 The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those joining us in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together on the 20th Sunday after Pentecost (we are steadily getting through the Pentecost Sundays!)
Notices:
Call to Worship Blessed be God, who creates out of nothing, shapes beauty out of chaos and breathes life in to dust. Blessed be God, who gives each person a purpose, Calling the young for their energy And the old for their wisdom; affirming forgotten worth, identifying hidden potential, redeeming deep regrets. Blessed be God forever. Hymn 97 – O God, you search me and you know me Prayers of Adoration and Confession Holy God, the mystery of your presence stretches far beyond us, yet we know you draw near to us in Christ, walking beside us, guiding us with wisdom, loving us with boundless grace. Your Spirit encourages us as we follow Christ and gives us the energy and insight we need to serve you. Holy God, we are glad to gather in your presence, to be embraced by your mystery and your mercy. For we confess we do need your mercy. We claim to be your people, but we forget to love as you do. We claim to seek your guidance, but we often turn from your ways. We ask for your forgiveness, but we fail to forgive as you forgive. We claim to listen for your Word, but we ignore your wisdom. Hear us as, in this silence, we offer you our personal confessions: (A time of silence is kept.) Forgive us, God of mystery and mercy, amend who we are and direct who you would have us be for the sake of Christ, our Saviour and Friend. Friends, the good news never gets old. God knows us and loves us. We are forgiven, loved and set free to start again. Thanks be to God! Lord’s Prayer Reading – Matthew 22: 15-22 Hymn 489 – Come down, O Love Divine Weekly Prayer Gracious God, you have called and chosen us to spread the Good News of your son to the world. As we go out to another week help us to give the message of Faith, Love and Hope to all we meet, at home, at work, in our leisure time and in our community. Amen Reflection I mentioned a few months ago about how I had started over the lockdown period to collect stamps again. But I have never really collected coins or banknotes, though some people do. But our Gospel reading this morning revolves round a coin, and it made me look at some of the coins I still have from my travels. Of course, in Britain we have the Queen’s head on our coins and notes, and I have a couple of Jordanian coins, bearing King Abdullah’s head. But Israeli or Egyptian coins and most of my Euro coins have only symbols. The coin in our reading this morning was probably a denarius, and it bore the image of Caesar on it. What’s more, it would have an inscription ‘Caesar, son of the Divine Augustus’. Both image and inscription would be anathema to the Jews. Remember the 2nd commandment – Don’t make graven images. A graven image was a sign of idolatry. But also, the coin was a reminder that they were under occupation, and this coin was imposed by the Romans. Jesus had become a thorn in the side of various groups in Palestine. His message appealed to the people, but undermined their authority. They wanted rid of him, and the coin gave them the perfect way to trap him, and so there was an unholy alliance of Pharisees, who were really quite radical and anti-Roman, and Herodians, who were very conservative and sought to accommodate Rome. They held up the coin and asked ‘Is it lawful to pay tax to Caesar or not?’. If Jesus answered Yes, pay the tax, then the crowd would be annoyed. The Pharisees would condemn him as supporting Rome. But if he said No, don’t pay the tax, the Herodians would brand him as a tax rebel and troublemaker. They had caught him, or so they thought..! I admire Jesus’ quick thinking. He asked for the coin, asked whose head was on it and said ‘Pay unto Caesar, the things which belong to Caesar, but render unto God, the things that belong to God’. And his accusers were silent. All life belongs to God, and so we pay our tribute to God, in the ways of in which we live our lives, in our time and talents, in our creativity and morality, our kindness and in our whole being. The coin bore Caesar’s image, and so belonged to him. But here we are reminded that we are made in the image of God. We bear God’s image and belong to God. What’s more, through baptism we bear the name of Christ. That’s something to remember, for as Christ’s followers, we represent him on earth, whether we be at home or at work or at leisure – we bear the image of God and should let nothing tarnish it. When we are tempted to compromise our values – stop and remember we are made in God’s image and belong to Christ. When we are tested and are tempted to do wrong things. Stop and remember we bear God’s image and belong to Christ, for the Caesars of this world are ever keen to rule our lives, but we belong to God. As we carry on through this difficult time, let us be reassured. We belong to God; God’s stamp is on us, and because of that we are never alone. Hymn 769 – holy, holy, holy (Argentinian Sactus) Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession God of abundance, we