Sunday Service for 15 March 2026, fourth Sunday in Lent

Sunday 15 March 2026, fourth Sunday in Lent
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

If the video above doesn’t play, please click here to view it on our YouTube channel (sometimes our website and YouTube don’t get on as well as they should!)

Sanctuary Prelude Music (praise band)

Welcome
God-sightings

We Gather As God’s Family (As the Bible is brought in, we stand and sing)
A family gathered in love,
striving for justice and joy,
blessing the broken-hearted,
and sharing the hope of God’s kingdom.

Call to Worship
One: Listen for the voice of the shepherd:
All: I came that they may have life.
One: Listen for the voice of the shepherd:
All: I am going ahead of you so you will know the way.
One: Listen for the voice of the shepherd:
All: I lay down my life, and I will take it up again.
One: Listen for the voice of the shepherd:
All: we will come in, and go out, and find pasture.

Sanctuary Hymn 16: The Lord’s My Shepherd (Brother James’ Air) (organ)

Prayer (in the Sanctuary, interspersed with Kyrie)

You, Lord, have brought us together in your name
providing a place for us, a name, a hope, a future…
and we come in at your invitation,
but we confess we are seeking comfort and stability,
held by the sheepfold, trusting in its walls and locks.

You are the Good Shepherd,
leading us into the safe place
and leading us out into the world you so love…
and we confess we would prefer to stay in
even if it means exhausting the resources
and starving ourselves.
We don’t want to believe that your nourishment can be found
out there.

*Kyrie Eleison (organ)

You call us your own
and we like to hear that as if we are your only.
You say your love and care reaches beyond what we can see,
and we say you can only save those we think are right.
We confess we don’t believe those other sheep deserve to be included.

You know us better than we know ourselves
and yet we have not spent time getting to know you.
We are easily deceived by those claiming your name
but speaking with power that does not lead to life.
We confess we have been seduced by others
whose tone matches the fear buried in our hearts.

*Kyrie Eleison (organ)

You ask us to follow
but the difficulty and the danger holds us back
and the farther back we fall
the more naive it feels to keep trying
so we turn back instead
and just hope the little bits we do here and there,
the leftovers we give,
the words we say but don’t act on,
will be good enough to stave off the wolves.
Living Word, you speak
and we don’t always recognise your voice.

Forgive us, loving Shepherd.
And in your forgiveness, transform us.
Turn us away from the lies that fill the air.
Turn us away from the words that bring out the worst in us.
Turn us away from the powers that manipulate our fear.
Forgive us, loving Shepherd.
And in your forgiveness, transform us.
Turn us toward the Truth you embody.
Turn us toward the tone that echoes love from generation to generation.
Turn us toward the vulnerable you promise to protect.
Turn us toward your abundant life.
Forgive us, loving Shepherd.
And in your forgiveness, transform us.
Amen.

*Kyrie Eleison (organ)

Friends, hear this good news: the Lord is our Shepherd and knows us better than we know ourselves…and loves us even before we have a chance to turn back to the fold. God’s love and mercy chase us down and bring us into life abundant. So sit at God’s table today and let your cup overflow. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Online Hymn 16: The Lord’s My Shepherd (Brother James’ Air)

Sanctuary Children’s Time

Sanctuary Hymn: Saviour, Like a Shepherd Lead Us (words: Dorothy Thrupp/Hymns For the Young; tune: Bradbury) (organ)

Scripture Reading: John 10
Last week we heard about Jesus healing a blind man and the religious leaders arguing so much about minutiae that it was clear they were the ones who could not see what was right in front of them. Today we continue with Jesus’ response to them, picking up in the next verse at John chapter 10, verse 1, and I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.

Jesus said: “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
Again the people were divided because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
…(The religious authorities questioned Jesus and then wanted to stone him, or to arrest him, but he escaped from their plans.)…
He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptising earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.

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: gate
When you picture a gate, what do you see in your mind?

I mainly see the front gate of the manse, of course…decorative wrought iron, with a little latch that I can hear go “clink” when someone is arriving. But then I also think of the first time I encountered a “kissing-gate” where it’s like a little square area and you have to go partway in and then flip the door around to the other side to get out, and how confused I was! Or a giant gate that goes over a road or a car park. Some gates are really just an arm that swings out, and others are practically a whole wall.

And when we think of the purpose of a gate…we usually think it’s to keep something in, or something out. Like people will have gates to keep children or pets in or out of a particular part of the house, or the garden. Or a gate that holds back the sheep or the cows…or keeps out the wolves or the bad guys.

But actually, what I’m describing there is not the purpose of the gate. That is the purpose of the fence or the wall — to protect, to hold back, to keep in and keep out. The purpose of the gate is to allow movement across that fence or wall. The gate is a doorway, not a barrier.

And Jesus said “I am the gate for the sheep”….and you will come in and go out and find pasture. Because that’s what a gate is for: not actually for keeping us in and them out, but for moving through.

