Sunday service for 30 August 2026

Sunday 30 August 2026, Bloom Where You’re Planted 7
Gourock St. John’s Church of Scotland
Service prepared by Rev. Teri Peterson
Manse phone: 632143
Email: TPeterson (at) churchofscotland.org.uk

if the video doesn’t play, please click here to view it on our YouTube channel!

Sanctuary Prelude Music (praise band)

Welcome and Announcements
*loop
*visitors / baptism people (no photos)
*tea/coffee
*Bible Study
*Bowl & Blether returns next week
*choir
*prayer groups

God-sightings

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

Opening Responses
One: Here — this place, this time, this community —
All: This is where God has placed us.
1: Here is where we are to live faithfully.
2: Here is where we are to serve.
1: Now is when we are to flourish.
2: Now is when we are to seek joy.
1: These are the people with whom we are bound together.
2: These are the people we are called to love.
One: So come, let us worship God together.

Sanctuary Hymn 198: Let Us Build a House (organ)

Prayer
Your promise is for every generation, O God.
It reaches well beyond us,
into a future we can’t even imagine.
When everything is in turmoil,
you are still at work.
But we don’t understand, O God.
The world is not as we wish it would be,
and we want you to fix it, ASAP.
We are so tempted by the people who tell us there’s an easy fix.
We want to believe that this is just a blip,
none of this is who we really are or a symptom of a bigger problem,
so we can sit back and wait for something better.
But you call us to truly live, to thrive,
and not just in our own little corner but in community with others.
You call us to learn faithfulness in every situation
and we confess we’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to return to the familiar.
You call us to seek wellbeing for those who oppose us
and we confess we would rather blame and fight,
anything to avoid recognising our own part in the problem.
Forgive us our shallow roots, God,
and our narrow vision.
Forgive us, God,
for turning your promise into an escape hatch.
By your grace,
make us honest enough not to perpetuate our errors,
faithful enough to not just seek your will but to do it,
and loving enough to work for the wellbeing of all, not just ourselves.
We ask in the name of Jesus the Christ. Amen.

Online Hymn 198: Let Us Build a House

Sanctuary Children’s Time and Sacrament of Baptism
In the sacrament of baptism, we begin a new life in God’s future, dying to all that separates us from God, and rising to new life in Christ. It’s about finding ourselves in the family of God’s people, trying to be faithful together. It’s about God loving us even when we can’t yet make any response ourselves — we can’t ask, we can’t change, we don’t know the answers, and God reaches out and marks us as God’s own people. This is how much God loves us: that he gives us life in God’s kingdom of hope, even now in this life.

Scott and Jennifer, in presenting your child for baptism, do you desire that he may be grafted into Christ as a member of his body, the Church, and do you receive the teaching of the Christian faith which we confess in the Apostles Creed? Do you? (I do)

If you’re comfortable doing so, please stand as we affirm our faith together using the ancient words of the apostles creed:
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was buried;
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
He ascended into heaven,
He is seated at the right hand of the Father,
And he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The holy catholic Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting. Amen.

You may be seated.

(Invite children to the font)

Let us pray.
We give you thanks, O God, for you nourish and sustain all things by your gift of water. You led your people to freedom by parting the sea, you sent John to the Jordan to baptise and call us to repentance, and in Christ you give us streams of living water. We pray now that you would pour out your Spirit on this water, set it aside from a common to a sacred use. May all who now pass through these waters be buried with Christ, and rise with him to new life, born anew of water and the Spirit, and so be delivered from death to life, from bondage to freedom, from sin to righteousness. Clothe us with Christ, and bind us together in one family through your Holy Spirit. Strengthen Freddie to serve you with joy. We pray in the name of Christ. Amen.

Freddie is a week away from being 6 months old. When the calendar turns over to 2050, he will still be a few months away from his 24th birthday. In 2100 — doesn’t it feel like science fiction to talk about it? — Freddie will most likely be there, just 74 years old, younger than some of us here today.
That kind of future is a mystery beyond us, but we know that God knows. And we know that God’s plans are for a future with hope, for life abundant, and our part is to live faithfully in God’s way, to put God’s plans into action together, to work toward that hope and abundance that Jesus came to give us all, even when the world around seems hopeless.

Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything he commanded us. And scripture reminds us that the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away — everyone the Lord our God shall call.

