Sunday service for 7 September 2025

Sunday 7 September 2025 – cafe church all age service
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

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.

Call to Worship and Opening Prayer
In this place and time – God is with us
When we are at home or out and about – God is with us
When we travel abroad and when we’re just popping out to the shops – God is with us
On the train and the bus – God is with us
When we’re online and when we’re watching the telly – God is with us
When we walk the dog and when we’re tucked up in bed – God is with us
When we’re helping someone and when we’re struggling ourselves – God is with us
When we don’t know what to do next and when we’re carefully following directions – God is with us
When we’re celebrating and when we’re sad – God is with us
Whoever we are and wherever we are on life’s journey
God is with us

Thanks be to God for this day…for all that is above / below / before / behind / around / within…

Loving God we are so grateful for your presence and care,
for the instructions you give and the guidance of your Spirit.
We are sorry for the times we have ignored you,
the times we’ve seen you leading and turned a different direction,
the times we’ve heard you calling and just put on our headphones and listened to something else.
Forgive us for not noticing you all around us every day.
Forgive us for not paying attention.
Forgive us for choosing other paths.
Bring us back to your way,
and teach us again to look for you
and to follow where you lead,
for we trust that you know the bigger picture
and you are leading us into your abundant life, your kingdom, even now.
We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Online Hymn: In the Midst of New Dimensions

Sanctuary Hymn: God of Futures Yet Unfolding (words: Mary Louise Bringle; tune: Lewis Folk Melody)

Bible Story: Exodus 40.34-38
Over the past several weeks we have heard about how the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ended up in Egypt, through the youngest son Joseph who saved not only Egypt but the whole region from famine. He was prime minister of Egypt, Pharaoh’s right hand man, but generations after he died, the kings and people had forgotten their history. They turned on their neighbours and became fearful of these people who lived among them but looked a bit different and had some different religious practices. That fear grew to hate and then to abuse, and they enslaved the Israelites, oppressing them and forcing them to labour and even killing their children by throwing them in the Nile River. Moses was born then, but he was rescued from the river by Pharaoh’s daughter. Through twists and turns he grew up, made some big mistakes, ran away, and eventually was called back by God speaking to him out of a burning bush. He went back and spoke to Pharaoh, who refused to let the people go from slavery, and so God sent plagues on the Egyptians, and eventually after the tenth plague the Israelites escaped. They followed the pillar of cloud and fire through the wilderness, they crossed through the sea on dry land while Pharaoh’s entire army was swept away, they complained and God listened. God fed them with manna and quail in the wilderness, God poured water out of a rock for them, God spoke to them from the mountain and gave them all the instructions they needed for a brand new life — a life in community, free from slavery and oppression and abuse, a life as God’s treasured possession and priestly nation, giving God’s blessing to the world.
The people allowed their own fear to get the better of them and they turned away from God’s instructions in a pretty spectacular way, and God was upset and Moses was upset and when they realised what they had done, the people were upset too…but God chose to forgive them, to accept their apology and their desire and commitment to do better, and so God decided to give them another chance. And, it turns out, another and another and another. God’s mercy allowed them to keep going in trying to live this new life.
Then we heard last week how the people brought an offering, all sorts of precious materials, and also offered their time and labour and learned new things so that they could build a new tent of meeting, so that God could live right in the camp with them. Not up on the mountain, and not out beyond the edge of the camp, but right in the middle. People brought so many offerings it was more than they could even use, and the workers had to ask people to stop! Well, after that they got down to work and built everything for the tabernacle. All the tent poles and walls and curtains and rings and tables and altar and bowls and lamps and lampstands and screens and priestly clothes and all sorts.
At the very end of the book of Exodus, the last five verses of chapter 40, we read that when they finished all the work, and put everything together in the middle of the camp, the pillar of cloud and fire descended onto the tent and the glory of the Lord filled it up so much that even Moses couldn’t get inside! God was living right there in their midst. And whenever the pillar of cloud lifted up above the tent of meeting, the people knew it was time to move the camp and continue the journey. And whenever the pillar of cloud and fire stayed right on the tent, the people knew they were to stay where they were. And so at every stage of their journey, God dwelt with them in the camp, the pillar of cloud and fire never leaving its place in the middle of the people.

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

Reflection: Life’s Journey
Look back over your life…think about your youngest years…your school years…your young adulthood…your working life…your family life…your more recent experiences…
Can you picture your life journey like a map?
Where have been the twists and turns in the road?
Are there any moments when you took a turn off in a new direction?
What obstacles or challenges have you encountered along the way?
What joys and celebrations have brightened up the trip?
What people have been with you at different times of your life?
What have you learned…and what do you wish you had learned earlier or later?
When you look at your life journey map: can you see any times when God has been there?
Any times when you can look back and say “oh yes, the Holy Spirit definitely helped me along that bit, or was like a signpost right there, or pushed me back here”?
Any places or people or experiences that you recognise God’s work, God’s hand, God’s guidance?

Throughout the book of Exodus we have heard how God hears the people’s cries, God sees the situation they are in, God knows what is going on, and God is coming to help them, save them, set them free, and guide them to a new life. And we just heard in the last few verses of the book that “at every stage of the journey” God was present as a pillar of cloud and fire, leading the way, always visible, living right in the middle of the camp.

That’s true for our lives too, though sometimes we can’t see as clearly as a pillar of cloud. But there is not one single moment when God is absent from us. At every stage of the journey of life, God is with us. God has been with us. God will be with us.

In fact in the story of creation we learn that God breathes into the creation and that’s how it comes to life — so the wind that blows is God’s breath, the breath we breathe in our own lungs is God’s breath, the Holy Spirit that inspires and gifts and leads is God’s breath.

online: Take in a deep breath, and let it out slowly. Look at your life journey map, and take a deep breath, knowing it is God’s breath, and you are God’s treasured possession. Let it out slowly, knowing it is God’s breath, and you are God’s priestly nation, breathing God’s blessing out to the world.

Sanctuary instructions…
On your table you should have a balloon. I invite you to take a moment to hold that balloon in your hands, maybe to stretch it a tiny bit, and to think about the times of your own life journey when you can see that God was there, caring, listening, helping, guiding, supporting you. And then to take a deep breath — God’s breath — and blow up your balloon. If you’re not able to blow up your own balloon please do help each other around the table, and we have a few already ready in case you’d like to just hold it and think about your journey without trying to blow it up yourself.

Once all your balloons are blown up, there is also a wee ring on your table. Slide the balloon into the slots on the ring — it’s easiest to do this in between the knot and the little rolled up hole-end of the balloon, rather than between the knot and the round part!

When everyone’s balloons are on the ring, one person from your table bring it to the middle.

(Build the pillar)

At every stage of the journey, God dwelt with the people. The pillar of cloud and fire never left its place in their midst, and whenever it moved, the people moved, and whenever it stayed put, so did they. And so day by day, God was with them. Day by day, God is with us, at every stage, at every turn, at every moment. Thanks be to God.

Hymn: Never Once (by Matt Redman, praise band)

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
You are our God and we are your people,
and by your presence you make every place holy.
We pray for hearts open to see
your face reflected all around us, not only here.
Even now, already,
your glory shines,
and you lead us by your own hand.
Give us a glimpse, even a moment,
that we may be strengthened for the living of these days.

In the stillness we wait, O God…
wondering what you will do next.
In this world where peace feels impossible and hope seems far off,
we are looking for signs of your presence.
We keep hoping that maybe this time will be different —
something will change, and progress will be real
and creation will heal and we will make swords into plows.
You promised to dwell among us, O God,
and we thank you for making your home among us.
We trust you will show us the way,
that no matter where we find ourselves,
even when we are past the end of our own human abilities,
we are still with you.

Bring us to the banks of your living river,
where everything lives and flourishes.
Renew us and nourish us
for the work of your kingdom come on earth,
for the world cries out:
for peace
for enough to eat
for clean water
for relationships restored
for hope
for truth
for compassion
for justice.
You have called us your people,
and promised to be our God,
living in our midst.
Write your word on our hearts again,
satisfy our thirst for you,
dismantle every barrier between us,
and set us free to walk by your light
into the world you are re-creating even now.
We ask in the name of the One who makes all things new,
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: Lead On, O Cloud of Presence (words: Ruth Duck; tune: 446 St Theodulph)

Sanctuary Prayer Reflection activity: personal (edible) pillar of cloud

Hymn GWA 87: The Blessing (praise band)

Sending
Wherever we go — God is with us. When we feel lost, and when we feel certain — God is with us. When we are excited and when we are scared— God is with us. When we are together and when we are apart— God is with us. When we feel blessed and when we are blessing others and when we aren’t even sure what blessing would mean — God is with us.
Go to live this truth: God is with us. And know that the Spirit of God goes above you to watch over you…and the Spirit of God goes beside you to be your companion… the Spirit of God goes before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go if you thought you were alone. And the Spirit of God goes 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.

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.

* Starter Packs are in need of Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner, Hand Wash/Soap, Shampoo, Deodorant.
The FoodBank are running low on tinned meat, tinned meals, tinned fruit, UHT milk, diluting juice, pasta sauces, and mens & ladies deodorant.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* Sunday the 14th of September will be a Songs of Praise service — if you have hymns/songs you would like to request, let Teri know by TODAY Sunday the 7th.

* 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 31 August 2025

Sunday 31 August 2025
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 (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.

Call to Worship
One: The world belongs to God —
All: the earth and all its people.
One: Everything we have is a gift from God —
All: every skill and talent, every resource and asset.
One: God gives freely to us,
All: and invites us to give freely in return.

Sanctuary Hymn: God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending (words: Robert Edwards; tune: Beach Spring)

Prayer
Generous God, you are the giver of every good gift.
All we have and all we are, our very being and breath is from you.
You have filled this world
and shown us how to live in harmony
so that all creation has what it needs to flourish —
enough resources to share,
enough land and water and air and food
enough skills and talents,
enough.
You have given us all that we need to answer your call,
to fulfil your purpose,
to build your kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
We confess that we often believe we do not have enough.
We always want more.
We keep your bounty for ourselves.
We see the unequal distribution of all the earth provides,
and we act as if we deserve the privilege of more,
and others deserve their lack.
We hear your instructions and your desire, we see your vision,
but we believe we don’t have what it would take to put it into action,
so we sit on our hands and wish things were different.
Forgive us, Lord.
Forgive us when the truth we are afraid to admit
is that we just don’t want to do what you ask.
Forgive us when our hearts are hardened by greed and pride,
so we cannot be moved to generosity.
Forgive us when we have decided that giving what we have leftover is plenty.
Forgive us and stir our spirits, soften our hearts, open our minds,
to reflect your image —
your grace and love, your welcome and compassion,
your generous heart and your open hands,
through our own open and generous ways.
We ask in the name of the One who poured out his very life for us,
Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Online Hymn: God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending (words: Robert Edwards; tune: Beach Spring)

Sanctuary Hymn: Great God of Every Blessing (words: David Gambrell; tune: Aurelia)

Children’s Time and Bible Story: Exodus 35.4-36.7
Last time we heard about God meeting the people at Mt Sinai and giving them instructions for everything — everyday life, and big mistakes, and organising their community, worship and sacrifices, and even how to build a worship space. From the little to the big things, God cares about how we live our lives and how we live together as a community: close to God’s heart, revealing what relationship with God looks like, and being a priestly people that enable others to have a relationship with God too. Even when they made a huge wrong turn, God chose to forgive and called them to try again to follow this new way of living.

We pick up the story today in the next chapter, and we’ll hear today from chapters 35 and the beginning of chapter 36.

Moses spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites and invited them to make an offering to the Lord, so that they could build a new tent of meeting — this one wouldn’t be outside the camp like the other one, this was going to be right in the middle, and would go with them wherever they went. The tent would be the place where God would abide with them, in the centre of their community, and they could meet with God and worship anytime. It would be the most beautiful tent, a visual glimpse of the beauty of God’s kingdom in their midst.