So those who came before who were thieves and bandits? Perhaps they tried to be a wall when they were meant to be a gate. Perhaps they tried fencing the people in and keeping them there…claiming it was for their safety, when actually it was for their own control and greed and pride. And the thing is, a flock or herd kept in one place will soon be in trouble, rather than being safe. They will graze the land to nothing, churn up the earth into mud they sink into, their muscles will atrophy as they have nowhere to run, disease will spread fast because they’re spending too much time in close quarters, and the animals will become more aggressive the longer they’re kept in there, until their spirits are so broken they just lie down and give up. The sheepfold with a locked gate is perhaps the most dangerous and least healthy option available, not the safest.

Meanwhile Jesus is the gate that allows movement — in and out, to and from pasture, mixing and mingling with diverse communities, providing access to abundant life, not a limited life of scarcity and confinement.

Thinking about the gate reminds me of two other stories — one from long before this, and one for long after. First: when the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, God heard their suffering and promised to bring them out, and the promise was “I will bring them out to a good and broad land.” Out of the narrow confines of Egypt, whose very name in Hebrew actually has a root that means “narrow,” into a spacious place. Out of the walls and fences and rules and oppressions, through the gate God opened in the sea, and into freedom. And the second is at the very end of the book of Revelation, God says that the new heaven and earth will centre on a new Jerusalem, where the presence of God will live, and the gates of the city are never closed, there’s free access all the time in and out.

And here in the middle of the human story, Jesus says: I am the gate, and you will come in and go out and find pasture, because I am here so that you can have abundant life.

There are other forces in the world that want to control the gate. Forces that believe the fear of death is the most powerful thing they can hold over us, and they use it to manipulate us into behaving in ways that benefit them. Forces that divide us into different sheepfolds and demand we stay loyal only to those in our own, and refuse entry to any others. Forces that want us to think that even though conditions inside our pen are deteriorating, it’s still better than the alternative and there’s no other way possible.

Jesus calls them thieves and bandits. He says their desire is only to control and ultimately to destroy.

And yet we continue to listen to their voices as if they are true.

Meanwhile Jesus who is both gate and shepherd is calling…calling his sheep out of the sheepfold into the world. Because it is out there that we will find pasture.

So often I think we have gotten confused about what the sheepfold is for. It’s meant to be a safe refuge in danger, a respite at night or in winter, and a place for counting and preparing — like a holding place for shearing or for health checks or for getting ready for sale or for lambing. It isn’t meant to be a permanent residence. Sheep will spend most of their time out there, not in here. Because out there is where the pasture is…meaning out there is where we will be fed. In here is where we come together to share and rest. Out there is where abundant life happens, in here is where we prepare. Out there is where we will mingle with sheep from other sheepfolds…and Jesus has sheep in many folds, not just ours. We are his own, not his only.

Jesus is the gate — as the psalmist says: he keeps our going out and our coming in forevermore. He makes it possible for us to move between temporary safety and life abundant, because it turns out those are not to be found in the same place. Abundant life is out there, and it’s a bit risky…and the safety we want in the sheepfold is only safe for a little while before it turns dangerous. It’s no life at all to always be penned in…but of course we can’t be out 100% of the time either. It’s always a going out and a coming in, always a being called together and sent out. And each time, we pass through the gate, because that’s what a gate is for. We come through a relationship with the One whose voice we know. We go through the Source, the Word that brings light and life to the world.

What difference would it make to how we follow the shepherd if we thought that the place he was taking us to be fed was out there in the world? If the nourishment we need was actually outside the sheepfold… If the abundance he promises is out there, not confined in our small community of like-minded people?

What difference would it make to how we live our abundant life if we thought that being saved wasn’t about being locked away in an afterlife, but about being both gathered and sent out in this life?

I am the gate for the sheep, Jesus said. Enabling movement in and out into the world God so loves, for the people God has set free, moving toward a promised land where the gates of the city are never shut. Jesus is the gate and the shepherd who gathers and sends out — never just one or the other, but always both. And he keeps our going out and our coming in, forevermore.

May it be so. Amen.

Silence for Reflection

Sanctuary Hymn: My Shepherd Will Supply My Need (words: Psalm 23/Isaac Watts; tune: Resignation) (organ)

Online Hymn: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (words: Robert Robinson)

Sanctuary Offering and Response: Hymn 392 v. 4
Were the whole realm of nature mine
that were an offering far too small;
love so amazing, so divine,
demands my soul, my life, my all.