bring what we have to share, the fruit of our lives, a portion of your goodness to us. Bless our gifts and our lives, so that generosity and justice will join hands and your goodness will be shared with those in need. God of our hearts and our hopes, As the season continues to change and harvests are gathered, we thank you for the beauty around us, for brilliant colours, birds flying south, the crackle of fallen leaves, and the rhythms of this time of year. We are grateful for your steadfast love amid so much that changes. This autumn, we also face unpredictable changes as the pandemic continues. Draw close to those who find the uncertainty unsettling and help us preserve our connection to you and to each other. God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer. God of our imaginations and insights, We thank you for all the ways you inspire human minds to create things which improve the lives of your people. We are grateful for all the medical efforts taken to manage COVID-19, and for the scientists testing vaccines. Give them perseverance and success. Guide politicians and policy makers so that breakthroughs and resources are shared with the most vulnerable. God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer. God of neighbours and neighbourhoods, We praise you for everyone working to build and maintain healthy communities: for teachers and healthcare workers, construction workers, farmers and labourers. So many have had their workplaces changed and their livelihoods threatened by the pandemic. Give them perseverance and encouragement. Make us good neighbours to all who serve our community and remind us to say thank you. God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer. God of comfort and compassion, We pray for all those who are struggling this autumn, whatever the reason. We remember before you those facing illness or waiting for treatment… those who have lost income and worry about winter expenses and shelter… those who are grieving the loss of someone close… and those whose mental health is under pressure these days… Awaken your people around the world to attend to the needs of those at risk in our communities so that they will know your comfort and compassion God, in your mercy, Hear our prayer. Silence Amen Hymn 476 – Mine eyes have seen the glory Benediction Go in peace to love and serve the Lord, and the Blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, wherever they may be, now and forevermore, Amen
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 The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those joining us in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together on the 19th Sunday after Pentecost.
Notices:
Call to Worship We are the eyes of Christ Seeing as Christ sees We are the lips of Christ Speaking with love We are the hands of Christ Serving with love Hymn 251 – I the Lord of sea and sky Prayers of Adoration and Confession Generous and forgiving God ,you are the first and the last, the giver of all good things .Your glory is endless; your power, incomparable. Your love stretches wider than the universe, your mercy reaches beyond the heights of heaven. We gather with hearts thankful for the abundance of your creation to worship and adore you. Inspire us by this time of worship, that our hearts overflow with praise each and every day. May our lives reflect our gratitude to you in the ways we share your abundant love in Jesus’ name. Let us confess our sins before God. Generous and loving God, we confess that in a world where many do not have enough, we enjoy more than we need. In a world where many live in fear, we take peace for granted. In a world where many have lost hope, we become indifferent to despair and grumble about small things. Forgive us, merciful God, and transform our lives to shine with the generosity, peace and hope you offer us in Christ Jesus. Friends, while it is true we have all sinned, it is a greater truth that we are forgiven through God’s love in Jesus Christ. To all who humbly seek the mercy of God I say, in Jesus Christ our sin is forgiven. Be at peace with God, with yourself and with one another. Lord’s Prayer Readings – Philippians 4: 1-9 Matthew 5: 38-48 Hymn 336 – Christ is our light Weekly Prayer Faithful God, as we move into the coming week to live and work for the Gospel, help us to concentrate our thoughts on whatever is true, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy. Help us to travel onwards with our eyes fixed on Jesus willing to go the extra mile, and may we know your peace with us. Amen. Reflection At the General Assembly last week, the Youth moderator gave her report, and she talked about how she had travelled to Zambia to visit one of the projects being supported by the Guild. It is a project, supporting young mothers in a particularly poor area of the capital, Lusaka, a shanty town with makeshift roads and few amenities. But the youth moderator spoke of how, within a few minutes of her arrival, she found herself dancing. The young mothers had immediately burst into song, drums were beating and everyone started to dance. I can well imagine it. They