Their offering would show their gratitude for God being with them, and also their dedication of themselves and their commitment to living God’s way as God’s treasured possession. Also, just practically, the same as is true today, there was no one outside giving those resources, the people have to do it themselves if they want to have a place and a program of ministry. So God called them to bring an offering of gold, silver, and bronze, of linen and wool dyed in bright colours, animal skins and leather, wood, oil and spices, and beautiful stones and gems.

All the Israelite people heard this call to bring an offering. They went into their own tents and prayed about it, and then they started to come out. Men and women and even young people started bringing out their brooches and earrings and necklaces, their finest linen, their bronze lamps, their pieces of wood, their leather, and their bright coloured wool. The skilful women spun new wool into yarn and dyed it blue and purple and red. People brought their secret stashes of spices and oil. Everyone whose heart was stirred by the Holy Spirit brought what they had and gave it as a freewill offering to the Lord.

God also called two men called Bezalel and Oholiab to use their gifts of design and craftsmanship, to make the designs, carve the wood, work in gold and silver and bronze, mix spices for incense and oil, and weave and embroider in rich colours. They were to make a tent, complete with poles and coverings and walls and curtains and pegs and cords, tables and lamp stands and oil lamps and incense holders, an altar and basins to go round it, even robes for priests to wear. That’s a lot for just two people, however gifted they are, so they needed people who could work with wood, metal, and fabric, people who could follow directions and also people with artistic vision, people who understood measurements and how things would fit together. God gave Bezalel and Oholiab the gift of teaching, and then called all those who were willing to give their time and energy, the labour of their hands and their minds, to come forward and use their gifts to put these offerings to good use, creating a beautiful space. Anyone who was willing to learn and to serve came forward. All these workers took the offerings the Israelites brought, and they created the tabernacle and all the furnishings.

As they were doing the work, people kept on bringing more offerings. Every single morning, more people’s hearts were stirred to bring an offering. And the artisans and craftsmen and workers who were learning from Bezalel and Oholiab, who were using these offerings to create this beautiful place for God to abide with the people, said to Moses: “the people are bringing much more than enough for us to do what the Lord commanded us to do!”

So Moses had to send out orders to stop the people from making anymore offerings, because what they had already brought was more than enough to do all the work.

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: more than enough
Can you even imagine these words: they had to be stopped from bringing more offerings because what they had already brought was more than enough for all the work God had called them to do!

I don’t think I have ever been part of a community where the offerings were more than enough for the ministry the community was already doing…let alone more than what the community wanted to be able to do. More often than not, we are scaling back on what we feel called to do because we don’t have the budget to support it. We want to keep up the things we currently do, and most of the time we barely have the offerings for that, let alone anything new or bigger, even if God is calling us to something more.

So it’s hard to imagine what it must have felt like, to be the artisans who had come forward to offer their skills and to learn from Bezalel and Oholiab — they had to actually pause their work one day and find Moses to tell him that they were so inundated with resources, they didn’t need anymore, and could he get people to stop bringing offerings!

It becomes even more difficult to imagine when we remember that the Israelites had fled from slavery in Egypt only a few months ago. They had “borrowed” the jewellery and other valuables from their Egyptian neighbours before going, and so looted Egypt even as they ran away from generations of enslavement, oppression, and abuse. But still….they didn’t even take food, but it seems they must have taken everything valuable that they could carry. Some of that gold had already been turned into a golden calf, then ground up and sprinkled on the water so they couldn’t remake the jewellery, but somehow when God stirred their hearts to give an offering, they brought silver, bronze, gold, brightly dyed fabrics, leather, wood, and gems. People spun goat and sheep wool into yarn and dyed it with dyes that were rare and expensive. They brought oil and spices.

Where did all this stuff come from? I always picture the Israelites as not being fully prepared for their wilderness journey…but it turns out the situation is more like what an elder in my first church used to say: “everything we need is here, you’re just sitting on it” and then he would pat the back pocket he kept his wallet in!

What if that’s still true?

What if everything we need is already here, and we’re just sitting on it? Or it’s at the bottom of our packs, tucked away for safekeeping…

It wasn’t just the stuff either, not just precious metals and jewels and fabrics and leather and wood and oil and spices. It was also the people — their time, energy, and labour. They offered themselves to do the work, even to learn new skills for the tasks that God needed them to do. Everything they needed was already there among them, in the community, even though most of them would never have done much weaving or embroidery or woodwork or sculpting before. But they were willing to learn, to put in the time, to work together to make it all happen.

The story says that everyone whose heart was stirred, everyone whose heart was willing, gave this offering of precious items and of time and labour.

Their hearts were stirred and willing…and they realised that not only did they already have all the resources they needed, they actually had more than enough when they all chipped in together.

What might happen if we all chipped in together, time and talents and skills and willingness to learn and precious resources?

First, of course, our hearts would have to be stirred.

I often remind leaders that people won’t just give an offering just because…people give because we are inspired, because we believe in the mission or goals or plans…not just because there’s a budget.

In other words, we give of ourselves and our resources because we want to be a part of something bigger. Something that matters. A common task brings people together, opens our hearts to participate, and we find that the more we give to it, the more inspired we are.

What, then, is our common task? What big thing is God calling us to do that inspires us and stirs our hearts? For the Israelites, it was building a place where God could abide in their midst — a tent that would live in the middle of their camp, not out beyond the edges like the one we heard about last week. A sign that their relationship was renewed after their huge failure with the golden calf, and that God and people were making this journey together. They wanted it to be perfect for God — vibrant, beautiful, and functional. The description of them designing the lamp stands and tables and curtains and curtain rings and bowls and spoons and bronze grates and poles to carry the tent and all sorts takes up the next three chapters of Exodus. It’s a big undertaking, and it took all of them giving and working together to make it happen.

What big undertaking is God asking us to do? What is it that our community needs in order to see God in our midst, a sign that we are on this journey together? No dream is too big…if we really believe that God has already placed in our community all the resources we need to actually do it. The only challenge is seeing the vision and then being willing to give the offering.

We have big dreams here at St John’s — dreams of being known for loving God and loving Gourock, dreams of our building becoming a community hub where all are welcome in a space for spiritual growth, wellbeing, healing, creativity, justice, and friendship in a world where we’re increasingly isolated, in an area where drugs and alcohol and mental health are ever-increasing concerns, in a society that is often so divided. We want to see development of our halls so that more people can encounter God’s peace and love here through a variety of groups and programs and services and ministries. We want to see development of us as a church family so that God’s grace is spreading outward in our every action. We want to see people fed and nourished, body and mind and spirit. We want to see young people learning the joy and support of a relationship with Jesus. We want to see school leavers with places to go that aren’t just the pub, and with options that aren’t just moving away. We want to be a place where people can use their Spirit-given gifts and talents to make the world better. We want to be at the heart of this community, because we believe that our community is close to God’s heart.

It feels impossible. Impossible that we could dream bigger than the restricted church budgets we’ve always known. Impossible that the resources could actually already be here among us. Impossible that we might find the energy and time and willingness to give. Impossible that there would be enough — enough of anything, whether money or people. Every finance report that has a deficit makes it feel impossible. Every plea for volunteers that gets little response makes us wonder if God is stirring hearts or not. Every event that reaches the community but isn’t well supported by those of us already here is a question about whether the insiders and outsiders can ever mix into one. But we believe that God is at work here. I believe that God is at work here. The Holy Spirit is on the move. Something is happening. People long for hope, for peace, for community, for support, for the opportunity to serve others. The world is full of people looking everywhere for a spiritual connection — to the universe, to the loved ones we have lost, to random signs, to internet influencers, seeking a bigger picture or a bigger purpose — and we have that! We know that the living God is right here in our midst, abiding with us, traveling with us, showing us glimpses of the beauty of the kingdom. But do we know it only in our heads, while our hearts remain unmoved and our spirits cling to the security we think we get from holding on to the things we save up for later or for just in case?

We are so used to working with not enough, we can barely imagine what enough, or even more than enough, would be like. And we are so used to doing what we’ve always done, we often can’t imagine what big thing God might be calling us to do.

But with God, all things are possible. God gives visions and dreams. God calls. God equips. God stirs hearts. Everything we need is already here…we’re just sitting on it. God opens our eyes to see that we have enough…if only we will give it.

May it be so. Amen.

Hymn: Take My Life (praise band)

Sanctuary Offering and Response: We Are An Offering
We lift our voices; we lift our hands;
we lift our lives up to you:
we are an offering.
Lord, use our voices; Lord, use our hands;
Lord, use our lives; they are yours:
we are an offering.
All that we have, all that we are,
all that we hope to be,
we give to you, we give to you.
We lift our voices; we lift our hands;
we lift our lives up to you:
we are an offering;
we are an offering.

Concerns of the Church
Youth Groups
Bible Study Wednesday
Bowl & Blether tomorrow 11:30-1:30
Muriel speaking on Thursday the 4th at 7pm
Prayer Groups — Sundays 10:15, Intercessory

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (Charlene)

Let us come before God in prayer, let us pray.

Gracious and most loving God,
We come before you with hearts full of gratitude, thanking you for the gift of your presence and the assurance that you hear us when we pray.
We thank you for your promise to answer, not always as we hope or expect, but always according to your perfect will, in your perfect time.
Help us to trust in your wisdom, your kindness and your unfailing love.
Loving God, we humbly ask for healing, provision, and hope for those in need.
We lift up to you our broken and hurting world.
In the midst of war, injustice, suffering and natural disasters, we ask for your healing power.
Bring peace where there is conflict, justice where there is oppression, and hope where there is despair.
We are grateful, Lord, for all who dedicate themselves to making our world a kinder and safer place.
We give thanks for peacemakers, caregivers, teachers, volunteers, and all whose compassionate actions bring hope to difficult circumstances.
We ask that you strengthen and uplift them, renew their energy when they get tired, remind them they are seen when they feel invisible, and fill them with joy as they share your love in this world.
May our leaders and those in authority be guided to seek truth, demonstrate integrity, and exercise their responsibilities with wisdom and compassion.
Lord, we pray for the lonely, the sick, the unemployed, struggling families, and those seeking purpose.
We remember especially those without shelter, safety, or a place to rest, as well as those who are uncertain about their next meal or struggling with addiction.
May we feel compelled to respond with compassion, to share what we have generously, and to offer support without judgment.
We also take time to pray for those who do not yet know you – those who have never heard your name or have never encountered your love.
We ask that you reveal yourself to them in ways they can understand. Open their hearts and minds to receive your grace.
May they come to meet you personally and know the joy of walking with you.
Help us to remember, Lord, that you have entrusted us to be your witnesses in this community.
May we reflect you in every word we speak and every choice we make.
Use our lives to shine your light, that others may be drawn to you.
And on this 31st day of the month we join our hearts as your St John’s family to pray for:
The whole community of Gourock, for our beautiful natural environment: the river, burns, lochs, soil, air, flora and wildlife of all kinds, and for all who live, work, play, pray, and pass through this place.
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 health of the whole creation, all the nations of the world, and the work of the United Nations, that we may know ourselves as a global community.
Thank you, Lord, for your goodness and forgiveness. We entrust all our prayers to you, and we surrender our lives to your will.
Trusting in your promises, we join together to pray as Jesus taught us, saying:
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: I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me (African-American Spiritual)

Sending

And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you…and 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 if you thought you were 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

* 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.

* We are receiving a special offering for Tabeetha School in Jaffa-Tel Aviv, the only Church of Scotland School. It serves children from Christian, Muslim, and Jewish families, as well as international students, in a Christian, English-language school that builds peace across the barriers of an incredibly divided Israeli society. They are running a “Hope at every desk” campaign to equip classrooms for the academic year just about to start. Please consider giving generously to support this important mission! You can give during the service, during the Thursday evening event with mission worker Muriel Pearson who is also school chaplain at Tabeetha, or online — just ask Teri for the link. Thank you!

