriously and we may find ourselves in deeper than we expected, in need of more courage than we thought we had available…working toward God’s vision of beauty, justice, joy, and fruit that will last, even when we can’t see it yet.

May it be so. Amen.

Sanctuary Hymn 501: Take This Moment

Online Hymn: Take My Life (Resound Worship)

Introducing our new Parish Assistant, Charlene Mitchell
Charlene, the grace bestowed on you in baptism
is sufficient for your calling
because it is God’s grace.
By God’s grace we are saved,
and the Holy Spirit enables us to grow in the faith
and to commit our lives in ways that serve Christ.
God has called you to particular service.
Show your purpose by answering these questions.

Do you believe that God has called you to serve as St. John’s Parish Assistant?
I do.

I invite all of us here today to affirm our faith and commitment with Charlene:
Who is your Lord and Saviour?
Jesus Christ is my Lord and Saviour.

Will you be Christ’s faithful disciple, obeying his word and showing his love? Will you?
I will, with God’s help.

Will you seek to live in such a way that others there will want to know what Christ means to you? Will you?
I will, with God’s help.

Will you, as far as you are able, make Christ central in your life, letting his peace rule in your heart and his Word dwell in you richly? Will you?
I will, with God’s help.

Charlene:
Will you clothe yourself with Christ’s compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience as you minister in his name to others? Will you?
I will, with God’s help.

Do you commit to showing the love of God by accompanying people in times of sorrow and of joy? Do you?
I do, with God’s help.

You do not fulfil this ministry on your own. Will you endeavour to work faithfully as a part of the team of elders, pastoral visitors, and minister? Will you?
I will, with God’s help.

Do you, members of Christ’s Body here at St. John’s Church, confirm the call of God
to Charlene as our Parish Assistant in the service of Jesus Christ, Do you?
We do.

Do you promise to pray for each other and for Charlene;
and do you promise to share with her in seeking and doing the will of God,
to give her encouragement, consideration, and financial support as you are able,
so that you grow together in faith, hope and love
and participate together in this ministry of caring for others? Do you?
We do.

Let us pray.
Faithful God, in baptism you claimed us;
and by your Holy Spirit you are working in our lives,
empowering us to live a life worthy of our calling.
We pray this day for Charlene as she takes up this role serving you by serving your people,
that she may meet people where they are,
understand their situations, cares, and concerns,
and find new ways to touch their hearts with your love.
Give to her the gifts of faith, hope and love,
that she may fulfil this calling to your glory.
May her hands be ready to do your work.
May her eyes be open to recognise those in need.
May her ears hear words of pain, sorrow, or joy with compassion and empathy.
May her voice speak of healing and peace.
As we welcome her ministry among us,
may we be a good support to her and love her as you love us all.
Bless Charlene with your presence and protection in all that she does;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sanctuary: Offering

Sanctuary Offering Response Hymn 497 v. 1 & 5
Almighty Father of all things that be,
our life, our work, we consecrate to thee,
whose heavens declare thy glory from above,
whose earth below is witness to thy love.

Then grant us, Lord, in all things thee to own,
to dwell within the shadow of thy throne,
to speak and work, to think, and live, and move,
reflecting thine own nature, which is love.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (adapted from Iona Abbey Worship Book)
Prayer booklet…at the end of this prayer I’ll conclude with today’s prayers from the booklet

Into your hands, we commit ourselves, O Christ,
for your holding, your directing, your inspiring, your perfecting.
Bless us with your power
to heal, help, liberate, and challenge.
Bless us with your yearning for a better world and a fuller faith.
Bless us with your Holy Spirit within us, and among us.
Enable us to be fully open to you,
to all you have to offer,
and to all that you ask of us.
         Take O Take Me As I Am
In this world in need, we pray for your healing grace to be tangible,
for peace to be real,
for hope to lead us on.
May all those who suffer in body, mind, or spirit experience your goodness,
may they know your presence
and may they be surrounded, too,
by the Body of Christ offering comfort, compassion, and help.
May all those who live with violence, fear, or hatred experience your justice,
may they know your love and peace not only in their hearts but in the world around them,
and may they be surrounded by the Body of Christ
working for a better world for all.
May all those who hold positions of power or privilege in this world experience your courage,
may they hear your calling to the common good,
and may they be surrounded by the Body of Christ
offering your vision and holding them accountable to it.
May your Church, your Body,
abide in your love, reveal your kingdom on earth,
and bear fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness,
generosity, gentleness, and self-control.
Take the time and gifts you have entrusted to us,
and teach us how to use them to give others the abundant life
which Jesus Christ came to bestow on all,
so that your people may rejoice in the new life you give,
for you are the Vine and we are the Branches,
You are the life giver, and we are your servants.
       Take O Take Me As I Am

And on the 3rd day of the month we join our hearts together as your church family to pray:
*For your other Churches in Gourock: for St Ninian’s RC Church, Old Gourock & Ashton Parish Church, Gourock Community Baptist Church, Struthers Church, Bethany Hall, the Vineyard Church, and other independent churches.

