Sunday service for 19 November 2023

Sunday 19 November 2023 — NL2-11
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

Prelude Music

*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
1: When all seems chaos,
can we look past the obvious to see something deeper?
2: When we feel like all is lost,
can we listen with our hearts instead of our ears?
3: When destruction appears the order of the day,
can we recognise an opening for something new?
All: In the midst of all that is around us and within us,
we try to imagine hope.

Hymn: O Day of Peace (tune: Jerusalem)

Prayer

True and Living God, Creator of all things, architect, sculptor and inspirer.

In the hush of this sacred moment, we set aside time to acknowledge the beauty that surrounds us—the beauty that whispers of your creative genius. As we gather as your people, we sense the rhythm of your divine brushstrokes on the canvas of our lives.

Lord, you are the Author of imagination, the Composer of consciousness and the breath that gives life. We thank you for the diverse tapestry of gifts woven into the fabric of your people. As we commune with you in the silence of our hearts, may the melodies of your creativity displayed in creation reveal to us the harmony of your eternal Kingdom.

We stand in awe of the way you infuse the world with colour, texture, and form. Just as you breathe life into the dawn and mould the landscapes with your gentle touch, stir within us the desire to mirror your artistry. May our own creative expressions be a reflection of your grace, beauty, and unfathomable love.

Grant us the discernment to perceive the sacred nature, the divine spark in each human being, to admire the uniqueness of each soul, set aside for a purpose even before you knit the first atom together. As we navigate the canvas of our existence, may we, catch glimpses of the divine choreography that hints at the coming Kingdom.

In our endeavours, instil in us a sense of responsibility as caretakers of your creation. Show us how our expressions can echo the justice and compassion that flow from your heart. May our creativity not only reflect your Kingdom but also contribute to its unfolding here on earth. Help us to be brave and bold enough to try new things, to go against the rules and blaze a new trail of creativity.

As we engage in worship today, may our prayers be a fragrant incense rising to your throne. Guide us, O Lord, in the gentle rhythms of righteousness, and use our creativity to illuminate the path toward your everlasting Kingdom.

In the beautiful name of Jesus Christ, our Muse and Redeemer, we pray.

Amen.

Sanctuary Children’s Time

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 11.1-9 (New Revised Standard Version)
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see
or decide by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge for the poor
and decide with equity for the oppressed of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
The wolf shall live with the lamb;
the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the lion will feed together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.
They will not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

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: Imagine
I invite you to, if you’re comfortable, close your eyes. Picture a tree stump…is your stump freshly cut, flat and smooth on top and you can see the rings… Or is it dried out and cracked, or damp and composting itself from the inside out? Is it uneven like the tree fell rather than being cut? How big around is it, how old was the tree when it became a stump? When you look at the stump, what do you think or feel?

Picture this stump and then in a moment, still with your eyes closed, I’m going to invite us all to say out loud the word or phrase or sound we think or feel when we see it. There are no wrong answers, and we won’t be listening individually, but just all together we’ll say the thought or feeling….1, 2, 3.

Some of us feel sad seeing something like that….others of us might see a seat we can rest on for a bit…or a chance to look back at the past, exploring the rings and what they tell us about the weather of the tree’s lifetime…some feel grief or loss, maybe others gratitude for the wood.

One thing we can agree is that a stump indicates an end. The tree is no longer living and growing, no longer expanding, no longer fulfilling its purpose. The tree is dead, and all that’s left is the stump.

But what if…?

What if dead things weren’t as dead as they seem?
Or rather, what if death wasn’t the end of that stump’s story?

We are resurrection people, after all. The roots of our Christian faith are in life having greater power than death, hope springing out of a closed tomb, light shining in darkness.

So perhaps we should not be surprised at the promise: a shoot shall come forth from the stump. From what seemed dead, cut off, sad and decomposing…from the roots of that stump, growing up through the old rings, a tiny sprig of green begins to grow.

Perhaps it’s a shoot of the same tree, growing up from the roots and pushing its way through.

Perhaps it’s something entirely different, a seed dropped by a bird or carried by the wind, fallen into the cracks of the old stump and finding the composting interior of the stump is the perfect nurture for a new thing to spring forth.

Perhaps it’s a small plant loving the space available, not crowded by other things competing for the nutrients in the soil. Perhaps it’s a sapling that will grow so big it will eventually hollow out and split what’s left of the stump it currently calls home.

But it is one thing that we all know a stump cannot be: it’s alive.

This is what happens in the kingdom of God. Things that cannot be alive…are. Things that cannot be possible, like a wolf and a lamb, a calf and a lion cuddling in together…they aren’t just possible, they’re normal, regular, everyday life.