* Starter Packs are in need of Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner, Washing up Liquid, Cleaning Cloths and Hand Wash.

The FoodBank are running low on tinned meat, tinned meals, tinned fruit, UHT milk, diluting juice, pasta sauces, and mens & ladies deodorant.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* The next Bowl & Blether is TOMORROW Monday 1 September. Doors open at 11:30, and soup & toasties are served from 12 noon – 1:30pm. All are welcome! If you’d like to volunteer we have three shifts available: 9:45-12 for preparation and set-up; 11:30-1:30 for serving; or 12:45-2pm for clean up. Speak to Teri, Graham Bolster, or Charlene!

* We look forward to welcoming Church of Scotland mission worker the Rev. Muriel Pearson to speak on Thursday the 4th of September at 7pm in the sanctuary. Muriel will talk about her life and work experiences in Israel and Palestine over the past four years, the current situation there, our Church partners and work on the ground, and what we can do. She will also answer some audience questions. All are welcome!

* Sunday the 14th of September will be a Songs of Praise service — if you have hymns/songs you would like to request, let Teri know by next Sunday the 7th.

* 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 17 August 2025

Sunday 17 August 2025
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

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.

Call to Worship
One: In the big flashy moments and in the everyday little things,
All: God provides.
One: Whether we have done more than enough or next to nothing,
All: God provides, and God calls.
One: When we’re looking back longingly, lamenting what we’ve lost, or looking around us now,
All: God provides, God calls, and God teaches us to trust.
One: We come to worship the One who shows us a new way.

Sanctuary Hymn 167: Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah

Prayer
God of the miraculous and the mundane,
we praise you for your care —
in daily bread and in liberation from all that harms.
We encounter your gifts of mercy new every morning,
and we give you thanks,
for we admit we have a tendency to hold on, save up,
worried there won’t be enough for tomorrow.
We confess that we are a people prone to mistrust,
certain our neighbours are getting things at our expense,
quick to complain that things have gone downhill,
always believing we just need a little more than we have.
We cannot free ourselves of our habits of hoarding or fear,
we cannot turn ourselves away from worry about what we lack,
we cannot reconcile ourselves to our dependence on you.
But you are the God who delivers us,
who sets your people free.
You are the God who provides,
not only for our needs but for the needs of all.
You are the God who knows us better than we know ourselves,
and still you call us and set us on your way, walking beside us in every land.
When we misuse your gifts, so that there is not enough to go around, forgive us.
When we insist on instant gratification so some never get a day of rest, forgive us.
When we see only scarcity and teach others to see it too, forgive us.
With you there is always enough,
even when we do not know how to name it.
Restore us to the joy of your providing,
and help us today to practice your abundance,
that we may be good stewards of your ordinary miracles each day,
for we trust that with you,
there is always enough.
We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Hymn GWA 173: Goodness of God (praise band)

Children’s Time and Bible Story: Exodus 15.22-17.7
When last we left the the Israelites, they had crossed through the Red Sea on a dry path, with walls of water on either side…and when they all got through safely, the walls of water collapsed and washed away the entire Egyptian army as the sea returned to normal. Miriam and all the women led the people in singing and dancing a new song to the Lord who had set them free. We pick up today in the very next verse, reading from Exodus chapter 15, starting at verse 22 and carrying on through chapter 17 verse 7.

The people journeyed away from the sea, following the pillar of cloud and fire. They traveled for three days but never came to any water…finally after three days they arrived at a place called Marah. That’s a Hebrew word that in English means “bitter.” There was water there but it was…marah. It was bitter and not drinkable. The people cried out “what will we drink?” They were so thirsty and starting to get scared. Moses prayed to God, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood and told him to throw it into the water. Moses did, and the water became sweet and drinkable, and the people and animals drank their fill.

They continued their journey and soon arrived at an oasis called Elim, where there were 12 springs of fresh water, and 70 palm trees bearing fruit. The Israelites camped there at Elim.

When it was time to go, the pillar of cloud and fire again led them, stage by stage, out into the wilderness we now call the Sinai desert. As they traveled, they started reminiscing together — remember when we were in Egypt, and we sat by the pots of meat cooking over the fire? Remember when we had so much bread we couldn’t eat it all? And as they remembered those days of having more food than they needed, they started to turn from hungry to hangry. They shouted at Moses — it would be better if we had died during those plagues in Egypt! At least then we had plenty to eat, we wouldn’t be dying of starvation! Did you bring us out here in the wilderness just to kill us slowly with hunger instead of letting God kill us instantly in a plague?

And God heard them, and said to Moses: go and tell the people what I will do. They’ll soon know that I am the Lord who rescued them from slavery and set them free, and I am the Lord who provides for them in their new life as free people too.
So Moses went and told the people: God has heard you, and in the evening you will have meat and in the morning you will have bread and you will know that God doesn’t just save you, he loves and provides for you too. And they looked out to the edge of the camp and saw the glory of the Lord in the cloud, and they listened for God spoke to Moses.
That night quails came up and covered the camp, and they were so easy to catch that every family feasted in the evening. And in the morning when they woke up, the ground was covered with dew — even out in the desert! When the dew lifted, there was a fine white stuff covering everything, and they said to each other “what is it?” In English that’s three words but in Hebrew it’s just one word to say “what is it” and that word is “manna.” Moses told them it’s the flour God has given them, so they were to go and collect it and use it to make bread. Everyone went out to collect as much as they needed for each household, and when they had finished, those who had collected loads more and those who had not collected enough each had exactly what they needed — no one had more or less. Moses told them to prepare it and eat it the same day, not to leave any until tomorrow, because God would provide again tomorrow. So they went and ate their fill of bread, just as God said. But some people did try to save some, just in case…and in the morning it had gone bad, rotted and grown worms overnight! Moses was upset, because he had told them not to try to store it up! Each day they went out to collect it, and they started just calling it “manna” — it tasted like wafers made with honey. They collected it every morning and made their bread, and by afternoon anything that was left lying melted away in the sun.

Then on the sixth day when they collected the manna, they got home and it was twice as much as normal! They asked Moses what to do and he told them: God has provided two days’ worth, because tomorrow is the seventh day, it’s a Sabbath when no work will be done. Prepare your bread for today and tomorrow, and it won’t go bad overnight. Tomorrow we will all rest from our labours. So the people prepared two days worth, but the next morning some people still tried to go out just like they did every other day…and there was nothing there. God was upset that people were struggling to follow the instructions, and Moses said: stay in your places and rest! This is a day for no work, it’s a day for enjoying God’s providing, enjoying God’s creation, enjoying each other’s company, and just resting — something a slave never gets to do, but you’re free now, so relax a bit!

So they went on like this, stage by stage, collecting manna every day for six days, enjoying quail in the evening, and resting on the seventh day.

A month after that night when the angel of death passed through Egypt, and they had to flee in the middle of the night, the people arrived near Horeb, the area where God had spoken to Moses from the burning bush. But they looked around and all they could see was that there was no water! They shouted at Moses again — did you bring us out here just to kill us with thirst? Moses prayed to God and said “what will I do? these people are ready to stone me to death!” God spoke to Moses and said “take some of the elders with you and go to the rock at Horeb. Take your staff too, the one you used to strike the Nile when you were speaking to Pharaoh.” Moses took his staff, and some of the elders, and they went ahead to the big rock, and God stood there on the rock and said “hit the rock with your staff.” Moses hit the rock and water flowed out, for all the people to drink — and the elders saw what had happened. And so God provided for them in the wilderness. But Moses named the place Massah and Meribah, which means quarrel and test — because they had argued about whether God was in their midst or not, and tested God’s faithfulness.

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: good old days
I wonder if any of you have ever wished that things could just go back to the way they used to be? Or wished that you could go back to some time or place from your own past? What are some of the times or things we wish we could have again?

I think it’s fascinating what we are nostalgic for, what we lament losing. We all do it, in one way or another…longing for people that have gone ahead or moved away, or for moments or places that are no longer part of our everyday lives. Communities do it too. I see all the time people longing for the Bay Hotel, or Cragburn, or the days when everyone went doon-the-watter on a steamer for their holiday. And of course in church we long for those days when it seemed everyone went to church, when there were so many children in Sunday school we didn’t have room for them all, when it felt like the Church had a voice in the nation and culture.

We look around at life, or the world, or the church, and sometimes it feels like all we can see is what we used to have and don’t have anymore.

The Israelites in the wilderness looked around and all they could see was that they used to have as much food as they wanted. There was always a stew or a roast on the fire, bread in the oven, water flowing freely for themselves and their flocks. Now they were out in the literal middle of nowhere, with none of the comforts of home.

Nevermind that that home was as enslaved people, that they were worked to the bone by a Pharaoh and his people who saw them as inferior, or that their children were constantly under threat of genocide. That all faded into the rose-tinted background as they longed for the thing they remembered.

A bit like how many of our good-old-days memories have blurry backgrounds of awful working conditions, poverty, women not being allowed to work after they got pregnant or not allowed to have a credit card in her own name, racism that we just understood as normal, church culture that required suits and ties and only allowed men in authority…often when we zoom out from the one thing we’re focused on and longing for, we see a bigger picture of many things that we wouldn’t usually want to actually bring back.

The Israelites were hungry and thirsty, yes. And they longed for the good old days of having plenty…but surely they weren’t longing for the good old days of slavery? Of serving Pharaoh who believed himself a godly power who could control everything from their workload to their childbearing? Of living alongside neighbours who thought they were dangerous and didn’t belong?

I know we’ll all say “well I didn’t mean I wanted to go back to that” but…do we? That old saying about the devil you know comes to mind. The Israelites knew what to expect from Pharaoh and his enslavers. They knew what each day would bring. Out in the wilderness as free people, following a God they were still becoming re-acquainted with, every day was an uncertainty. Would they be on the move today, or staying in camp? Would there be water? Would there be food? Would their feet hurt before they got to stop? Would they get anywhere, or would it feel like an endless slog through an unchanging landscape? Where were they going? Is this what freedom is, or is there more to it?

And God said: look at this.

Look at this wood that will detoxify the water.

Look at this flock of quail that has started following your camp.

Look at this sweet flour that has settled all around you every morning.

Look at this rock where you think nothing can happen…yet water gushes forth.

Look at this.

Right here, right now, God is in our midst…providing, leading, listening, caring.

If our eyes and hearts are full of what we used to have and don’t have anymore, will we be able to look around and see what God is doing right now?

I’ll be the first to say the world doesn’t seem full of goodness just now. Pharaoh’s kingdom is far more visible than God’s. Many of us are struggling, there doesn’t seem to be enough to go around, even though we know the earth produces plenty for all. We look around and we see not-enough. Cost of living crisis, people who still don’t have access to clean water in 2025, famine, war, health service stretched to the breaking point, not enough not enough not enough. While we thought that the world would just keep getting better generation after generation, now it seems we’re moving backward, but not to the things we wished would come back! And we can’t understand how it happened, or what to do about it.

The Israelites looked around and they saw not-enough and they didn’t understand how that could change…but God provided literally every day their daily bread. God stood on the rock and broke it open to provide water. God opened Moses’ eyes and mind to recognise how to solve a problem. God went in front of them day in and day out, glory shining even when they couldn’t actually see the path ahead.

Every single day, God provided. Look at this! And look at this! See what I’m doing for you, so that you can be my people?

Every single day, God provides. Calls us to turn our attention: look at this! Look at this! See what I’m doing for you, so that you can make my kingdom visible on earth?