*For the leaders of St John’s congregation: for the elders, the Kirk Session, the Session Clerk, the Treasurer, the pastoral care team, the flower team, and the many other volunteers.

*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Andorra, Spain, and Portugal.
May peace and justice abound and grace prevail,
and may all people together share in the hope of your kingdom.

Lord Jesus, teach us once again that you have no body now on earth but ours;
No hands but ours;
No feet but ours;
Ours are the eyes through which your compassion
Must look out upon the world;
Ours are the feet with which you
Must go about doing good;
Ours are the hands through which your blessing flows
to all people and all creation.
Set us to your purpose,
and make us the agents of your grace, peace, and love in the world.

We pray these and all things in the name of Jesus the Christ,
who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

Sanctuary Hymn 500: Lord of Creation

Benediction
Author Anne Lamott once said “I do not understand the mystery of grace — only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.”
God’s grace has met us here, and will take us onward to where God needs us most. Go to follow that journey, wherever God may lead.
And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. 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

* 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 Shaving Foam, Shampoo, Soap, Toothpaste, Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner, Kitchen Roll and Teabags. 
The FoodBank are short of biscuits, UHT milk, soup, tinned fish, and tinned meats. 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 £2700 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!

* Wednesday Evening Bible Study meets at 7:30pm in the Manse. If you’d like a copy of the study book, or more information, or if you’d like to participate but the stairs of the manse are a problem, please contact Teri!

* The next Bowl & Blether in St John’s  TOMORROW Monday 4 September, and the next one in St Margaret’s is this Saturday 9 September. Doors open at 11:30 and soup and toasties are served between 12-1:30. It’s a great opportunity to get out and meet some friends, invite a neighbour, and have a meal and some social time!

* The Kirk Session will meet this Thursday 7 September at 7:30pm.

* The 2nd Gourock Boys’ Brigade 125th anniversary Grand Charity Ball is this coming Saturday 9th September 6.30 for 7pm in Greenock Town Hall. Speak to Alan Aitken ASAP if you don’t have a ticket yet.

* Philip is playing an organ recital at Kelvingrove Museum on Saturday 16 September at 1pm. Music will include items written by Henry Purcell, William Mathias, Malcolm Arnold and Philp himself.

* St John’s Contact Group will start the new session on Tuesday 19th September at 2pm in the church hall. Entertainment will be provided by The Skelpies Ukulele Band, followed by tea, cakes and time to chat. All are welcome to this opening meeting and the fortnightly meetings thereafter. The syllabus of events will be available soon.

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

* Youth organisations are starting up for the new session! Young people are invited to come along to the Junior Section of the BB on Monday evenings at 7, Anchor Boys on Tuesdays at 5:30, Brownies and Guides on Wednesday evenings at 6pm and 7:30pm respectively, Smurfs on Thursdays at 6pm, and Company Section of the BB on Fridays at 7. For more information on the Boys’ Brigade, email: 2ndgourock@inverclydebb.org.uk , for more information on the Smurfs (pre-Brownies), email Lyn at lyn41185@hotmail.com, and for more information on the Brownies/Guides, visit https://www.girlguidingscotland.org.uk/for-parents/register-your-daughter .

* Flower Fund: If you would like to donate to the Flower Fund in memory of a loved one or loved ones, then please contact Elsie Arthur or place your donation in the box inside the front vestibule. This can be done anonymously if you wish.

* The Church of Scotland has a new online learning platform called Church of Scotland Learning (more info here). The first set of modules is now available, and are designed with members of local congregations in mind and will help to grow faith, stretch minds and explore possibilities. They are set at an introductory level and accessible for all. We hope this will ignite people’s interest in learning more. Currently available topics include Vows for Elders; Vows for Ministers; Conversations in Discipleship, Exploring Discipleship, Talking About Your Faith; New Ways of Being Church; Knowing You Knowing Me (Learning to understand more fully where God is and what God is calling us to do); Theological Reflection for Everyone; Equality Diversity and Inclusion; and Unconscious Bias and Me. More modules will be added periodically, so sign up today by clicking here!

* Trinity College Glasgow and New College Edinburgh also both offer “short courses” for lay people — there are a variety of interesting modules available for online or in-person participation, including courses on Listening In Mission, worship, New Testament, Mission and our response to Presbytery planning, Creative Writing as a Spiritual Practice, and more. Please become a lifelong learner and dig into some of these opportunities that God is putting in front of us to grow in our faith and life together!