Confident of this promise, we baptise those whom God calls, promising to be a true family for one another, traveling the journey of faith together, sharing the story of God’s amazing power and possibility together.

Freddie, for you Jesus Christ came into the world, for you he lived and showed God’s love, for you he suffered the darkness of Calvary and cried at the last, “It is accomplished”; for you he triumphed over death and rose in newness of life; for you he ascended to reign at God’s right hand. All this he did for you, though you do not know it yet. And so the word of Scripture is fulfilled: “We love because God first loved us.”

Freddie Robert, I baptise you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. You have been sealed by the Spirit in your baptism, and you belong to Jesus Christ forever. Amen.

This child belongs to God. From this day forward, he is at home in the Christian community, and there will always be a place for him—whether loud, or wiggly, or upset, or perfectly well behaved.

Tell him of his baptism. Teach him of the treasure he has received today, and of the further wonders of growing in grace and love within the family of the Church, that he may come in time to make his own response to this gift, and to join in the work of the Holy Spirit in this world. Teach him the story of God’s love and pray with him for the hope of God’s future, that he may bear fruit for Christ’s kingdom. In this Bible you will find the word of God written and illustrated for children, and also the blessings, welcomes, and well-wishes of this community, to remind you that you are surrounded with prayer and support, and we are here to share this life with you, to be family together.

So now I ask you, as parents: do you promise, depending on the grace of God, to teach this child the truths and duties of the Christian faith, and by prayer and example to bring him up in the life and worship of the Church? Do you?

Stephanie and David, as godparents, do you promise to guide and encourage Freddie, through prayer and example, through word and deed, teaching him to know and love Christ and his Church? Do you?

Young people of the church…do you promise to love Freddie as a friend, to help him learn how to love Jesus and to be a part of his church?

And you who are gathered here represent the whole Church.
Word and Sacrament bring you the joy of Christ’s presence in your midst.
They also bring you responsibilities as Christ’s people in this place.
Do you welcome Freddie,
and do you commit
to share with him the knowledge and love of Christ,
and to support him and his family with God’s love?
If so, please say “we do.”

All of us are called to model God’s grace in all that we do,
whether our interactions are with friends or strangers,
children or peers or elders,
church members or not.
Today we particularly promise to these young families, but the promise extends to all of us.
Will you take up this call to build up Christ’s body,
nurturing one another in faith,
upholding one another in prayer,
and encouraging one another in service?
If so, please say “we will.”

Let us pray.
God of love, we rejoice again to receive your grace in Word and Sacrament.
We have heard your call, we are made new by your Spirit,
we have committed ourselves to your path.
Guide and guard Freddie all his days.
May your love hold him, your truth guide him, your joy delight him.
Bless his family, that he may grow up in a secure and happy home.
Give them wisdom and courage, laughter and peace,
and the love that endures all things.
May the breath of your Spirit fill them with life abundant.
God of grace and glory, you have called us to your
One Church, proclaiming One Faith, One Baptism, One Lord.
Help us to profess this truth with our lives, not only our words.
Remind us of the love poured on us in our baptism,
and bring us once again to new life with you.
Water the seeds that have been planted this day,
and help us bear fruit for your kingdom, living in your love.
Amen.

Sanctuary Hymn: Thrive (praise band)

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 29.4-7, 11-14
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

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: live toward it (edit of “hope eventually”)
This is a lot of people’s favourite verse — God telling the people who were in the middle of trials and tribulations: I am with you. I have plans for you, even though everything feels like chaos right now.

And rightfully so is it people’s favourite, because it is easy to lose hope when we’re looking around the world. God has a future in mind for us…where we see only closed doors and disaster, God sees a future we can’t yet imagine. We can hold on to that truth.

But.

And this is kind of a big but.

God also said to the people in exile: you are not the ones who will see that future. The future I am planning is for….three generations from now.

In the meantime, what you are to do is to live toward it. Build houses, plant gardens, have families. Put down roots in the community I have sent you into. Care about your neighbours. Build up the neighbourhood. Serve the common good. Be the best neighbours and best friends and best family for the people around you. Bloom where I have planted you. When you do your best for the community and nation in which you live, then all of you will flourish together. And your children’s grandchildren will reap the benefits of your faithfulness — those are my plans, says the Lord.