Concerns of the Church
*Lent Wednesdays (Westburn 1pm, here 12:15-12:45 and 7:30/soup 7)
*fashion show 29th 2pm
*session meeting 24th 7pm 
*Holy Week — Thursday, Friday walk, Saturday, Easter Day
*Easter breakfast
*new members class
*Prayer groups

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You are our Shepherd, O God,
you provide for us and care for us,
and we give you thanks.
You call us beloved — for you loved us first,
and we are grateful and we commit to loving you and others as we have been loved.
You call us family, and you place us in families,
and we give thanks today for all those who have been mothers to us,
showing your love, nurturing us, giving of themselves for us.
And we are mindful that as many celebrate the loving mothers in their lives,
others are grieving — feeling the loss that comes with great love,
or the emptiness that comes with hope and love unfulfilled or unrequited.
You lead us to green pastures and still waters,
you restore our souls.
We take this moment to lift up to you those people who have been an example for us,
who have loved us unconditionally,
who have nurtured us whether they knew it or not.
And we pause to give thanks for our church family,
for the love we share,
the life experience we pass on to one another,
the journey we walk together,
the ties that bind us as your people.

You lead us in paths of justice and righteousness
and teach us the way of your kingdom.
We pray today for those people and places in the world longing for justice and righteousness,
longing for restoration,
longing for rest,
longing for peace,
longing for enough.
We remember those families of Dunblane marking 30 years since their children were murdered.
We remember all who grieve losses through violence
and all who suffer at the hands of others.
You comfort us with your rod and staff,
you walk beside us in the valley of the shadow of death,
and we entrust ourselves and our neighbours and our world to you,
praying you would strengthen us not to give in to fear and evil,
for you are with us.
We remember today so many places close to home and across the globe
where the shadows threaten to overtake the light,
where voices of despair or hatred or greed seem to have the upper hand.
Give courage and wholeness to those who suffer.
Give peace to those places where violence reigns.
Share your vision with those who are hopeless.

We look around at our fellow sheep in your flock,
and we pray that together we might know the truth of your love for us,
and that we might heed your call to come in and go out and find pasture.
Give us the grace to share the sheepfold with all whom you have gathered,
and give us courage to turn away from the voices of those who do not call us toward abundant life.
We pray this day that you would move among us
enliven our spirits to do your will,
guide us in your way,
strengthen us to serve you with all our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls,
and open our eyes, our hearts, our hands
to be the answer to others’ prayers.
On the 15th day of the month we join our hearts as your St John’s family to pray
*For all who live and work in the area surrounding Gourock Park.
*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 Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, the Seychelles, and Djibouti.

Lead us, Good Shepherd, to be your people, sheep of your own flock.
Bring us to the table you have prepared
where our cup overflows
and send us out with your goodness and mercy pursuing us all the days of our lives,
that we may dwell in your house, now and always.
We pray in the name of Christ, who taught us to pray together:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

Sanctuary Hymn: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (words: Robert Robinson) (praise band)

Sending
Jesus is the gate who enables our going out and our coming in, and he is the Good Shepherd who will lead us out to abundant life — follow his voice out to be his people in the world God so loves.
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 (organ)

Announcements

* We worship in the sanctuary on Sundays at 11am, and Sunday worship is also online.

* 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.

* Starter Packs are in need of Shaving Foam, Shampoo, Soap, Hand Wash.

The FoodBank are short of diluting juice, cereal, noodles/microwave rice, jarred sauce, biscuits, UHT milk, and tinned meat/soups/vegetables.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* We are preparing a new member class for the spring — if you or anyone you know would like to explore becoming a member of St John’s, please speak to Teri for more information.

* During the season of Lent we have two midweek opportunities for prayer, reflection, worship, and discussion: on Wednesdays from 12:15-12:45 we’ll have Lent Lunchtime Reflections in the sanctuary, and at 7:30pm in the sanctuary will be Lent Evenings. We’ll be looking at what happened on the last night Jesus spent with his disciples before his arrest, in John chapters 13-17. Everyone is welcome as we dig deeper into the last words Jesus said to his disciples!

* 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 tomorrow, the 16th of March.

* Greenock Philharmonic Choir will be performing Britten’s St Nicolas alongside Vivaldi’s Gloria in Greenock Town Hall on Saturday 28th March at 7pm.   They will be joined by members of Voices of Inverclyde Senior Schools, and singers from St Mary’s Primary School. The tenor soloist is Euan McDonald. Tickets are available via choir members, or contact Calum Harbison (07847 250529) – also through TicketSource.  See the choir’s website for more information.

* We are having a fundraising Fashion Show with clothes from The Dressing Room (Saltcoats) on Sunday 29 March from 2-4pm at the Masonic Lodge. Tickets are £5 and you can get them from Norma or Anne L. Come along for a fun and funny afternoon of fashion!

* We are looking for someone to help with the Easter Breakfast on Sunday 5 April— it would mean joining the kitchen team from about 6am to help with preparation, and also staying to help wash up. Please speak to Graham Bolster or Anne Love for more info.

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

* 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 and Theology Thursday on Youtube, get snippets of thought or inspiration following Teri on TikTok, and of course keep up with announcements and events on Facebook and our weekly email.