It almost feels to me like Isaiah is escalating the imagination in this passage….starting from a dead thing that lives, then talking about a servant of God who will make decisions without using what he can see and hear — things that easily lead to assumptions as we fit what we see into the patterns and stereotypes of our own worldviews, which means that because we think we know what we’re seeing, we don’t look deeply and it’s easy to miss seeing the whole truth of a person or community or situation. Instead of using information that comes through the senses, this person who is a green shoot of life springing up out of a dead and cut off stump will start from the root of righteousness and equity to make decisions.

That’s a pretty unbelievable thing to imagine — making choices based first on equity and justice without getting distracted by what we think we see. And from there, Isaiah goes on to the most difficult to imagine scene: predator and vulnerable living together in harmony.

What do you think — does it seem easier or harder to imagine the dead stump springing to life, or the person who doesn’t judge based on what he can see and hear with his senses, or the lion and lamb together?

Isaiah has given us a starting place for envisioning God’s kingdom — a seed, if you will, that grows and grows into something ever more incredible. It may seem as if there’s no hope, everything is cut off, there’s just a stump reminding us of how things used to be but aren’t anymore. But God’s vision is for life to spring up…and not just spring up, but to flourish.

The trouble is it can be hard for us to see God’s vision. It’s hard to imagine that the world can be any other way than it is. But God is not constrained by our limited imagination. And God longs for us to be set free from the constraints of our limited imagination, too.

We often think, rightly, of Jesus when we hear of the shoot that springs up from the roots of the stump, the one in the line of Jesse — David’s father — who brought new life when everything seemed cut off and hopeless. But Isaiah’s vision doesn’t stop there. This isn’t new life that happens once and then is finished…if it was, there’d just be yet another stump of despair. Instead, the new life that springs up is a precursor to a changed world.

And how does the world change? By people being transformed. By new life springing up where all seemed death. By people judging from the root of justice and equity instead of by what they think they see and hear. By predators choosing to lay aside their power and violence and care for the vulnerable instead. It feels impossible but once we’ve learned to imagine it, then it becomes possible. As George Lucas — the filmmaker behind Star Wars, among many other things — once said: if you cannot dream it, you cannot do it. Isaiah has planted a seed in our imaginations so that we can dream of a world transformed into the kingdom of God…and once we can dream it, we can participate in it.

How do we expand our imaginations? First by asking God to for help, of course. Second by feeding our spirits and minds and hearts with things that open us to new perspectives and ideas and angles and views. That can be art…literature and film and music…travel…conversations with people who are different from us. Third by using our imaginations — they are like a muscle that needs exercise, it’s a use-it-or-lose it kind of thing. When we read a Bible story, can we imagine it happening around us, can we see ourselves in the scene, can we hear and smell and taste and see the people and places and events and feelings and moments? When we see an ancient place, can we imagine what life was like for people there? When we read a news story or see photos of somewhere else in the world, can we imagine what daily life is like in that place, imagine being friends with the people in the story? Exercising that imagination muscle is also a good way to strengthen our empathy and love for our neighbours, too…which is all a part of the transformation that leads to the peaceable kingdom and beyond. Imagining is a spiritual practice that changes us…and changed people lead to a changed world.

What other things might be in God’s vision of the kingdom that we can’t even imagine? And what might be possible if we let our imaginations grow?

May it be so. Amen.

Hymn: What is the World Like (text: Adam Tice; tune: New World)

Offering (organ reflection music)

*Sanctuary Offering Response: God Our Creator, vv. 1 & 4 (tune: Bunessan; words: John L Bell & Graham Maule)
God our Creator, you in love made us
who once were nothing but now have grown.
We bring the best of all our lives offer;
for you we share whatever we own.

And with the people summoned together
to be the Church in which faith is sown,
we make our promise to live for Jesus,
and let the world know all are God’s own.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Come quickly, Lord,
and bring new life out of the roots
for looking around, it’s easy to think all is lost.
Show us a green shoot,
a sliver of hope,
even a possibility that seems outrageous.
For we are longing for peace founded on justice,
not only on a rebuilding of walls.
We are longing for an end to predatory ways,
and a new community of respect and compassion across old boundaries.
We are longing for leaders with wisdom and discernment,
and for truth to be spoken that all may thrive.
Hasten that day, O God,
when your kingdom is revealed,
visible and tangible in this place.
In places where justice is replaced with verbal gymnastics and excuses,
where stereotypes determine what people see,
where decisions to go with “close enough” end up hurting our neighbours,
may your justice be at the forefront of minds,
and your love the measuring rod for all our plans.
And on this 19th day of the month, we join our hearts with all our church family to pray
*For all the carers, social workers, and other professionals who visit and support our neighbours. We ask your compassion and help to flow through their hands as they make it possible for people to remain in their homes. May they be blessed with cheerful smiles, good listening skills, open hearts, and discerning minds as they offer support, companionship, and help to those in need. Make them your hands and heart, building up community and encouraging your people.
*For the staff of St John’s: for the minister, the organist, and the parish assistant.
*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh.