I wonder how many of us are willing to follow instructions when we are not the ones who will get the reward. It’s hard enough when we can’t control the outcome, but when we won’t even get to see it at all? When the benefits aren’t really for us, but for future generations, long after we’re gone?

Of course, like many things with a future payoff, there is still benefit to living God’s way in the world right now, too. Being rooted in the community where God sent us, working for the well-being of all, is also good for us. Refusing to see our neighbours as enemies, choosing to love the people God has put in our path, is good for us. Our shalom — our wholeness, our wellbeing — is found only in the shalom of the whole community together. Building a better world for the future also makes things better for us, though in the short term it’s hard and sometimes doesn’t feel very good.

But the fullness of hope, the kingdom we long to see, the amazing grace vision…if that isn’t for us, are we still willing to work toward it, and to face the challenge of making those changes? In a world where politics and economics force a short-term focus, it can be hard to have long-term vision. That also makes it easy to feel like the world around us is a catastrophe. And it’s easy to wish for the days when things were simpler, to look back longingly while forgetting the hardships of past days. And it’s even easier to insist there must be someone to blame for the change, to point fingers at ‘those’ people, whoever they might be today, and insist if they would just go away, everything would be like it used to be.

But God has planted us, his people, here and now — for a future purpose, not a past one. Whatever our situation right now, God says to build and plant and grow, right where we are. Nurture one another and the community. Water the seeds. Share the faith. Love the others. Not wait for circumstances to change, not long to go back to the way things used to be…live, here and now. Sure, these aren’t the times we want to live in…but to be God’s people, the baptised Body of Christ, is to work God’s plan for the future and so make things better for the next generation — for Freddie’s generation and beyond.

God told his people in exile how to live toward the future he has in mind, with two mindset changes that would lead to a new way of life:
First, do not see new neighbours as enemies, don’t blame them and hold a grudge, but instead work toward shalom for them, because in that work is how we would find our own peace and wellbeing. God commands a shift away from defensiveness, and toward being interconnected, intertwined, interdependent. God instructs us not to be known for what we’re against but for how we love and serve. The people of God see neighbours to be loved, not issues to fix or strangers to keep away from or dangers to get rid of — we see neighbours to be loved.

And second do not be defeatist, don’t just give up and dwindle away. Even though they would not see the fruit of their labour in their lifetime, God still told the exiles and is still telling us, even now, to build…plant…live. To insist that there is a future, even if we can’t see it. God is still at work. There is hope, though we may not be the ones to see it fulfilled. So we baptise and we teach, we work and witness, we love and love and love even when it seems pointless. Because we are part of something ongoing, we are not the end of it.

Surely God knows the plans he has for us — plans for a future, even though we might think we have reached the end of the line; plans for hope, even when things look bleak. We personally may not be the ones who get the benefits, but we can be the ancestors that future generations give thanks for.

God has planted us exactly where God needs us to be for the future of God’s kingdom — which may be beyond us but is still ours to hope toward and work toward.

May we bloom where we’re planted, just as God planned. Amen.

Online Hymn: Thrive
Sanctuary Hymn 167: Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah (Sylvia K favourite) (organ)

Sanctuary Offering and Response Hymn 231: For the Fruits of All Creation, v1 (tune: ar hyd y nos) (organ)
For the fruits of all creation,

thanks be to God;
for these gifts to every nation,
thanks be to God;
For the ploughing, sowing, reaping,
silent growth while we are sleeping,

future needs in earth’s safe-keeping.
thanks be to God.

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Loving God, we come with thanks for your care.
You have placed us in community,
and we are grateful for your gift of togetherness,
in all its many forms.
Where community is complicated, O God,
we ask for the grace to embody your way.
We offer our prayers for those among
our families, friends, neighbours, and community who have hurt us,
and ask for your healing for their hearts, and ours.
Transform us all ever more into your likeness.
Where people are suffering in body, mind, or spirit,
we ask for the grace of your wholeness.
We offer our prayers for those whose fullness of life is restricted by illness or treatment,
and for those who care for them.
We lift up our neighbours near and far who long for healing, freedom, and peace.
Reveal your loving kindness among us and through us.
We especially pray for those who have left their homes,
seeking refuge, seeking hope, seeking peace.
We ask your protection on their journeys,
that they may encounter welcome and help, solidarity and support.
We ask your comfort for those who grieve —
lost homes, lost familiarity, lost families, lost loved ones, lost livelihoods.
And we ask for your compassion to infuse us, that we may be a haven,
a community that makes space for all to live life to the fullest
where you have planted us together.