would be wearing colourful chitenge cloth around them, tying their babies to their backs, so the babies would be dancing as well! These are young women who had probably left school early, who would struggle to get by, and yet who put their troubles aside and exude the joy of being a Christian in song and in movement. And who would have been given much hope through the Guild’s support. Paul in his letter to the church in Philippi says, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, Rejoice. Paul had a soft spot for this church, and there is a warmth of feeling in his words. I visited the site of Philippi some years ago- it is now just ruins, its glory faded. But nearby is a chapel by a river, marking the place where Lydia was baptised along with her household. She was a dealer in the expensive purple dye and a prominent member of the early church. But in the passage this morning we read of two other women. There was obviously a disagreement between them, which needed to be resolved. They held different views, but they had to come together for the good of the church. But the thing that strikes me is that they had leadership positions in the church and had been co-workers with Paul. This was a church where women were very active. Today is Guild Sunday, and we remember the work of the Guild in the life of the church. Nowadays the Guild is not only for women, but also men, and I am always tremendously impressed by energy and devotion of the Guild. In the rallies and meetings there is a real sense of joy, as they enjoy fellowship with one another and with God, but also it is an organisation which is very much on the move and one which is committed to showing God’s love in action. They choose 6 projects for a 3 year period and raise phenomenal sums of money. Projects like the young mothers in Zambia or street children in India – or nearer to home, tackling loneliness with CrossReach or supporting chaplains to sailors. The Guild have had their theme of ‘One Journey, many roads’, and this year they are looking in particular at the ‘Extra Mile’. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount encouraged his followers to go the extra mile. Rome occupied Palestine at the time of Jesus, and Roman soldiers could pressgang someone to carry their load, but only for a mile. Jesus is saying to go beyond that and carry it for an extra mile. Go beyond what is required, in other words. It is all part of Christ’s upside-down world. The Guild certainly seek to go the extra mile, doing more than expected. As followers of Christ, all of us have to surprise the world by the joy in our souls, but also by exceeding expectations; by being a voice to the voiceless, by being a companion on the road, by showing the love of Jesus Christ -in the words of the Guild motto, ‘whose we are and whom we serve’. Taize Chant – In the Lord I’ll be ever thankful Prayers of Dedication and Intercession Gracious God, we present our gifts to you as tokens of our thanksgiving for all we have received from your hand. Bless these gifts and multiply them, just as Jesus multiplied a few loaves and fishes to bless others. Use our gifts and our energy to share your love in our community and around your world, for the sake of Christ our Lord. Gracious Father, we give thanks for all those who have walked that extra mile for us over our lifetime – the nurturing when we were young, the extra time taken with us when we were learning new skills, the kind word and helping hand when we were struggling with life’s problems. We ask for Your help and guidance that we too can walk an extra mile for others in the loving and generous spirit of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Father God, we think about Your Church here in Scotland. This is a time of radical change and we ask for Your guidance for those at local, presbytery and national level - giving them wisdom as they seek to discern Your will. May we all be willing to support, change and move forward to meet the needs of today. Be with young people in every country in the world. Guide them in their work and studies. Let them use their gifts and talents and ideas to Your glory. Give guidance to all who work with young people, whatever their age. Give them wisdom to know what each child needs. We pray for our country as new restrictions come into effect and pray that all may work together to combat this virus. Help us to encourage one another. We pray for our world, remembering the situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan, where tensions are high. We also pray for the United States as the election nears. Silence Amen Hymn 449 – Rejoice the Lord is King Benediction As we travel the road of life, lead us, Heavenly Father. As we journey the path of faith, uphold us, Christ the Son. As we meet all joys and sorrows, fill us Holy Spirit. Be with us now and always Bless us, three in one. Amen  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those joining us in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together in this new month of October and on the 18th Sunday after Pentecost.
The podcast of this service can be accessed on the website.
