Sunday service for 15 June 2025

Sunday 15 June 2025, Trinity Sunday
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: Come, let us seek the Spirit of God together —
All: for the Spirit leads us toward one another, and so toward Christ.
One: Come, God calls us into community
All: and sends us out to share the good news.
One: Come, for God is making and re-making the Body of Christ,
All: as the wind blows, we are created anew, to bear fruit for the kingdom.
One: Come, let us worship God, together.

Sanctuary Hymn: The Lorica (praise band) (setting of St Patrick’s Breastplate by Steve Bell)

Prayer
Creating and re-creating God,
you surround us with your presence and your goodness.
You are always on the move in your world, doing a new thing,
setting us free from those powers that would hold us back
and calling us your own children,
whoever we are and wherever we have been.
We confess that we find your freedom difficult —
we struggle to let go of those old familiar ways,
worrying that disrupting the status quo will be painful or dangerous.
Forgive us when we hold on to what you are overturning.
We own our impatience, waiting for the fulfilment of your kingdom,
and how easily we are sidetracked from your mission
by the promise of instant gratification of our desires.
Forgive us when we turn away because your path is too difficult.
We admit that we don’t know what to do with our newfound freedom,
and so we find ourselves wandering, retreating, clinging and casting out without plan or purpose,
using people and creation in ways that do not honour you.
Forgive us when we not only allow but participate in the destruction of community.
Guide us by your Spirit, that we may indeed live as those who belong to Christ,
and reveal your life of
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control
through us, your Body,
even today.
Amen.

 Online Hymn: The Lorica (setting of St Patrick’s Breastplate by Steve Bell)

Scripture Reading: Galatians 5.22-26 (New Revised Standard Version)
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

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.

Children’s Time / Message

Paul wrote to a community behaving badly….
We know better, but sometimes we still do it. We have the commandments, and hopefully the common sense, to know those behaviours are unhealthy for us and for others and for the community.
Paul tells us to focus on things that are healthy — there’s no commandments against these healthy things. They nourish and provide good things and help us to grow as people and grow as the Body of Christ and grow the community. If we say we are following Jesus, we have to be led by the Spirit and that will mean that our lives involve these things.

Fruit salad — vibrant, beautiful, inviting, flavourful not bland!! Different colours and textures and tastes and styles that work together, not competing or overpowering each other. All together a healthy community revealing God’s goodness.

Think of the impression people have of the church — bland and boring, uptight, narrow-minded, all thou-shalt-not and no fun or personality. Basically like a bowl of browning mushy bananas — bleh. But this fruit salad Paul describes is the opposite of that! Christian life is not boring or all about following rules, it’s about love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

This is an urgent calling — for the Body of Christ to reveal this good news to a world in need. We are the only Jesus most people will see, so let’s make sure they taste and see that God is good! That a life following the Holy Spirit is joyful and peaceful and loving and beautiful.

Sanctuary only:

I’ve been asking around the congregation the last week or so and compiling a list of people who have particularly revealed some fruit of the Spirit, and we have wee badges to celebrate how we see the Holy Spirit at work in our lives here and our life together! So I’m going to ask for some help in handing out badges so when I call your name if you could just stand up or if you can’t stand up just now, wave your hand, and we’ll get you a badge and have a little celebration of how you’ve brought such healthy flavour and nurture to the world!

Some people came up in multiple fruits so don’t be alarmed if you have more than one badge coming your way!

Hymn: We All Are One in Mission

General Assembly Updates:

*Life & Work
*tenure
*insolvent congregations
*Each charge shall have a five year Action Plan that brings together the vision of the charge for its mission, worship, life and service taking account of its present position, its capacity and finances.
*general trustees building review
*up to us to be a vibrant congregation with new ways of reaching community, generous giving, and evidence of commitment to Loving God and Loving Gourock
*We celebrate the many ways we see each other demonstrating the fruits of the spirit….we need also to be the kind of harvest that is healthy for us and our community, nourishing others — if we are living the life of Christ, people will see him, and see the Holy Spirit at work, in and through us and this place.