On the 30th 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 fauna of all kinds, and for all who live, work, play, pray, and pass through in this place.
*For the youth organisations of St John’s: for the Anchor Boys, Junior Section, and Company & Senior Section of the Boys’ Brigade, for the Smurfs, Brownies, Guides, and Rangers, and for the Exploratorium holiday clubs. For their leaders, volunteers, young people, and families. May they grow in faith, hope, and love together.
*For the land, people, and governments of the nations of Mexico, the USA, Canada, and Greenland

We trust your promise, Living God,
that when we seek you, you will be found.
We offer our prayers for all who are desperate for your new thing to be revealed,
for this world is not yet in alignment with your will.
Give us the courage to live expectantly,
and to act hopefully,
carrying on the good work you have begun in us.
You have promised a future, but not one just for us alone —
bring us together as a human family to live and flourish in your kingdom together.
We ask especially for your blessing on the next generation:
the ones who will grow up with turmoil as normal.
May they learn the ways of peace and justice that we have failed to learn in our time,
and so participate in the hopeful future you have planned.
We pray you would give us all a spirit of discernment,
that we might at last learn to recognise your work in the midst of the chaos,
your presence when so much clamours for our attention.
Save us from being deceived by those who use your name but do not bear your fruit.
And keep us from deceiving ourselves, too.
Make us faithful to your more excellent way,
and give us courage to prioritise abundant life for all, not just some;
to work for the common good, trusting that it is together we will find wholeness.
Where one suffers, we all suffer;
where one rejoices, we all rejoice.
Bind us together in your love and justice,
and gather us in the palm of your hand,
renewing us in hope and faith,
to flourish as your kingdom people, even now.
We ask in the name of 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 530: One More Step (baptism request) (organ)

Sending
The ancient rabbis taught: “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” So go from this time together trusting that God knows the plans, so we can live and work toward God’s future with hope.
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 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) (organ)
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.

Sanctuary Postlude Music (organ)

Announcements

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

* The first Sunday of the month at 11am is an all-age service, with different ways of encountering God’s word without a traditional sermon. All people — young and old, different personalities and learning styles, are welcome! You’ll find a more informal service with a variety of music, a Bible story, prayer, and some more interactive elements. The online service for the first Sunday will therefore also be different — there will still be a reading, prayers, and music, but usually not a sermon.

* Wednesday Bible Study is at 7:30pm in the manse.

* On Wednesday 9 September at 7pm in the Lyle Kirk Union Street, we have the opportunity to hear from people who work with the Hebron International Resource Network about life and work in the West Bank. This is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the situation in Palestine from people who live it, and to find out how we can help.

* Bowl & Blether is on the first Mondays of the month, with doors open from 11:30-1:30, and lunch served from noon. All are welcome for a bowl of soup, a toastie, a friendly chat in our warm hall! See you next week on the 7th of September.

* Starter Packs are in need of Toothpaste, Hand Wash, Kitchen and Bathroom Cleaner.
The FoodBank are short of milk, diluting juice, biscuits, and tinned meals and meats.
You can bring donations to the church and place them into the boxes in the vestibule. Thank you!

* Greenock Philharmonic Choir will be holding an open Choral Workshop on Saturday 12th September in Lyle Kirk, Greenock, 10am to 4pm. The cost is £15, which includes all music plus tea, coffee and home baking! All are welcome. We will sing music from around the world, finishing with Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine. Further info is on the choir’s website and Facebook page.

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

* Did you know that the ministry we do at St John’s costs about £3000 per week and we are currently running about £500 short? Everything we do is funded by your generous giving — all our support for young people, older people, bereavement care, community outreach, worship, study, spiritual growth, and community work is because of your offering. If you would like to set up a standing order in order to facilitate your spiritual discipline of giving, or if you would like to make an extra gift to support the ministry St. John’s does in our parish, you can give online by clicking here. If you would like to set up a standing order, please contact Teri and she can give you the treasurer’s details. You can also send your envelopes to the church or the manse by post and we will ensure they are received.

* Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Youtube, and to sign up for our email newsletter! Midweek you can watch Wine and the Word and Theology Thursday on Youtube, get snippets of thought or inspiration following Teri on TikTok, and of course keep up with announcements and events on Facebook and our weekly email.