Come quickly, Lord,
and make us the small sign of life,
the light that shines into the shadows,
the vision of another way.
Transform what seems dead and dry into a hope of a new harvest.
Change what we assume is unchangeable,
until your kingdom is present here on earth as in heaven.
We ask these and all things in the name of the One
who embodies your spirit and truth for us, 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 617: Great and Deep the Spirit’s Purpose

Benediction
Go from this place with your imagination growing, so that you can be a sign of God’s new life sprouting forth in even the most hopeless of places.
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

* Inner Visions: Art and Spirituality festival is happening now and runs for two weeks, closing on Friday 1 December from 5-6pm. This festival brings together local artists, our community, and the church to explore how creativity and spirituality go together, and how creativity can help us connect to our Creator and to one another. We will be looking for people willing to staff the exhibition for an hour or two at a time throughout the two weeks — just to be present in the sanctuary while the doors are open, and to welcome people and be hospitable while they’re in. Please sign up! Thanks!
During the festival, there will be a lecture by Alec Galloway on the history of expressing spiritual themes in artwork, especially in stained glass, TODAY, Sunday 19 November at 3pm. There will be a panel discussion with the artists who created the pieces for the exhibition, discussing how they went about creating them, the process and meaning behind each piece, and how artwork is important in feeding and expressing their spiritual lives, on Saturday 25 November at 6pm. There will be a Spirituality Cafe service on St Andrew’s Day, Thursday 30 November at 7:30pm.

* The next Bowl & Blether is TOMORROW 20 November, with doors open from 11:30-1:30. We are in need of volunteers to help with set up and making soup in the morning (from 10am), making toasties from 12-1:30, and clean up (from 1:30-2:15). You’re also welcome to just come for soup and a chat with neighbours — it’s a great opportunity to get out and meet some people and have a meal and some social time!

* Gourock Schools and Churches Together is hosting an afternoon tea concert at St Columba High School on Tuesday the 21st of November at 1:30pm. Tickets are available from Teri.

* NEXT SUNDAY the 26th we will celebrate the baptism of twins Millie and Flynn. Can you please bring with you a teddy or other plushy-type toy you’ve had since you were young? Nothing will happen to them and you’ll take them home again, they’re a part of the service but nothing dangerous! Thanks!

* Stories and photos for the Church Notes should be submitted to Seonaid Knox by Friday 1 December. The Notes tell the story of what God has been up to at St John’s since Easter until now — we look forward to your stories of the Spirit moving here these past months! If you have announcements about upcoming events, please send details to Teri for inclusion in the weekly church email rather than the Notes. Thanks!

* 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 and Shampoo.
The FoodBank are short of biscuits, UHT milk, tinned soup, tinned custard, tinned tomatoes. You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!
* Starter Packs is having a fundraising coffee morning on Tuesday 21st November from 10am to 12 noon at St Mary’s Church Hall, Houston Street, Greenock, ticket priced £2.50. For the December packs they would be grateful for gifts of selection boxes, chocolates, biscuits as well as hats, scarves and gloves.

* 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!

* This Advent we are going to be asking everyone to update your Gift Aid information, so we can ensure we are maximising our Gift Aid opportunities. Look out for a request to update your Gift Aid forms soon!

* Wednesday Evening Bible Study meets at 7:30pm at the manse.

* The next meeting of the Contact Group is next Tuesday, 28th November at 2pm in the large hall. The speaker will be Alison Bunce of Compassionate Inverclyde.

* 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 on Sundays, 3rd, 10th, and 17th 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!

* This year our Advent Gift Day will be received on 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. The ages of those children will be forthcoming to help you choose.

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

* Would you be able to host two university students from the USA from 8-11 June, 2024? They will each need their own bed, though they can share a room, and you would be providing them breakfast and dinner, bringing them to church on Sunday, and being a welcoming and engaging host as they get a cultural exchange experience. There would be some financial help to cover the food expenses. If you might be interested, please be in touch with Teri or Seonaid Knox, so we have a sense of how many students we can host.