Sanctuary Hymn: Together We Serve 

Sanctuary Offering and Response 247 verse 3 
O Spirit, breathe among us here;
inspire the work we do.
May hands and voices, eye and ear
attest to life made new.
In worship and in daily strife
create among us still.
Great Artist, form our common life
according to your will.

Concerns of the Church
Food Bank – UHT milk, tinned carrots
Holiday Club – 12 spaces available
Bible Study now off for two weeks…
I’m off from Tuesday through the end of the month….call Charlene / Cameron
Prayer Groups

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
God of all life, you call us to walk in your way,
for every moment to be directed by your grace.
Move among us again this day,
rest your Spirit upon us,
and reveal your will to us and through us.
Open us to receive your word with joy
and to respond with faithful lives.

For the world needs your Body to bear fruit —
we are desperate for more
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
One glance at the news shows us the fruit of the way we humans have chosen to go.
We see how people profit off of pain and destruction,
while those who suffer are either exploited or ignored.
You call us to keep our eyes and our hearts open, Lord,
to see our neighbours in all their glory and their need,
and to respond with love.
Don’t let us look away from our nearby neighbours who are dying
from addictions
from poverty
from despair.
Enfold them in your love,
and show us how we can reach out with gentleness and kindness and patience,
to encircle your people with the support they need to experience true joy in your abundant life.
Don’t let us look away from the tragedies unfolding around the world, in
Palestine and Israel
Ukraine and Russia
South Sudan
Yemen
India,
and so many other places.
We may not understand the complexities of every situation,
but we know that all human beings are made in your image and beloved,
so we pray for your healing and peace for a world that feels so broken.
Show us how we can act with generosity and self-control,
and how to be peace-makers.

Blessed are you, O Lord our God, ruler of the universe,
and blessed is Jesus Christ your Son, head of the church,
and blessed is your Holy Spirit, breath of life and wind of new creation.
We pray that your blessing would overflow in and through us,
and every congregation and parish of this land.

On the 15th day of the month we join our hearts as your St John’s family to pray
*For all who live and work in the area surrounding Gourock Park.
*For those who use the building at St John’s — may they encounter your grace in our hospitality — and for the volunteers who keep the building clean and in good repair.
*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, the Seychelles, and Djibouti.

Move among us again, and give us life…
and more importantly, give us courage to seek your leading and to follow,
even out of our comfortable places and into the world you so love.
Make your church fruitful,
feeding the hungry in body and soul,
reaching across barriers to share your good news,
changing the world ever more into your kingdom.

We ask these and all things through the power of the Holy Spirit
who guides our prayer and our living,
and in the name of Jesus the Christ,
Saviour and head of the Church,
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: Thrive (praise band)

Sending

Let us be led by the Spirit as we reveal Christ and his kingdom to the world, bearing fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control….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 (organ)

Announcements

* Teri is away from now until the first of July. If you have a pastoral concern or need or questions, please contact Charlene (07709 494525) or Cameron (07762 822266). Please note there is no online service when Teri is off — the website has five years of worship services to enjoy or you are invited to tune in to the livestream of another local congregation.

* Registration is now open 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. 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.

* On Sunday 6 July we will be joining with OGA, St Ninian’s Larkfield, and the Lyle Kirk/St Margaret’s for a service at the bandstand at Gourock Park at 10:30am. The service will include the Stedfast silver band and strawberries and ice cream afterwards! If anyone needs a lift, please let us know and we will arrange it. And if anyone can offer a lift to others, also please let us know so we can match you up! Thanks!

* Starter Packs are in need of bathroom/kitchen cleaner, handwash, shampoo, deodorant, soap, teabags.

The FoodBank are in PARTICULAR need of UHT milk and tinned carrots, as well as tins of soup and tomatoes.

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 off for the next two weeks — we’ll be back on the 2nd of July 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.