It’s so tempting to hold on to our grief that things are not the way they used to be. But when we do…we miss the amazing thing God is doing to provide for right now. So I invite us all to acknowledge what we miss…and then to look at this, look at this! God is trying to get our attention today. God is providing exactly what we need for where we are today — not providing for where we used to be, or even for where we might be in 40 years time, but for where we are today. God is providing exactly what we need to be God’s people…not for the good old days, but for today, and for today’s challenges. We can never understand how God does it, or exactly how it’s precisely enough for what each of us needs, no more and no less. If we try to save it or hoard it, we can’t. If we look only for what we always knew, we’ll miss it and it will melt away. A feast beyond our understanding — we may well join the Israelites in saying “what is it?”
Manna — daily bread for today, which feeds our hope for tomorrow.

May it be so. Amen.

Online Hymn 153: Great is Thy Faithfulness

Sanctuary Offering and Response 809 (tune: Old Hundredth)
Praise God, the Source of life and birth;
praise God the Word, who came to earth;
praise God the Spirit, holy flame:
all glory, honour to God’s name.
Amen

Sanctuary: Invitation to the Table

Sanctuary Communion Hymn 655: For Your Generous Providing

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (Helen H)
Lord, we thank you for your mercy and love. Let us always be aware of Your blessings around us. For those of us who are blessed help others to see Your reflection in our blessings. When we feel that life is hard help us to recognise Your work in our trials. We thank you for the basic things in life we take for granted like clean water, sanitation, food and friendship. On an individual basis we thank you for all that has been good in our life.

We pray for Inverclyde Royal Hospital, the Larkfield Unit, and Orchard View — for the doctors, nurses, and all the staff, and for the patients and families who are served there. May your Spirit of Healing be in that place.

We pray for our St. John’s community. Remember those in Inverclyde who struggle and give them hope. For those praying for others, hear their prayers and provide healing. We pray for the Bible Study groups at St John’s, for the Intercessory Prayer Group, that they may encounter you, Living God, in word and prayer.

God, look after those in need. Provide for food, water and security to Gaza and we pray that the leaders involved will see that continued fighting will not lead to a just peace. We pray for peace wherever there is war and suffering. Help us and our leaders to recognise that You will provide and the hoarding of wealth, food, water and our way of life will not lead to world that reflects your love. We pray for the land, people, and governments of the nations of Yemen, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Iran.

We ask that one day all people will have access to a good diet, safe water and sanitation so that they may thrive. Remind us to be generous to those who are less fortunate and to share our bounty with the Food Bank, Starter Packs and international charities that bring your love into the world. Help us to be generous in assisting those in need wherever that may be.

We finish this prayer with Your words:
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: Communion
**with hymn 153: Great is Thy Faithfulness

Prayer After Communion

Peace

Sanctuary Hymn 237: Look Forward in Faith

Sending

Go from this time of worship to look around at what God is doing now — God who is faithful, God who provides, day in and day out — so that we can be a part of making God’s kingdom visible on earth here and now. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you…and 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 if you thought you were 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

* Did you hear the Holy Histories theme song written by our very own Graham G? It’s pretty catchy, so you can give it a listen here! 

* 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.

* Starter Packs are in need of Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner, Washing up Liquid, Cleaning Cloths and Hand Wash.

The FoodBank are running low on diluting juice, tinned mince & onions, tinned stew, tinned ravioli, tinned macaroni, tinned fruit, and pasta sauce.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* The Kirk Session will meet on Thursday 28 August at 7pm.

* The next Bowl & Blether is on Monday 1 September. Doors open at 11:30, and soup & toasties are served from 12 noon – 1:30pm. All are welcome! If you’d like to volunteer we have three shifts available: 9:45-12 for preparation and set-up; 11:30-1:30 for serving; or 12:45-2pm for clean up. Speak to Teri, Graham Bolster, or Charlene!

* 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 3 August 2025

Sunday 3 August 2025
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

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.

Call to Worship
One: Come, for the presence of God leads us.
All: We come, hopeful even in our uncertainty.
One: Stand firm, for the presence of God surrounds us.
All: We stand, for what else can we do?
One: Go, for the presence of God pushes us out.
All: We will go, renewed as God’s people.

Sanctuary Hymn 127: O Worship the King

Prayer
Holy and Liberating God,
You call us to be ready,
to prepare to experience your power,
for You are making all things new.
We confess that we rarely expect you to act,
and we aren’t convinced of the need for “new”…
the way things are works for us,
and we admit we have grown complacent,
building up traditions that make us feel good without requiring anything of us.
We are good at using words of freedom and justice,
but too often we resist the tangible implications of your liberating grace.
We see the needs of the world and the oppression of our neighbours
and the faltering of your Body the church,
but we insist on taking more time, going slow,
ensuring everyone is in agreement before taking any action.
Forgive us for telling our neighbours to wait for justice.
Forgive us for holding back when you are calling us forward, urgently, now.
Forgive us for believing that we can control the spread of freedom so that no one —
or no one like us — needs to be uncomfortable.
Change our hearts and our lives, now.
Make today the new beginning that marks the coming of your kingdom among us.
We stand at the edge, O God —
the edge of hope and fear, the edge of life and death,
the edge of sorrow and joy, the edge of past and future,
and our courage wavers.
Sustain us, Lord.
Hold us when we begin to falter,
push us on when we long to turn back,
reveal yourself in ways we cannot yet imagine.
All we have is our trust, and we place it in you.
From this day of new beginnings,
through the uncertainty that lies ahead,
relying on your presence and power,
we make our way into your promised future.
Lift our eyes to follow where only you can lead.
We ask through the name of Jesus and the power of your ever-present Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Online Hymn: Sing a Hymn to God’s Great Glory (Resound)

Sanctuary Hymn 173: Sing to God New Songs of Worship

Children’s Time and Bible Story: Exodus 7-12
Last week we heard about Moses and Aaron confronting Pharaoh over and over again, and God sending ten plagues on the land of Egypt to demonstrate who’s the real God here. We ended with the final plague, where the firstborn of every generation in every family was killed in the night, and Pharaoh told Moses to take the people and get out, not even waiting for the sun to rise — leave now. We pick up the story today right there, when Moses and Aaron leave Pharaoh’s palace having been told to get out, at the end of Exodus chapter 12, and we will read about halfway through chapter 15.

The Egyptians were so afraid, after all these plagues that had gotten worse and worse, that soon they would all be dead like the firstborn, so they demanded that the Israelites leave immediately, even while every Egyptian household was still wailing with grief, that same night. They rushed the Israelites to get out, so they picked up their bags, where they’d packed the jewellery and valuables they got from those same Egyptian neighbours who were now demanding they leave right now. They wrapped their cloaks around their mixing bowls that already had bread dough in them — there was no time for the dough to prove and bake properly, because they had to go right now. They just attached those to the top of their packs and they left. It had been 430 years since Joseph’s family of 70 people had joined him in Egypt…and now Moses carried Joseph’s bones with him in his pack as they left… 600,000 men, plus women and children, plus the flocks and herds, plus a mixed group of other people who didn’t feel they belonged in Egypt anymore either.

God went in front of them as a pillar of fire by night, lighting the way, and a pillar of cloud in the day time, leading them, so they could travel day and night. God didn’t want to take them along the shorter Mediterranean route, across the top of the Sinai and by the land of the Philistines that we now know as Gaza, because if they met any opposition or an army called out to stop the giant crowd approaching the border, God thought they might decide it was too difficult and turn back. Instead, God led them, a pillar of fire and cloud, in a roundabout way through the wilderness on the Red Sea side, and they camped at a place called Succoth. They had their flatbread that had baked in the packs along the way, but that was all the food they had packed, because they hadn’t had time — it wasn’t even proved and baked properly, just dough baked by the hot desert sun. But still God told them: every year from now on, this will be the food you’ll eat to remember the day you were set free: unleavened bread and roasted lamb, to remember that I brought you out with a mighty hand.

After a wee rest, they journeyed on through the wilderness, and the pillar of fire and cloud never left its place in front of them, leading the way day and night. After their next camp, God told Moses to turn the people around, and they went back the way just a bit…God said “Pharaoh will hear about it and think you’ve gotten lost in the wilderness, and he will come after you. His heart is hardened and I will win a great victory that will be told from generation to generation, and all Egypt will know that I am the LORD.” So the people followed the pillar of fire and cloud back in the direction they had come, just for a bit, and then they camped right beside the Red Sea.

Pharaoh heard that the Israelites were wandering aimlessly in the wilderness, and his heart was hardened. He and his officials changed their minds and said “why did we ever let them go? Now who will do all the work?” Pharaoh summoned his chariot, and he called together the entire Egyptian army — all the chariots and soldiers in the whole land. They rode out to pursue the Israelites. As they got close, the Israelite people turned to look back and they could see the dust rising, they could see the army getting closer, and they were so afraid. In their fear, they cried out to God…and they were so scared that next they turned on Moses. “Why did you bring us here? Were there not enough graves in Egypt to bury us there, you had to bring us out here to die? We told you at first to leave us alone! It would be better to be enslaved to the Egyptians than to die out here alone in the wilderness!” They just kept shouting at Moses and at God, they were so scared. Moses said “don’t be afraid, just stand firm and see how God will deliver you today. God will fight for you, all you have to do is stand firm and see what the Lord will do.”

God said to Moses: get moving! It’s time to move forward. Stretch out your staff over the sea, and go forward. Moses stretched out his staff over the sea and the wind picked up and blew so hard that that night the sea parted, revealing a path. The water was a wall on each side, but the sea floor was a dry path. Moses led the people on the path, and the pillar of fire and cloud moved behind them, between the people and the Egyptian army. All night long the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground…and the Egyptians followed them in with their chariots. They couldn’t get close because the pillar of cloud and fire was there, but the whole army of chariots followed on the path. Just as dawn was about to break, the last of the Israelites stepped out of the sea, and God looked at the Egyptian army from the pillar of fire and cloud, and the ground began to get soft and soggy and the chariot wheels got stuck. The Egyptians panicked and shouted out to each other to turn around, because God was fighting on the Israelites side! But before they could turn around, God said to Moses: “stretch out your staff over the water” and he did, and the walls of water collapsed and the sea returned to normal…and the entire Egyptian army was swept away by the waves, not one remained, not even Pharaoh.

And Miriam, Moses’ big sister, took out her tambourine, and all the women took their tambourines and led the people in singing and dancing, a brand new song: “glory to God, the mighty Lord…he has thrown horse and rider into the sea, by his powerful hand he has set us free.”

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: follow that pillar!
Here we are, finally — halfway through our series on Exodus, and just at the big climactic moment: freedom! God said Go, and the Israelites went…

But it still wasn’t easy.

I’ve been thinking a lot this week about a couple of different aspects of this story, and how familiar they feel even though the story is thousands of years old. It might not seem super contemporary on first glance, but as I was memorising the story to tell it today, some things started to stand out.

The first thing I noticed that feels surprisingly current was that God led the people the long way rather than the most direct route…specifically because God was worried that if there were too many obstacles or opposition, the people would want to go back to Egypt. But ultimately they wanted to go back anyway! So on the one hand, God was right…at the first sign of difficulty, in their fear they turned on both God and Moses and wished they were still back in slavery because that was better than the challenges they faced now. On the other hand…if they were going to demand to go back either way, why not just go the shorter route? It seems like God’s plan to go the long way had the same outcome as going the short way would have…so there must be more to the reasoning and the story than we can see at this point in the story.

But how often do we wish we could have just taken the shortcut, if the short-term outcome was going to be the same anyway? What difference does it make if we go through the whole process or if we skip to the end? From our limited human perspective, maybe it doesn’t make any difference. But from God’s perspective, there must be a reason…a bigger picture. That doesn’t make it any easier when we feel like we are in the middle of pointlessly going the hard way, but keeping our eye on God’s leading will also draw our attention beyond the current challenge and invite us to a glimpse of that bigger picture.

