Sunday Service for 6 March 2022, first Sunday in Lent

6 March 2022, first Sunday in Lent
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.

–YouTube won’t allow me to embed the video we are showing in the online service, so you can pause at that part of the sermon (just when I talk about Adele) and watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQM3XUhiXbQ

Prelude Music

Welcome

Call to Worship
1: The Shepherd calls —
and his sheep know his voice.
2: The Gate opens —
that we may come in, and go out, and find pasture.
3: The Good Shepherd gathers us in —
and leads us to abundant life.

Prayer
Hymn 776: Ukrainian Kyrie

You are the One who cares for us, O God.
You provide, you nurture, you speak tenderly and call us your own.
We give you thanks as you surround us with your protection and offer your very self to us.

We pray “like a shepherd, lead us,” but we confess that we are not always open to being led.
We would prefer to control who else is in the flock with us, and where we are going, and how long we’ll be out.
~Kyrie~
We hear you calling, but we confess we find it difficult to distinguish between your voice and others.
Some of what they say sounds good, flashy and interesting and quick-fix,
and we admit that we have sometimes chosen to follow their way instead of yours.
~Kyrie~
You lead us ever forward into abundant life, even in the face of dust and ashes,
but we confess that we find it comfortable inside the sheepfold,
and we’d rather stay in where it’s safe and separate from the hardship of the world outside.
~Kyrie~
Forgive us, for we are unruly sheep, and we have not been faithful to you, our Good Shepherd.
Remind us this day of our place in your kingdom,
and turn our hearts and our feet to follow you into Abundant Life. Amen.

Online Hymn 716: Come and Find the Quiet Centre

(in person: Children’s Time)

Reading: John 10.1-18 (New Revised Standard Version)
‘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.’

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: I’d know that voice anywhere
A few months ago I was visiting our BB sections and we played a game: everyone stood around the room with their eyes closed, and the adults said the names of the boys, at various volumes…and when the boys heard a name, they were supposed to put a hand up…and if they heard their own name, they were to raise both hands. Then we asked them who it was who said their name.

Sometimes they were very certain which adult it was who had whispered their name. Sometimes they weren’t really sure who it had been. Sometimes they didn’t really hear their own names being called, and at least one never put up his hand because he was so surprised by how it had been called!

After this game we talked about how hard it can be to hear when there’s a lot going on… things outside or things inside us can mean it’s difficult to make out the voices. And sometimes we seem more attuned to the voice calling other people, but not very good at hearing our own name.

We also talked about how hard it can be to tell just whose voice it is! Jesus says that “the sheep follow because they know his voice.” How do we get familiar enough with Jesus’ voice to know it’s him, and not someone else?

Whenever I think about that question, I’m reminded of this video from several years ago, where the singer Adele dons a disguise and joins in an audition for Adele impersonators. They give her a prosthetic nose and chin, a wig, and long gloves. She goes by the name Jenny, and she lowers her speaking voice and changes her accent so that when she speaks to the other Adele impersonators, they won’t recognise her. But then when it comes time to sing…
(Video clip)

How do they know it’s her?

Because they’ve spent a lot of time listening to her. They’ve been putting intentional effort into mimicking her. Even the ones who thought it was impossible and so couldn’t see out of their own box ended up convinced as they continued to listen. They knew her voice, and so they joined in — just as they’ve been doing at home for ages, singing along, mirroring her hand movements and her shoe choices and so much more.

I don’t know if you noticed the song chosen for the audition, but it’s about what someone would do to make you feel their love. I know it wasn’t written this way but…it almost could be a song from Jesus. What would he do to make us feel his love?

He’d come down into the sheep pen, where we’ve been hanging out together, milling about and churning up the ground to mud while reminiscing about how it used to be so grassy in here, wallowing a bit in the muck, head-butting each other over our favourite seats…he comes in and calls us by name. And his sheep — we know we’re talking about people now, not literal sheep — know his voice. They’ve been listening. They’ve been practicing it. They’ve been trying to mirror his movements. They recognise him the minute he opens his mouth. The good shepherd calls, and those who know his voice come to him…and he leads them out.

Out of the sheep pen.

Out of the place where they have felt safe and comfortable, out of the place where they know everyone and what they’ll say and how they’ll react and where they like to sit and who they like to talk to. Out…and back in…and out…and back in…and out…and following him, they find pasture. Following him, they find nourishment and life and a good and spacious land in which to live and love and serve.