This is the day that the Lord has made Let us rejoice and be glad in it It is good to give thanks to the Lord For God’s love endures forever Hymn 200 – Christ is made the sure foundation (vv1,2) Prayers of Adoration and Confession Steadfast God, As the seasons change, we see that you are still at work in the world, transforming hearts and situations. We praise you for all you do to repair injustice, bringing peace to places of hostility, working for goodness to prevail among neighbours and nations. You have shown us the true face of power in Jesus Christ, reaching out with healing and hope to touch desperate lives. Let us see the face of Christ in this time of worship, and fill us with renewed energy and insight this autumn, so that we can join in your work to bring justice and joy into the world you love, in Jesus’ name. Lord of love, today we confess our sin of indifference. Too often we turn away so we don’t have to see pain, suffering or injustice, even when the evidence is right before our eyes. We don’t like to feel uncomfortable. We don’t want to feel responsible. In your great mercy, forgive us, Lord. Teach us a new way to live. Give us courage to love others as you love us, and to respond to the cries of others with the humility we have witnessed in Jesus. The prophet Micah declared that God requires of us these three things: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. To all who humbly seek reconciliation with God and neighbour, God offers forgiveness and peace. The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Lord’s Prayer Readings – Philippians 3:4b-13 Matthew 21: 33-46 Hymn SGP 72 – Lord, Jesus Christ, you have come to us (1,4) Weekly Prayer Almighty God and loving heavenly Father, we pray for our Church; that Christ may be the cornerstone of all that we do in his name. May we, his living church be the solid blocks of a spiritual community which continues to hold fast in the knowledge of Christ and the power of his resurrection in an ever-secular world. Amen Reflection It was a triathlon race. The participants had been swimming, cycling and now it was the running. The person in front had won, and the one in 2nd place was clear of his rival – but he seemed to take a wrong turning, allowing his rival the opportunity to win silver. But his rival stopped before the line to allow the one who had taken the wrong turning to cross ahead of him. It was only fair, he said. It happened just a couple of weeks ago, and it was a marvellous example of sportsmanship. The fact that it hit the headlines shows how unusual it was. Paul in his letter to the Philippians uses the image of a race, and how he strains, using all his energy, to attain the prize, which is to live in Christ. There is a real sense of determination and single-mindedness here, as Paul discards all the ‘baggage’ that he carries, in order to achieve his goal. Some of that determination is needed in the Church at this time. The General Assembly will have met this weekend. Usually this is a weeklong meeting in Edinburgh, but this year it is one and a half days online. But as you may have seen in some of the newspapers, the Kirk has to make some difficult decisions, especially since income has fallen during this lockdown period. There will be pressure on the number of buildings we have, and also presbyteries will have to assess the number of ministries there will be. It is not necessarily negative, but it is the church having to do things differently, and this lockdown period has brought it to the fore. But we also need to have that determination to pursue the things of the Kingdom, the values of peace and justice in a world which is too often violent. This week a policeman, nearing retirement and involved in the community, was shot dead in a police station. Meanwhile there was the presidential debate in America, which did nothing to reassure its citizens or to calm the violence which has affected so many American cities recently. The parable in our Gospel reading today is a violent one. A landowner had a vineyard and does everything possible for it to yield good crops. He is going away, so he rents it out. But when he sends his servants to collect what is due to him, they are not received well. In fact, the opposite. They are abused and beaten up. The owner sends more, but they are even killed. So the owner sends his son and heir. After what happened to the servants, we may be surprised at this, but the owner felt they would honour his son – but they kill him too. Of course, bells are ringing, for the setting of the parable is during Holy Week and we know that Jesus will himself be killed the son of God, the owner of the vineyard. We also have a sneaking suspicion of our responsibility in this, for we have been poor stewards of the vineyard, of God’s good earth. But at the end of the parable, Jesus asks the crowd is what should the owner do to those tenant farmers? They reply that the tenants be killed. Meet violence with violence in other words. But what would Jesus do? Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey of peace, Jesus would comfort the mourning and heal the brokenness of humanity that he saw all around him and confront the injustices. And as those baptised into the Kingdom, we are called to do the same, as we strain towards the goal. We are called to agents of healing and love in the brokenness of our world – a world broken by racism, by poor stewardship of earth, by hatred and violence. We look to Jesus and see how he lived, and we follow his example. Hymn 231 – For the fruits of all creation (1,2) Prayers of Dedication and Intercession Generous God all we have has come from you and so we give just a little back: our money, but also our time, our talents, our very lives. We ask you to bless both the gift and giver through Jesus Christ our Lord. Loving Lord, we are living in strange and uncertain times. It feels as if everything we were sure of now fills us with fear and doubt. Yet throughout it all you remain constant, the great unchangeable I AM. Still there is much in our world that we would want to pray for. We pray for those working on the frontline, especially in our NHS and those working towards a cure and a vaccine for Covid 19. We remember all those people and professions who previously we may have taken for granted. We pray that this new-found respect continues even as our lives return to some normality. We continue to think of our shopworkers, delivery drivers and refuse collectors and many, many more. We bring before you those areas of the world which have largely disappeared from our screens, replaced by news closer to home: continued fighting in Syria and Yemen and Libya; refugees and asylum seekers who have been particularly affected by the pandemic; the proposed annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel. We pray for the Church throughout the world, and especially the Church of Scotland after its General Assembly. Grant her wisdom and steadfastness at this difficult time. We pray for those who usually sit next to us, in front of us and behind us. Although distanced, may we feel each other’s presence in our lives. We spend a moment in silence, recalling those we know who particularly need our prayers at this time ... Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers, Amen Hymn 137 – All things bright and beautiful (1,4) Benediction The blessing of God who speaks our name The blessing of God who sits at our table The blessing of God who knows us Be with you and be with all whom you love this day, this week And forever. Amen  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those joining us in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together for our service for Harvest Thanksgiving.