I think part of the reason they had to go the long way, even though they would still end up wishing to go back at the first sign of difficulty, is that if they’d just walked along the Mediterranean route into the promised land, God’s victory over Egypt, vanquishing their military industrial complex as well as the leader who thought he was god, would not have been complete. And the people would not have seen the fullness of God’s power over the sea — the symbol of chaos — as well as the land and its people. And I think also the staying power of their moment of liberation would not have been as great…this way there is a major moment, a core memory that will stand the test of time and storytelling through the generations, an event that will define a people and their relationship with God for millennia. God is the one who saves, who sets free — not through a battle that the people have to fight and win, but by God’s own hand and God’s own providing. We are the people God has set free with power and presence, and we could not have done it with our own power and strength. Both God and the people needed that…which means they had to go the long way to get there. So perhaps when it feels like we are wandering aimlessly, going around in circles, taking the long way instead of the shortcut that was right there for goodness’ sake…perhaps God is giving us something we need, even if we didn’t know we needed it.

The second thing I noticed that feels really current to me has to do with the sort of whiplash feeling they must have had. They were escaping, they went in the middle of the night, not even time to pack provisions beyond the unbaked bread dough. The atmosphere in that group must have been electric — so urgent, so excited to finally be free. Imagine the buzz in the camp the first few nights and the first few stops. Following God’s pillar of cloud and fire…knowing that even though they didn’t know where they were going, God was leading so it was all going to be great. And then the camp beside the sea, a beach holiday for the formerly enslaved…until they were hemmed in from behind by the approaching army. Then the sea turned from a delight to a dead end, it might as well have been a brick wall. They were trapped.

I think sometimes this is what it feels like in the institutional church right now. We get a lot of excitement about something, whatever the latest new thing is…we head down the road, so sure it will be our salvation…and then we meet a dead end. And not only can we not move forward because the obstacles are insurmountable, but we can’t go back either. We’ve talked already in this series about how demoralising it is when you get your hopes up and then they’re dashed…how much worse is it when we thought we were following God only to end up stopped in our tracks by something we can’t just work harder to overcome?

Standing there at the seashore and feeling that excitement turn to despair and panic…having had that tiny taste of freedom, that glimpse of the future that we longed for, only to have it all crash in on itself like waves breaking on the beach…we’ve been there, as a church. Sometimes I think it’s where the whole Church of Scotland is. We have had so many promising starts, and so many brick walls. And like the Israelites, we have assumed it wasn’t God leading us after all, and then turned on our leaders and blamed them for getting us into this situation…which means we’ve taken our eyes off the pillar of cloud and fire. We’ve looked away from God’s guiding presence, thinking we’d been mistaken. And then, unlike the Israelites…maybe we missed what God did in the dark of night, revealing a way where we thought there was no way. We didn’t want to follow the leader we were blaming for our situation, so we stayed on the shore. And sure, God’s pillar moved behind to protect us from the immediate threat of the army there, but we did not move our feet onto that new and impossible path, we stayed firmly camped where we were as if it was the best we could hope for now.

What would it take for us to step into the sea?

That question brings me to the third thing that stood out to me in this story…it was just a passing reference, but I think it was important. We heard that it was 430 years between Joseph’s family joining him in Egypt and then going out again…and that Moses himself carried Joseph’s bones. Those are 400 year old bones, carried like a priceless treasure.

They were a symbol, a reminder, that God had cared for them in the past. That God’s promise was ongoing. That God was present way back then, and because they had that experience, they could trust that God was present now.

Remember how the book of Exodus began? A new pharaoh arose, who did not know Joseph. Because he had forgotten his history, because the memory of being guided by God was too distant, all these things happened. But the Israelites carried the memory with them. They brought into their new life this tangible reminder that there has not been a single moment when God wasn’t with them, providing for them, giving them a future with hope even when they could not see how it would be possible. And carrying that, even though it was a burden to bear, also meant they could trust the pillar of fire and cloud enough to follow even when the route didn’t make sense. They could let their anger at Moses die down for a bit and follow his footsteps into the sea. Because they carried forward the truth of God’s presence and promise.

But that was all: the bones of Joseph. They didn’t carry all the other accoutrements that had built up over 400 years. They didn’t carry enough provisions to last the journey. They didn’t pack wagon trains of their favourite things. They didn’t dismantle their buildings and carry the bricks. They carried the symbol of God’s providing, the man who had listened to God’s dreams and saved the entire region from famine…and that was all, and it was enough.

What do we need to carry to give us the courage to follow the strange path, the courage to step into the sea? We can’t carry everything from our old life, but we need to have something. What will be our reminder of God’s promise and presence and providing? What will not hold us back, not be a burden too heavy to bear for the distance, but will give us the strength to step forward in faith?

I don’t have an answer today. I suspect it might be different for each of us, and for each church family. What I know is that we can’t keep up our endless wishes for a shortcut…we can’t step into the sea if we don’t trust that God’s impossible path leads somewhere better than where we have been and the best days are ahead of us…and we know God has been present through every generation, so carrying that promise forward is the only way to go. The pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire never left its place leading the people…will we follow?

May it be so. Amen.

Hymn: Faith Begins By Letting Go (text: Carl P Daw Jr b. 1944)

Sanctuary Offering and Response 809 (tune: Old Hundredth)
Praise God, the Source of life and birth;
praise God the Word, who came to earth;
praise God the Spirit, holy flame:
all glory, honour to God’s name.
Amen

Concerns of the Church
Food Bank – diluting juice, tinned mince & onions, tinned stew, tinned ravioli, tinned macaroni, tinned fruit, pasta sauce
Bible Study – none this week due to holiday club
Holiday Club – donations, prayers…it starts tomorrow!
Prayer Groups: Sunday morning at 10:10, Brian; intercessory group Fiona W.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (Anne L)

During this intercessory prayer after I say Lord, in Your mercy I invite you to join me in saying Hear our prayer.
Gracious and merciful God,
We come before You with hearts full of hope, sorrow, and deep concern for our world. In a time of great need, we lift our voices in intercession.
For nations at war and people displaced by violence
We pray especially for peace in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, and all places torn by conflict.
Comfort those who have lost homes, loved ones, and any sense of safety.
Guide world leaders toward just and lasting peace.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
For those affected by climate disasters
We lift up communities struck by wildfires, floods, and droughts—especially in California, India, and the Horn of Africa.

Protect the vulnerable, inspire global cooperation, and strengthen our resolve to care for Your creation.

Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
For the hungry and the poor

As food prices soar and economic inequality deepens, we pray for those who are hungry, jobless, and without shelter.

Empower us to share generously and work toward systems of equity and compassion.
Lord, in Your mercy,

Hear our prayer.
For refugees and the displaced

We remember the millions seeking safety across borders—
those fleeing persecution, poverty, and environmental devastation.
May they find welcome, provision, and dignity.
Lord, in Your mercy,

Hear our prayer.
For those suffering in mind, body, or spirit

We pray for those overwhelmed by anxiety, depression, addiction, or chronic illness.

Bring healing, connection, and hope.
Help us to be present to one another in love.

Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
For the Church and people of faith across the world

May we be a light in the darkness—
courageous in truth, generous in love, and faithful in prayer.

Renew us by Your Spirit and send us out as agents of peace and justice.

Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
On this the 3rd day of August we pray for your other Churches in Gourock: for St Ninian’s Roman Catholic Church, Old Gourock & Aston 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 and Assistant Session Clerk, and the Treasurer.
For the land, people and governments of the nations of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Andorra, Spain and Portugal
Lord, in Your mercy,

Hear our prayer.
And we now join our voices together in say The Lord’s Prayer:
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 270: Put All Your Trust In God

Sending

When God says “go”…go! And trust that God is leading us into a new life that is far better than anything we can even imagine. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you…and 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 if you thought you were 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

* The summer exploratorium starts tomorrow, with 46 children registered. Please be praying for the volunteer team, and for the children and families who will come!

* 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 now 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.
*******HOWEVER: In August, our all-age service will be on the SECOND Sunday, the 10th, to celebrate the end of the Exploratorium.

* Starter Packs are in need of Bathroom/Kitchen Cleaner, Washing up Liquid, Cleaning Cloths and Hand Wash.
The FoodBank are running low on diluting juice, tinned mince & onions, tinned stew, tinned ravioli, tinned macaroni, tinned fruit, and pasta sauce.
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 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! HOWEVER, there is no bible study this Wednesday — we will resume next Wednesday the 13th.

* 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 27 July 2025

Sunday 27 July 2025
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

Sanctuary Prelude Music

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.

Call to Worship
One: The Lord, the Great I Am, is speaking:
All: Calling for freedom for the people.
One: To the powerful whose hearts are hardened, the Lord says:
All: Let my people go.
One: To the oppressed who watch as the world shakes around them, the Lord says:
All: You will be my people and I will be your God.
One: All the world will see:
All: The Lord’s power is at work, here and now.

Sanctuary Hymn 129: The Lord is King
The Lord is King! lift up your voice!

Prayer
Holy and Powerful God,
you reveal yourself in the world around us,
you are present in the midst of suffering,
you call us to follow your way of life and liberation.
As the ways of the world we have known seem to crumble
and even the earth itself cries out,
we confess that we often have hardened hearts.
We hear about terrible things on the news,
and we say “what a shame” and then return to our comfortable lives.
We see people struggling
and we blame them instead of the systems that ensure some have less in order to feed others greed.
We lament the changing weather and the way the earth is mistreated
and we carry on the way we always have.
Forgive us our hard hearts, O God.
Forgive us when we have turned inward,
serving ourselves but leaving the world you love as an afterthought.
Forgive us when there is no room for your compassion.
Forgive us when we have justified or rationalised or…
even, if we’re fully honest, sometimes a little bit enjoyed…
the pain of those we think had it coming, brought it on themselves, deserved it.
By the power of your Holy Spirit, set us free from all that harms us and others,
and hold us fast even in the midst of the chaos of this world.
We come before you to worship,
offering our praise and our prayer,
bringing our whole selves,
our faith and our fear and everything in between.
We trust you, for you have promised to be our God
and we are your people,
and so we stand firm in your word and your care,
and in the name of Jesus.
Amen.

Online Hymn 129: The Lord is King

Sanctuary Hymn 36: God Is Our Refuge and Our Strength

Children’s Time and Bible Story: Exodus 7-12
Last week we left off with the Israelites despairing, their spirits so crushed they couldn’t even hear the promises of God. Even Moses was feeling down, sure that it was a mistake for God to send him here. But God was still giving Moses and Aaron instructions about what to do next time they went to Pharaoh, and it’s with those instructions we pick up this week at the beginning of Exodus chapter 7.
When this story happened, Moses, who was the baby of the family, was 80 years old, and his big brother Aaron was 83. Never think you’re too old to do something big for God!
God told Moses and Aaron to go back to Pharaoh and say “thus says the Lord, God of the Israelites: let my people go to worship me.” But God also told them that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he wouldn’t listen…but that God was going to do signs and works of power so that everyone would know who was the real Lord in this land, and it wasn’t Pharaoh.
So Moses and Aaron went and delivered the message, and Pharaoh said “I don’t know this Lord you speak of…but show me some sign and maybe I’ll consider it.”
Aaron did the staff-to-snake thing…and so did Pharaoh’s advisors the magician priests…but Aaron’s snake ate theirs! But Pharaoh was not impressed, his hearts was hard.

God spoke to Moses and said: the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord…go out first thing in the morning and meet Pharaoh at the bank of the river.

1 Nile to blood…even the irrigation canals…animals died…smelled terrible…
Magician-priests did the same, so Pharaoh was not impressed, he went home to the palace
But the regular the people had to dig wells because there was no water
Seven days passed, and God spoke to Moses…

Go down to the riverbank and meet Pharaoh…let my people go, if you don’t there’ll be so many frogs…
2 Frogs filled everything
Magician priests conjured some frogs too, pharaoh not impressed, went back inside…
But pharaoh had to call Moses and Aaron to get rid of them…
“Tomorrow”….and they died and there were piles of rotting dead frogs
When Pharaoh saw the crisis was over, he hardened his heart and would not let them go.