Now, others have tried to come in and impersonate the shepherd. They’ve practiced his hand movements and tried to mimic his voice, but they don’t have any intention of leading the sheep to pasture, to abundant life. They make big promises, but they don’t have any intention of fulfilling them. Those others want to lead us to places that profit themselves, not us and not the world. Those other voices are trying to steal the sheep and use them, not care for them. Whether it’s the voice offering power, or status, or wealth…or the voice calling toward violence or hate or exclusion…or the voice claiming certainty and perfection and safety…they aren’t the real deal. There is no way to peace or justice through the path of violence or money — no matter what some politicians want us to believe. There is no way to true community through the path of pretend perfection or exclusion — no matter what social media filters come out next. There is no way to full Jesus-like life through the path of safety — despite our desire for security. We know this, because those who have tried to lure us away are the very ones who turn their backs and run away when danger comes, leaving us to fend for ourselves. But Jesus comes right into the middle of it all, and stays by our side while he leads us on.

The voice of the Good Shepherd leads us out of the pen, to the pasture. Out to abundant life, where there may be dangers but also possibility, because he never leaves us alone out there, unlike those impersonators who have only their own interests at heart. There’s nothing Jesus wouldn’t do to make us feel his love — even go to the cross, and beyond to the empty tomb.

During the season of Lent we are invited to practice turning our lives around — the fancy church word for that is “repent” — to follow Jesus more closely. To shut out the other voices that call, and focus on the voice of the Good Shepherd, so that when we arrive at the cross and the tomb, and then when the tomb is open, we are ready to follow him into brand-new, never-before-seen abundant life. Whatever other voices are most tempting to you, I invite you to consider whether there are ways you can turn them off, give them up, shut them out, so there’s more time in your life and more room in your mind and heart listen to him over and over, to practice being like him, and so recognise him as soon as you hear his voice, even in the midst of everything else. Maybe that is, for you, a practice of fasting from something that’s clamouring for your attention, making room for God’s voice to cut through the noise. Maybe it is a practice of adding more time in scripture or prayer or service, to practice recognising his voice. Whatever it may be, I hope you will take time this season to focus in on the voice of the One who would do anything to show us his love, and who calls us all — from this sheepfold and others too — to follow him into Life.

May it be so. Amen.

Online Hymn: The Lord’s My Shepherd (Stuart Townend)

(In person: Baptism of Freya Elizabeth)

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

God of love,
you have offered yourself to us
and called us to do the same.
Thank you for your gift of life,
for seasons that change in their time,
for sun and rain that nourish your creation,
for friends and family that nourish our hearts.
We thank you for your church,
bringing good news to your world.
And we pray for your Body, the church…
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,
and strengthen us to serve you with all our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.
We pray for those who seek…who seek healing, who seek peace, who seek hope.
We remember today the people of Ukraine…
and of Syria, and Yemen, and Nigeria, and Colombia,
and 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.
And open our eyes, our hearts, our hands
to be the answer to others’ prayers.
In the silence, we offer you our prayers, and we listen for yours.
…
Lead us, Good Shepherd, to be your people, sheep of your own flock,
to listen carefully and follow you no matter the cost to our self-interest.
Make us bold to proclaim your grace, your forgiveness, your hope, your way.
Make us again into your body, giving your love to the world.
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.

(In person Hymn 462: The King of Love My Shepherd Is (tune: St. Columba))

Benediction
The shepherd calls, and the sheep know his voice. Go from this time of worship into a holy Lent, turning away from voices that do not lead to abundant life, and turning toward the Good Shepherd who will stop at nothing to show his love for you.
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.

in-person Postlude Music: Ukrainian Anthem 

Announcements

* We have now entered the season of Lent, a season of preparing for Easter. During Lent we are invited to be particularly attentive to our spiritual practices, to remove things from our lives that are hindering our relationship with God, and to be diligent in pursuing faithful ways. This season is meant to get us ready to meet the risen Christ on the other side of the tomb, and to follow him wherever he will lead. The theme for worship during this Lenten season will be “Who’s Calling?” — thinking about how we incline our ear to the voice of Jesus through the cacophony of the world around us.

*You are invited to join in reading the Bible in a year for 2022 — immersing ourselves in God’s word throughout the year. Click here to find a reading plan that’s five days a week (leaving a couple of days for catch up each week!). Watch this space for information about a Bible study as we go through the scriptures together!

* 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 Jonathan. 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 and/or Westminster Wednesdays 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!

* Join us tomorrow for a Bowl and a Blether, a chance to just come for a bowl of soup and a chat with others who are looking to deepen community and see friends. All are welcome, between 11:30 and 1:30pm, at the St John’s Road entrance.

* Next Saturday, 12 March, our Local Mission Group (our smaller local portion of Clyde Presbytery) is hosting a Charities Fayre, at the Wellpark Midkirk. There’ll be a chance to find out what’s going on in our area, enjoy some music, and meet people, and even to find out ways to be involved in doing good works in the community. We look forward to seeing you!