Sunday service for 16 March 2025, second Sunday in lent

Sunday 16 March 2025, 2nd Sunday in Lent
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson and Graham Gardiner
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 (St John’s Mission Statement)
One: Who are we, and what are we called to do?

All: We are a family gathered in love,
where all ages and experiences sing and study together,
laugh and cry together, grow in faith and life together.

One: We are not perfect, we are a work in progress

All: and there’s always room at Christ’s table for more,
so all are welcome!

One: As a family, we are striving for justice and joy,

All: by standing up for what’s fair and right,
challenging systems that harm,
working toward a world that sustains us all,
joining our creativity with creation’s joy.
The Holy Spirit has work for us to do.

One: As a family, we offer blessing to the broken-hearted,

All: by walking alongside each other,
holding one another’s stories with grace,
sharing comfort and practical support,
with compassion and prayer.

One: As a family, we are always sharing the hope of God’s kingdom.

All: standing on God’s promises,
trusting the Spirit’s leading,
we will be the hands and feet of Jesus,
serving with love, joy, and generosity.

Sanctuary Hymn: Today We All Are Called To Be Disciples (text: H Kenn Carmichael; tune: Kingsfold)

Prayer 
You stand in the middle, Lord,
between heaven and earth
between the powers and the people
between who we are now and who you call us to be.
Reaching out, drawing us near,
finishing your work.
Whatever may come,
renew our relationship with you today
and lead us into a more full and true life.
You are a God of love and challenge,
and we confess that some teachings are hard to hear.
We are so often caught by empire,
unable to disentangle ourselves from the web of powers and complications and systems.
We feel stuck, even when we struggle against it, impatient to get our way.
Yet you call us to repent,
to simply turn back
and find ourselves freed for abundant life even now,
freed to live according to your way
and find hope and grace beyond fear and demand.
We confess we cannot do this on our own, but by your Spirit we long to turn to you.
Take our fragile fruitless faith
and nurture our roots and guide our growth
until we reflect your forgiving love for the world.
We ask in the name of Jesus the Master Gardener. Amen.

Hymn 502: Take My Life

Visualising the Church and Offering Ourselves (Graham)

Hymn: How Clear is Our Vocation, Lord (text: Fred Pratt Green; tune: Repton)

Children’s Time and Scripture Reading: Luke 13.6-9
Jesus told this parable: ‘A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said to the gardener, “See here! For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should it be wasting the soil?” He replied, “Sir, let it alone for one more year, until I dig round it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.” ’

Reflection and Commitment (Teri)
Imagine that the church, the Body of Christ is the fig tree in this story.
What fruit does God want us, St John’s Church, to produce?
Imagine five years from now: what will be happening here? Who will be here meeting Jesus and how will their lives have changed because they were here?

The leadership team of the Church of Scotland has been asking the same questions of the church across the nation, and they have produced this video describing the vision that God has given to them: (6:46)

If the church is the fig tree…imagine that we who are part of it are actually the gardener. The gardener will dig around the roots, adding compost and manure for nutrients, aerating the soil, perhaps pruning back some branches that are taking energy that could go into fruit…it isn’t pretty work. It’s smelly, it’s hard, it might even hurt. But it is the only way to encourage and nurture the tree into fruitfulness.
If we are also the gardener, we get one year to nurture this Body of Christ to produce fruit. What do we need to do to bring this church to more fruitfulness? What things will be like the digging, the manure, the pruning in our church family, so that when the owner comes back next year he sees an abundant harvest? What are we going to do?

If we are to put a year of concentrated effort in — what will you commit to do?

Online Hymn: Thrive (praise band)

Sanctuary Hymn GWA129: Build Your Kingdom Here (praise band)

Concerns of the Church
*Bible Study
*devotions
*Lent book group meets at 7pm on Monday evenings in the Spinnaker, reading Jesus for Everyone, Not Just Christians, discussing chapter 1 tomorrow evening.
*Easter Code
*Prayer groups

Please consider yourself invited to participate, and to pray for all the activities, ministry, and mission God is calling us to do together.

I also invite you to be in prayer specifically for St John’s, and for our parish: for God to be visible here, for people to experience Jesus here, for the Spirit to transform lives and open hearts. Pray for our future, and for our capacity to live into all that God calls us to do.
Let us pray.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer (Graham)

*Sanctuary Hymn: Thrive (praise band)

Sending 
Friends there is no time to waste: go to live God’s kingdom life today, bearing the blessing of the One who was, who is, and is to come.
And as you go may the Spirit of God go above you to watch over you. May the Spirit of God go beside you to be your companion. May the Spirit of God go before you to show you the way, and behind you to push you into places you might not go alone. And may the Spirit of God go within you, to remind you that you are loved more deeply than you can possibly imagine. May the fire of God’s love burn brightly in you, and through you into the world. Go in peace. Amen.

Sung Benediction Response (John L Bell, tune Gourock St John’s)
Now may the Lord of all be blessed,
Now may Christ’s gospel be confessed,
Now may the Spirit when we meet
Bless sanctuary and street.

Postlude Music

Announcements

* 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 Sunday evening service is on a break for Lent so that we can focus on the Monday evening book group (more info below). The Sunday evenings will re-launch after Easter.

* 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.

* Bowl and Blether is on the first and third Mondays of each month through the winter, the next one is TOMORROW Monday 17 March. Doors open at 11:30am, soup and sandwiches are served from noon – 1:30. All are welcome to join us for lunch and a chat in our cozy warm hall. Volunteers are also needed and welcome, please speak to Teri, Graham Bolster, or Charlene if you’d like to volunteer for soup making (9-11:30am), toastie-making (11:30-1:30), serving (11:15-1:45), or clean up (1:15-2:30). 

* Starter Packs are in need of handwash, soap, kitchen/bathroom cleaners, washing up liquid and tea-bags

The FoodBank are in need of diluting juice, tinned carrots and other vegetables, tinned meat & tinned meals.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* Teri is leading a Lent book group on Monday evenings in the Spinnaker beginning Monday 10 March at 7pm. The book is Jesus For Everyone, Not Just Christians. All are welcome — come along and have your dinner, or a drink, or just come for the discussion!

* Wednesday Evening Bible Study is at 7:30pm in the Manse and we are reading Luke!

*The Easter Code is on Monday and Tuesday the 24th and 25th in St John’s, and also Wednesday-Thursday the 26th and 27th in St Margaret’s. if you would be willing to volunteer to lead a group of P6s round the stations as they learn the Easter story, please let Teri know! We would need you to arrive about 9:15am and we finish by noon. We are looking for around 4 volunteers each day.

* Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £3000 per week? Everything we do is funded by your generous giving — all our support for young people, older people, bereavement care, community outreach, worship, study, spiritual growth, and community work is because of your offering. If you would like to set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Teri and she can give you the treasurer’s details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received. 
It is also possible to donate to the work of the 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. 

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