3 with no warning: bang staff on ground, Dust becomes gnats/lice
Pharaoh’s magician priests could not do it…even said “this is the finger of God!”
But pharaoh hardened his heart and would not listen to them

4 Let my people go, or there will be flies…but not in Israelite neighbourhoods…and there were flies just devastating everything, swarming and being gross.
Pharaoh says just worship here! No, we can’t…ok, go but not that far…pray for me!
I will but you better not be lying this time
Flies left but pharaoh hardened his heart

5 tomorrow all your livestock will die, but ours won’t…
Pharaoh finds out that Israelite livestock are all fine….but heart was hard

6 don’t say anything, just take some soot from the kiln and throw it in the air…will cause burning rash/boils
Magicians and advisors couldn’t do it, couldn’t reverse it, couldn’t even stand there, they were so afflicted
But God hardened pharaoh’s heart

God says “I could have killed you all but I didn’t so you would see my power”
7 hail … those who heeded brought their animals inside, everyone else, they died in the thunder/hail/lightning — human animal plants even trees. Except not Israelite neighbourhoods
Flax and barley were ruined but wheat and spelt weren’t as they hadn’t come up yet
Pharaoh says I have sinned, we are wrong…on you go to have your worship festival.
When it stopped, Pharaoh hardened his heart again and wouldn’t let them go

God says Pharaoh’s heart is hardened but these powerful things are going to be so big you’ll be telling the story for many generations, everyone will know I’m the real God in this and every land…
Threat of locusts…officials advise to let them go, “do you not understand Egypt is ruined”
Pharaoh acts like they can go but on hearing who all will go (not just the men), refuses and kicks them out
8 Locusts eat everything the hail hadn’t killed
Pharaoh hurries to summon them, “I have sinned…remove this deadly thing…”
Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart

9 with no warning, stretch hands to sky, and Darkness descends…so dark you can feel it.
Three days couldn’t move about as could not see anything…but Israelite neighbourhoods had light
Pharaoh says go but leave flocks/herds…Moses says no, we need the sacrifice
Pharaoh says no, get out, and never come back
Moses: “it’s true I will never see your face again” — there’s one more plague, and it will affect the greatest to the least, every family from yours all the way to the slave girls who mill the flour…one day soon, you won’t know when, the angel of death will come through the land and take the firstborn of every family, every generation, even animals.
Storms out.
Tell Israelites to ask their neighbours for stuff…
This is going to be so big, world-changing, we’re even going to change the calendar, this is the first month of the year now, because it’s a new beginning for us.
Get a lamb…on the day we say, you roast it, put its blood on doorpost…get dressed and have your shoes on ready to go as you eat it with flatbread and bitter herbs…no leftovers, burn them…And keep this same feast as a festival every year from now on. (Looking forward to a post-exodus life)

10 On the day they all had this feast, at midnight the Lord struck down all the first born, every last one in every class and every family, even livestock…but not Israelites.
In the night it was discovered and all Egypt cried out in grief, not one house without someone who had died.
Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron in the night and said “go away, get out of here, take everything, be gone! And ask for a blessing for me too!”

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: Go Down, Moses 

Sermon: Manufactured Crisis
Though I have some questions about the details, it doesn’t feel difficult to imagine this story happening. Disaster after disaster, a leader with a hard heart…feels like today’s news.

For the Israelites, it was happening all around them, to their neighbours but not directly to them. They still had to walk through streets piled up with dead frogs, and try to collect straw to make bricks when the hail and locusts had destroyed everything. It can’t have been easy watching the world fall apart as they clung to the promise of God like a tiny anchor in the chaos.

For the Egyptians…they were suffering directly. And maybe they were thinking it wasn’t their fault. Sure, they’d abused and enslaved the Israelites, sure maybe they’d pushed a child or two into the Nile, but they were just following the law. Or maybe they had never done any of those things themselves, but they never spoke up when their friends did. After all, it’s just how things are. But now they had no water, dead frogs in their mixing bowls, bug bites and rashes and blisters, a storm-damaged house, dead chickens and goats in the streets, no food, and it was so dark it was like they went blind. It must have felt like a never ending horror film, suffering upon suffering…how could it get worse? And then the final plague came and not one family was untouched by the grief and pain.

All because their leader had a hard heart, and insisted on playing out the full feud with God rather than admitting he was wrong.

I’ve wondered what to say about this story when the news is full of stories from Gaza, when my TikTok for you page is person after person pleading for help feeding themselves or their family, grieving the deaths of children, standing in front of what used to be their homes, asking for help to buy one day’s worth of flour that costs as much as my whole weekly shop, because there is so little to go around.

I’ve wondered what to say, knowing that today as in Exodus, the entire crisis is manufactured by human beings…human beings who must have hard hearts, if they sleep at night. Human beings who can’t admit that they have played a part in creating the situation, and that people are suffering because they refuse to even contemplate any other options.

Today’s situation, like the one in Exodus, took many decades to develop — hardness of heart rarely happens overnight. It’s a gradual process of being desensitised, of growing complacency and apathy, and ultimately buying into a picture that has been painted for us, so that like the Egyptians of old, we don’t really think anything of it, we either participate or we stand by as others do.

Until the suffering becomes overwhelming, unbearable, and we wonder…how did we get here? Surely our leaders know better than this? How long will the feud between hard-hearted political leaders and the God of justice and liberation last? And how many will suffer as each side tries to prove their own power and righteousness?

When I teach P6 children about this story during the Easter Code, one of the things we taste is the parsley dipped into salt water. The salt water reminds us of the tears of the Israelites who were oppressed, enslaved, suffering. But we always dip a second time to remind us of the tears of the Egyptian people — the ordinary people who also suffered when Pharaoh refused God. We don’t celebrate their suffering, even though they were complicit in the oppression of the Israelites. Because it is still true today that the political leaders who make the decisions are rarely the ones who have to live with the consequences…and we are God’s people, called to weep with those who weep. We serve a God who is present in the midst of suffering, who walks alongside those who are in despair, who lifts up the downtrodden…and even calls us to love our enemies.

So when the world is falling apart around us…when the disasters are piling up and our leaders are still refusing to admit they were wrong or to change course…when the suffering is intense…when hearts are hardened…what do we do?

We make sure our own hearts are not hardened. When we are numb to the suffering of others, we participate in it and perpetuate it, maybe we even celebrate it…we need soft hearts that weep with those who weep, soft hearts full of love for our neighbour and even our enemy, compassion that moves to doing mercy. No hard shell, no hearts of stone. It’s difficult to allow ourselves to be touched by so much misery in the world, but when it doesn’t, that’s when we should be truly afraid.

Like Moses and Aaron…we don’t give up. When it feels like we’re too old to confront the government: they were 80 and 83. When it feels like there’s no point, no one is listening: they went back over and over again. When it feels dangerous, like we’ll just end up in trouble ourselves: they kept going and speaking up, demanding truth and justice. When we’re tempted to dance around and use diplomatic language: they called pharaoh out for lying, they refused to mince words, they delivered the message and they followed through.

We hold on to the God who is like what TS Eliot called “the still point of the turning world”…the one stable truth when all around is chaos, the clarity of God who is love and who always moves toward freedom. At the centre of it all, the core truth: I am who I am, and I am for you.

Hold on, keep trying, and don’t grow such a thick skin that your heart gets hard. This is how the kingdom of God becomes visible, even in our days.

May it be so. Amen.

Online Hymn: Go Down, Moses

Sanctuary Offering and Response 809 (tune: Old Hundredth)
Praise God, the Source of life and birth;
praise God the Word, who came to earth;
praise God the Spirit, holy flame:
all glory, honour to God’s name.
Amen

Concerns of the Church
Food Bank –
Bible Study
Holiday Club – decorations, donations, prayer
Prayer Groups: Sunday morning at 10:10, Brian; intercessory group Fiona W.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (Ann Stephenson)
Dear Lord,
We come to you amidst the challenges and chaos of our broken world.
A world we find hard to comprehend:
countries at war,
tormented citizens living in desolation at home and abroad,
world leaders making terrible decisions-appearing too arrogant to care or to listen,
governments acting out brutal revenge,
children dying of starvation,
food being used as a weapon of war.
We ask, “where is God ?“ but we should be asking where are we? Are we living as we should?
The grief and sorrow of this world not only make those suffering weep but us weep. Those suffering are our neighbours.
Lord, reveal yourself to us in powerful ways.
Open our hearts and minds to understand your will and your way.
In the face of adversity, we remember that God’s power can achieve the impossible.
Let us hold on to God’s promise that a New World is coming. Help us to trust in God’s promises, power and presence and act in faith. Remembering that God’s authority will overpower earthly powers.
Empower us to alleviate the suffering of God’s people. Give us strength to speak out against the injustices of this world. Hear our cries for justice for the poor, the weak and desperate.
For when one of God’s people hurt then we all hurt.
In a moment of silence let us pray for the injustices close to our heart.
SILENCE
Let us be
God’s hand in action in the world, reaching out to other people’s despair.
God’s voice in this world, focussing on the truth of God’s word.
Obedient to your calling and live a disciplined life.
May we realise that You God will guide us through all the difficulties we may face in life.
Letting go of our own burdens gives us the freedom to experience the beauty of faith in action.
May Your goodness and compassion be evident in our lives, and may we always proclaim Your name.
And on this the 27th day of July we pray for our local communities.
We pray for St Ninian’s Primary School — for the children, the teachers, the staff, and the families. Bless them with bright minds and open hearts and willing spirits, with friendship and laughter and the graciousness it takes to be in community together. May the school have the resources it needs and the families the support they need to ensure the children grow in mind, body, and spirit.
For the leaders of St John’s congregation: for the elders, the Kirk Session, the Session Clerk and Assistant Session Clerk, and the Treasurer.
For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Dominica, Guadeloupe, Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis, the US and British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the British Overseas Territories of Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and Montserrat.

Amidst the chaos of this world.
We pray for Peace
– peace for those who have been set free from what burdens them.
-peace for the people who are experiencing grief and devastation and
-peace for ourselves

May the Holy Spirit guide and inspire us and now let us join together in saying the Lord’s Prayer:
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: 709 The Right Hand of God 

Sending

Go into the world with courage — don’t let your heart get hardened! don’t give up! persist in speaking up and standing up for what is right…and hold on to the God who is love, even when all around is chaos. And as you go, may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you…and 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 if you thought you were 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

* Registration is now FULL for our Summer Exploratorium: Holy Histories! It’s a week for P1-P7 getting into the messy side of Bible stories and learning how God’s love is for us even when things get messy. It runs every day between 4-8 August, from 9am – 1pm, including lunch, and with an optional breakfast club from 8am. Please be praying for the team as we prepare, and for the children and families who will come!
***We are in need of some donations, if you can help please bring these to the church ASAP: large disposable tablecloths (that you won’t need back)…some large plastic tubs/bins, like the kind we use to put food bank donations in, or the flat kind that you would use to store things under the bed.
Food donations: there are post it notes on the board in the large hall with the items we need to feed the children through the week — if you can take a post it (or a few) and bring those items back on Sunday the 3rd, that would be great! Non-perishable items can be brought before then, but perishables on the Sunday please, unless the note specifies another date.

* 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 now 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.
HOWEVER: In August, our all-age service will be on the SECOND Sunday, the 10th, to celebrate the end of the Exploratorium.

* Starter Packs are in need of most things as they have given out a lot of packs in the past month!

The FoodBank are running low on pasta sauce, diluting juice, and UHT milk.
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 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 20 July 2025

Sunday 20 July 2025
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

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.

Call to Worship
One: When life is good and we’re happy as can be,
All: The Lord is our God, and we are God’s people.
One: When we’re just plodding along, trying to get on with it,
All: The Lord is our God, and we are God’s people.
One: When our spirits are crushed and we can barely breathe,
All: The Lord is our God, and we are God’s people.
One: Come, let us turn our hearts and minds to the One who is with us always.
All: We come as God’s people to pray and praise.

Sanctuary Hymn 550: As the Deer (praise band)

Prayer
You promised, O God.
You promised to be our God, you promised to be with us,
you promised to hear us and set us free.
And we trust you.
We come before you with hope and trepidation,
we call out to you, telling you everything,
and we wait and look for what you will do.
But we confess that we want you to do it now.
We want your promise fulfilled, our prayers answered,
right this minute
with no more developments in the wrong direction.
We are tired of waiting,
tired of things getting worse,
afraid that maybe you’re not coming after all
but also afraid to think so.
Your people are suffering, Lord,
your world is in need of some good news,
and we don’t feel like we have the resources
to do what you ask us to do as the Body of Christ.
Forgive us when all we can see is the hardship and despair,
and open our eyes to see the glimmers of your presence,
open our ears to hear the whisper of your voice,
open our hearts to recognise there is more to the situation than we can understand right now.
Forgive us when our focus is so much on what we have to do
that we have no room for you to do anything, much less a new thing,
and make some space in our spirits and our task lists for your movement.
Forgive us when we doubt your promise,
and re-kindle our trust.
You are love, and your word is a light,
and so we pray to be surrounded and filled
that we might live the abundant life you promise,
even now.
We ask in Jesus’ name, trusting in the power of your Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Hymn 721: We Lay Our Broken World

Children’s Time and Bible Story: Exodus 5-6

Last week we heard about how the king of Egypt, the Pharaoh, decided that the Israelites living in Egypt were a danger, and he convinced the Egyptians to not only enslave them, forcing them to build cities and do field labour, but also to move toward genocide by throwing all male Israelite children into the Nile. The midwives to the Hebrew community refused to comply, and so, it turns out, did Pharaoh’s own daughter, who adopted an Israelite baby boy she found floating in a basket on the river. That baby, who she named Moses, grew up and after many twists and turns, God called him to go tell the Israelites that God saw their suffering, heard their cries, knew their situation, and was coming to save them. When they heard this, the Israelite people were so relieved to know they had not just been crying to a silent and helpless universe, but that God knew them and saw everything and would come to help. We pick up the story today at Exodus chapter 5, and go on into chapter 6.

Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh: thus says the Lord, the great I Am: let my people go into the wilderness to worship me.
Pharaoh said: Who is the Lord? I’ve never heard of him…(Egyptians had their own gods, and pharaoh was sometimes thought to be a god himself too)…I don’t know him, why would I listen? I’m not letting the Hebrews go anywhere.
Moses and Aaron said: The God of the Hebrews appeared to us and said to tell you to let them go 3 days into the wilderness….implication they’re gone a week but they never mentioned about coming back! If we don’t go worship, God might get angry that we haven’t in so long and come after us with violence or a plague.
Pharaoh said: no way! There are so many Israelites living here, we can’t afford for you all to leave for a week! Who would do the work? I see…it’s because you Hebrews are so lazy! That’s why you’re asking to go away. Well, no. Absolutely not.
After Moses and Aaron left, Pharaoh called in the taskmasters he had hired to keep the Israelites hard at work. He said “new plan: we aren’t going to give the Israelites straw anymore, for making bricks” — straw helps bricks hold their shape and keep together when baking — but they still have to make the same number of bricks, they just have to get their own straw from somewhere! The heavier the workload, the less they will pay attention to those liars Moses and Aaron.”
The taskmasters went out and told the Israelite supervisors — basically, like the bosses told the line managers, whose job it was to organise the workers and their work — keep making the same number of bricks, but get your own straw, we’re not giving it to you anymore! Get to work!
The people scattered everywhere, trying to scavenge for straw or even stubble, but between spending time looking for straw and the hard work of bending over to gather it, they weren’t able to make all the bricks that they were supposed to make. So the Egyptian taskmasters were abusing the Israelite supervisors, taunting them, “why haven’t you made the full amount of bricks as normal?” and then they beat them and forced their workers to work harder, insisting they had to produce the same amount of finished bricks, even though they weren’t being given all the materials anymore.
The supervisors asked for a meeting with Pharaoh, and when they got to the palace they said “why are you treating your own people like this? We aren’t being given the resources we need to do the work, but we’re still being told to produce the same amount of bricks. The Egyptian taskmasters are at fault here for not giving us what we need!” Pharaoh said “you people are always so lazy, lazy, lazy! Get back to work, get your own straw, and make just as many bricks as you did before! Stop complaining! The harder you work, the less you’ll think about wanting to go away and worship this fake god of yours. You’re only saying you want to go worship because you’re so lazy! So stop thinking about that and get back to work.”
They realised that Pharaoh didn’t recognise them as his people, so they were going to continue to be the ones beaten up by the Egyptian taskmasters, and they left the palace.
On the way out, they met Moses and Aaron and said “why did you even come here? you’ve made everything worse, now that you spoke to Pharaoh, everyone hates us even more and they are making our lives more miserable than they were before.”
Moses spoke to God and said “why did you send me here? Ever since you sent me to pharaoh, he’s done nothing but hurt them more, and you certainly haven’t even come down to save them!”
God spoke to Moses and said: now you’ll see just what I’m going to do. By the time I’m finished with the great wonders and power I’m going to display, Pharaoh won’t just let my people go, he’ll drive them out from here! Go and tell the Israelites that I am the God of their ancestors, and I made a covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and I have not forgotten it. I see them, I hear them, I know the situation, and I’m about to save them. I will take them out from under their heavy burden in Egypt and bring them to a good and broad land, I will take you to me as a people and I will be your God and you will know that I set you free from bondage and the burdens of Egypt. I promised your ancestors and I promise you too! I am the Lord!
Moses went to tell them, but the people couldn’t or wouldn’t listen, because their spirits were so crushed under their hard slavery.
God said to Moses: ok, time to go back to Pharaoh again and tell him to let the people go. Moses said “even my own Israelite people wouldn’t listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me? I’m not enough for this.” But God spoke to Moses and Aaron again and commanded them to go to Pharaoh to let the people go.

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: when our spirits are crushed
I wonder if any of you have ever had that feeling, where you got your hopes up that something was going to get better, and then things got worse?

It’s pretty spirit-crushing to have had hope and then have those hopes dashed.

Sometimes, when it has happened to me, I’ve looked around for someone to blame — the way the Israelite supervisors first blame the taskmasters and Pharaoh and then end up blaming Moses and Aaron. But ultimately I always end up blaming myself: I shouldn’t have allowed myself to hope. And that’s the most crushing of all, because once you learn that hope is a bad idea, then there’s nowhere to look except the suffering of this moment, and it is so lonely.

I also wonder if anyone has ever felt like you’re always being asked to do more with less? Keep up the same amount of work, but with fewer staff on your team…keep feeding the same number of people but on a smaller budget, or keep the service running but with fewer hours.
Or sometimes in churches it looks like having to do ever more admin stuff for legal things like charity regulations or safeguarding — which are so important — but with not enough people with the skills to navigate the system or time to fill in yet another form. Or trying to run more programs to reach out with the good news and grow the church, but with fewer and fewer people volunteering their time or giving enough to cover the costs.

Trying to do more with less is pretty spirit-crushing too.

No wonder the Israelites couldn’t hear when Moses reminded them that God was present and listening and going to do something: they were in that pit of despair where they allowed themselves to hope, only to have even that hope pulled out from under them as they were commanded to work harder and longer just to keep up…all while they were being called lazy.

Even Moses was struggling — if the Israelites wouldn’t listen, why would Pharaoh? And so he says: I’m not enough. I can’t do this.

I would guess many of us have had that feeling, too. I’m not enough…not good enough, smart enough, confident enough, educated enough, experienced enough…I can’t do it.

It’s fascinating to me that when it comes to the crushed spirits of the Israelites, God is right there with a new message of hope, even when they can’t hear it. God is ready to act even when they feel as if they’ve been abandoned. But when Moses is lamenting that he will never be equal to the work God called him to do, nothing. Like it’s such a ridiculous statement to make to the God of all creation who chose him for this task, that God isn’t even willing to dignify it with a reply.
No comfort or reassurance, just further instructions. I can almost hear God rolling his eyes, like obviously you’re only a human being and of course you’re not enough but I’m the one who called you, I’m the one who is with you…and I am enough. You don’t have to be, because I am. It’s literally God’s name.

It often feels to me like our spirit is burdened…as people who live in the empires of this world, and as a church. The constant need to be more and do more, but with fewer people, fewer resources, and less hope for the future wears people down. And I think it has worn down our leaders too. Lots of people who followed their calling or their passion are finding themselves burned out by the feeling they can never be enough. Lots of people sitting in churches or in the NHS or in schools or in charities or even in parliaments feel like they are scrabbling about for straw while being asked to make at least as many bricks as they did 50 years ago, if not even more, but with a smaller budget…and they start to wonder if there’s any point to speaking up, or any point to carrying on, this is just how things are and it’s demoralising but…oh well.

It’s hard to hear God’s voice when our spirits are heavy. It’s hard to have hope in a promise that feels so delayed in being fulfilled. It’s hard to try new things when nothing seems to bring relief. It’s hard to lead when people are too tired to lift their eyes to the future. It’s hard to trust that God is enough when all around us and within us just feels like not enough.

That’s exactly what Pharaoh was hoping would happen. He even said “make them work harder so they won’t have time to think about their supposed God, or listen to the lies of these men who try to show them another way.” He was hoping that they would be so crushed, so disappointed, so exhausted, so demoralised, that they would have no room to listen to God.

I think that’s still what the empire hopes will happen. Those who are at the top of the pyramid don’t want any of us to look too closely at how they got there or how they stay there…and they certainly don’t want us paying attention to the word of a God who speaks of abundant life here and now, who turns the world upside down, who demands justice for the poor and oppressed, who speaks on behalf of the enslaved and beaten down, who is willing to come down and be here in the flesh to show us a new way to live.

But God is still speaking. God’s name is still “I am.” God is still paying attention to us, still listening, still reaching out. God is still hoping that we’ll hear his voice cutting through all the other voices that are trying to keep us burdened and despairing. And God has absolutely no intention of letting Pharaoh win.

When our spirits are crushed, when it feels like we hoped for nothing, when we keep working but things get worse instead of better…God is near. Even the smallest glimpse of light can be enough for us to hold on until the promise can be more and more fulfilled. Holding on to that promise, and acting on it instead of giving in to despair, is what will bring down the empire.

Because know this: God keeps promises. It may take longer than we want. It may not be the exact way we dreamed. But God is faithful and present, especially with those whose spirits are heavy burdened. And God will act toward freedom so that we too can act toward freedom. So hold on to this word, like a signpost toward the impossible: I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. The empire that crushes bodies, minds, and spirits WILL NOT have the last word. In every circumstance, in every generation, in every hard moment: I am, and believe it or not, that is enough.

May it be so. Amen.

Hymn GWA24: Your Labour is Not in Vain (praise band)

Sanctuary Offering and Response 809 (tune: Old Hundredth)
Praise God, the Source of life and birth;
praise God the Word, who came to earth;
praise God the Spirit, holy flame:
all glory, honour to God’s name.
Amen

Concerns of the Church
Food Bank and Starter Packs
Holiday Club – DECORATIONS, DONATIONS, PRAYERS
Prayer Groups: Sunday morning at 10:10, Brian; intercessory group Fiona W.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (Seonaid)

Let us pray.

Oh, mighty God, we’ve heard today from Exodus of the Pharoah’s unjust treatment of his people, and we take this time to reflect on how today, some people suffer just the same.

In different contexts, we all can often feel like we’re being expected to do more with less resources. Whether it’s at work, at school, or in our homes.

Loving God, when we grow tired, we seek your strength and your outstretched hand, ready to carry us when we feel we cannot take the load on our own.

Lord God, please also teach us to know the difference between real scarcity and our desire to just make things easier for ourselves.

So much of our lives has become about convenience, which in fact can be more wasteful, and the lack of convenience can make us feel like we’re having to work harder.

But God, we know there are people in our midst and across the globe who truly understand scarcity; who have to choose between heating and eating – and some who don’t even have a home to heat, or a table to eat at.

Give us the grace to appreciate what we have, and that resources are more than just money – they are people, tools, and skills.

Let us not waste these resources, particularly when it feels like they’re not enough. Instead, grant us the wisdom to put our faith in You, as you called upon the Israelites to do.

Gracious God, help us to see your plan for us. Help us to hear your Word’s of abundance and trust in them, even when it seems as though our lives are not plentiful.

Help us to appreciate what we have, and to offer what we don’t need to those who are truly in need of kindness and love.

And on this, the 20th day of July, we pray:

*For all who work in our transportation services — the trains, the buses, the ferries, and the taxis. For drivers, conductors, pilots and sailors and behind-the-scenes workers, and for all who travel in and out of our town.

*For the many volunteers who keep St John’s ministry vibrant: the pastoral care team, the flower team, Bowl & Blether volunteers, sound and PowerPoint volunteers, those who count the offering, and so many others.

*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei.
And now let us pray together the words Jesus Chris taught us to say:
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 706: For the Healing of the Nations (tune: Regent Square)

Sending

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

* Registration is now FULL for our Summer Exploratorium: Holy Histories! It’s a week for P1-P7 getting into the messy side of Bible stories and learning how God’s love is for us even when things get messy. It runs every day between 4-8 August, from 9am – 1pm, including lunch, and with an optional breakfast club from 8am. Please be praying for the team as we prepare, and for the children and families who will come!
***We are in need of some donations, if you can help please bring these to the church ASAP: an old video camera (we will return it after!)…large disposable tablecloths (that you won’t need back)…some large plastic tubs/bins, like the kind we use to put food bank donations in, or the flat kind that you would use to store things under the bed.
Food donations: there are post it notes on the board in the large hall with the items we need to feed the children through the week — if you can take a post it (or a few) and bring those items back on Sunday the 3rd, that would be great! Non-perishable items can be brought before then, but perishables on the Sunday please, unless the note specifies another date.

* 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 now 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.
HOWEVER: In August, our all-age service will be on the SECOND Sunday, the 10th, to celebrate the end of the Exploratorium.

* Starter Packs are in need of most things as they have given out a lot of packs in the past month!

The FoodBank are running low on pasta sauce, diluting juice, and UHT milk.
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 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 13 July 2025

Sunday 13 July 2025
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

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.

Call to Worship
One: God sees us as we are
All: and God knows all our struggle and our success.
One: But sometimes we feel like asking God: are you paying attention?
All: And God asks us too: are we paying attention?
One: We are here to listen as God calls us by name,
All: and to learn to answer as God does: here I am.

Sanctuary Hymn 189: Be Still for the Presence of the Lord

Prayer
God of our ancestors,
God of creation,
God who was and is and will be…
we confess that sometimes we wonder
if you are as close to us as you seemed to be for people in the past.
We hear stories of your mighty works
and your intimate conversations
and your care and attention in times of trial
and we wish for that,
we long for a tangible sense of your presence,
even at the same time as our logical minds say something else.
We admit we have learned well how to be religious,
how to follow the system and say the words and fit in with the expectations
but a spiritual experience is hard to fathom, even as we long for it.
We come today in part because it’s what we do,
and also hoping that today is the day something will catch our eye,
that out of the corner of our spirit we will get a glimpse
and that your Spirit will enable us to turn aside to see.
When it happens, Lord,
we confess we’ll have plenty of explanations why
we can’t be seeing what we’re seeing or hearing what we’re hearing,
and plenty of excuses why we can’t do what you’re asking.
When you reveal yourself today —
for you have promised to be among us whenever we gather —
make us ready to perceive.
Forgive us our conflicted hearts,
our confused minds,
our desires that pull us one way and another…
and show us who you have really made us to be.
Overwhelm us with your presence,
with a sure sense of your attention to our lives and our prayers,
and with the power to walk in your way.
We ask in the name of the One who walked among us,
bringing the kingdom of heaven to earth, Jesus the Christ.
Amen.

Online Hymn 189: Be Still for the Presence of the Lord

Sanctuary Hymn 97: O God, You Search Me and You Know Me

Bible Story: Exodus 1-4

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: God Sees
The Israelites lived in Egypt for many generations before a Pharaoh who didn’t know his history came on the scene…a Pharaoh who made up for his lack of history education with his populist make-Egypt-great-again views. In all that time, perhaps everyone had grown complacent. It was just the way things were…Israelites and Egyptians, living side by side, knowing that a long time ago each had saved the other, but it started to feel like ancient history, this was just normal life. No need for going over the old stories, or asking questions about who worships what gods, or any of that old fashioned stuff. They just lived life, worked, played, had families, took care of business, did what needed to be done. They got on with it.

Until a new king arose who didn’t understand why these people who look different and are named for a different God would be here. Didn’t matter that they’d been here for ages. Didn’t matter that they had saved our empire with their work and bodies and ingenuity. Didn’t matter that they were just a part of the nation like anyone else. They weren’t us. And we were in danger of being outnumbered by Them! It took a shockingly short time for Pharaoh to pass his fear on, to insist on neighbour turning against neighbour, creating an entirely new story that wiped out the previous 400 years of sharing and collaboration and mutual benefit. I wish I could say it was unbelievable, how fast he was able to divide people and turn them against each other, even convincing Egyptians that it was in their best interest to drown babies…but it is sadly all too believable.

It seems that’s the moment when the Israelites remembered God. As with so many of us, they called on God when they were in trouble. When things were just floating along as normal, it sometimes feels like maybe we don’t need God so much. But when things start to get bad…

They raised their voices in their frustration, and then their fear, and then their full-on suffering. It felt like maybe God wasn’t paying attention at all, but they kept crying out…and there were small glimpses of people having some connection, like the midwives refusing to follow Pharaoh’s orders and following God’s instead. Small glimpses that felt miraculous, like the princess finding baby Moses and adopting him instead of killing him. Small glimpses that gave them hope that maybe God was listening and would help more…so they kept crying out.

By the time God and Moses met at the burning bush, the writers are insistent: God says “I have heard” and “I have seen” and “I have taken notice” over and over again. Even though it might have felt like nothing was getting better…God saw. God heard. They were not in it alone. Whether they were complacent and just getting on with it, or suffering horribly, someone was listening, someone was paying attention.

And God would do something about it.

We often pray for God to do something about…well…all of this. I wonder what we expect the answer will be? Because I like to picture the literal hand of God moving things around, or the wind of the Holy Spirit driving back the armies, or a burning bush catching the attention of our political leaders and drawing them off their current path and convincing them to go a better way.

But when God’s people were being oppressed and enslaved by Pharaoh, God did not go strike Pharaoh mute, or give him a truth serum so he would stop lying about those foreigners. God didn’t knock down the palace and put a better king on the throne. God didn’t build a wall between Egyptian and Israelite neighbourhoods. God didn’t pluck the Israelites up off the ground and whirlwind them away to a new land. God didn’t do any of the things we might fantasise about as an answer to prayer. Instead, God spoke to a person. Not just any person, a flawed human who had made huge mistakes, whose temper flared faster than the bush burned, who had a stutter, and who flat out did not want to go.

God sees the suffering, the need of each person. God hears the cries, the despair, the hope of each person.

God also sees the potential, the possibility, the gift in each person.

God’s plan for answering the prayers of the Israelites was to send Moses. Moses, the guy who ran away from his crime, the guy who never fit in either as an Israelite or an Egyptian and wasn’t accepted or trusted by any of them, the guy who had a speech impediment and confidence the size of a mustard seed…Moses was to be the answer to the prayers of thousands of people.

God saw that he could do it, even though Moses could not see it himself.

And God saw what Moses would need in order to do it — support from his family, as well as his God.

We are not in this life alone. Whether we’re just getting on with it every day without thinking much about God except when we come to church, whether we’re crying out in agony or suffering in silence, whether we are the ones following a king who wants us to be afraid and to hate our neighbours, or the ones our neighbours have turned on…whether we wonder if we have the gifts and abilities or we think we’ve made too many mistakes and have too many flaws…God sees us. God knows us. God hears us. God is with us every step of the journey. And God will answer, probably through someone we never expected and might not even be willing to accept at first…or maybe God will make us the answer.

Either way…may it be so. Amen.

Online Hymn 251: I, the Lord of Sea and Sky

Sanctuary Hymn GWA191: Only You, O God

Sanctuary Offering (choir to sing I’ll Go In the Strength of the Lord) 

Sanctuary Offering Response 809 (tune: Old Hundredth)
Praise God, the Source of life and birth;
praise God the Word, who came to earth;
praise God the Spirit, holy flame:
all glory, honour to God’s name.
Amen

Concerns of the Church
Holiday Club – need volunteers please
Prayer Groups: Sunday morning at 10:10, Brian; intercessory group Fiona W.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (Graham Gardiner)
Gracious and Holy God,
We come before You today, humbled by the account of Moses at the burning bush.
Lord, just as You met Moses in the wilderness, we pray for all who are searching, struggling, or feeling lost. We ask that You would reveal Yourself to us in powerful and unmistakable ways. Open our eyes to Your presence in our lives, that we might recognise Your voice and Your call. May we experience the awe and reverence that comes from standing on holy ground.
Just as Moses felt inadequate and fearful when You called him to confront Pharaoh. We lift up all those You are calling to challenging ministries, daunting responsibilities, or situations that seem overwhelming. Grant us the courage of Moses, the assurance of Your presence, and the conviction that You will equip us for every good work. Help us to overcome our fears and doubts, trusting in Your divine power.
Just as Moses asked, “Who am I?” when faced with Your command. We pray for all who feel unqualified, unworthy, or incapable of fulfilling the purpose You have for them. Remind us, as You reminded Moses, that our identity is found in You, the “I AM WHO I AM.” Strengthen our self-worth through Your love and assure them that Your power is made perfect in our weakness.
We pray for all leaders, in the church, in government, and in our communities. Just as You commissioned Moses to lead Your people out of bondage, raise up leaders who will champion justice, advocate for the oppressed, and courageously stand against systems of injustice. Grant them wisdom, integrity, and the humility to seek Your guidance in all their decisions.
Lord, thank You for revealing something of Your eternal and unchanging nature to Moses. Deepen our understanding of who You are. Help us to grasp the magnitude of Your power, Your faithfulness, and Your unwavering love. May this revelation transform our worship, our trust, and our obedience. Strengthen our faith to believe that You are a God who keeps Your word, and that Your plans for redemption and restoration will ultimately prevail.
And on this, the 13th day of July, we pray for:
For all who live and work along Shore Street to Eastern View
For the Staff at St John’s: Teri our minister, Charlene our Parish Assistant and Phillip our organist
For the land, people and governments of the nations of Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome & Principe, Gabon, The Republic of Congo, the Democratic republic of Congo and Angola
And we join with millions of followers of Jesus around the world, by praying also the words taught us by our Lord:
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 251: I, the Lord of Sea and Sky

Sending

may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you…and 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 if you thought you were 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

* Registration is now FULL for our Summer Exploratorium: Holy Histories! It’s a week for P1-P7 getting into the messy side of Bible stories and learning how God’s love is for us even when things get messy. It runs every day between 4-8 August, from 9am – 1pm, including lunch, and with an optional breakfast club from 8am. WE STILL NEED SOME VOLUNTEERS! If you’d like to volunteer, or if you know any secondary-aged pupils who’d like to join our junior leader programme, please speak to Teri or Charlene ASAP.

* 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 now 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.
HOWEVER: In August, our all-age service will be on the SECOND Sunday, the 10th, to celebrate the end of the Exploratorium.

* Starter Packs are in need of most things as they have given out a lot of packs in the past month!

The FoodBank are running low on pasta sauce, diluting juice, and UHT milk.
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 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.