Notices:
The land has yielded its harvest: God our God has blessed us. The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it Let the heavens be glad and let the earth rejoice Hymn 233 – Come, ye thankful people, come (vv1,2) Prayers of Adoration and Confession God of harvest time we gather together today as Your people and Your church to celebrate and to give thanks for the harvest that we have been fortunate enough to share in. Enable us to be fruitful in our worship and to praise You with joyful hearts. Father in heaven, all good gifts come from you. You send the sunshine and the rain, and it is through your love and care that we enjoy the harvest. Thank you for providing so richly for our needs and help us to share the good things we have with those who have little or nothing. Let us confess our forgetfulness of God, our failure to give thanks and the ways in which we have wasted the gifts of creation. We confess to you our lack of care for the world you have given us. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. We confess to you our selfishness in not sharing the earth's bounty fairly. Christ, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. We confess to you our failure to protect resources for others. Lord, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. May God show us mercy, restore us in God’s likeness and give us generous hearts and lives. Lord’s Prayer Readings – Ruth 2: 8-12 Luke 12: 13-21 Hymn 230 – Praise God for the Harvest (1,3,5) Weekly Prayer Heavenly Father, may we come to know the wisdom that comes from heaven which is first of all pure; peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Help us to become peacemakers who sow in peace in order to raise a harvest of righteousness. Amen. Reflection It has been wonderful to see the tractors and combines out in the fields around us over these last few weeks – bringing in the harvest. It is always a special time of year, and although harvest really goes on all year now and there are many kinds of harvests, such as animals and fish, it is always good to have a day in the year to stop and give thanks. Many of the books of the Bible were written in agricultural settings, and Jesus in his parables often used examples from farming life – like the story today of the rich farmer, who had a bumper harvest and wanted to build more and more barns to put his crops in. But his philosophy was one of ‘Eat, drink and be merry’. Look out for No 1 first – and number is SELF. An attitude obviously that Jesus condemned. But in the reading from Ruth, we met another farmer, Boaz. Again, he seems quite prosperous. He has land, and in the snapshot we have of him, he is enjoying a good harvest. No doubt like all farmers, he would have his anxieties; the weather, the fear of a plague of locusts which would destroy the crop, and even war. Just like farmers today worry about the weather and climate change and various diseases and bank loans. But Boaz was not like the farmer in the parable, thinking only of himself. He cared for his workers, but also for the poor in the community. The Law always encouraged Israelites to care for the widow and the orphan and the stranger, and at harvest time some of the harvest was left for them to glean or to gather. In fact, it still happens in Israel today. Boaz very much kept the law, and when he saw Ruth, a young woman, a widow and a foreigner, he encouraged his workers not to take advantage of her and also to leave her enough to gather and to take home. He was a good man, Boaz. For Ruth she was vulnerable as a young widow far from home, standing ‘amid the alien corn’ with only her mother-in-law to look after her, but because of Boaz’ kind treatment of her, she felt welcomed and soon became part of the community. An example for us all to take to heart. Angela is also a widow and also feeling vulnerable. She grows coffee in Nicaragua in Central America, but the climate is changing, and it has become hotter and that has affected the growth of her crop. There are new pests, and Angela is losing more and more each year. She has two daughters, and life in hard. But Christian Aid has helped to set up a cooperative in her village, and they have now diversified their crops and switched to growing climate-resistant cocoa. Suddenly everything is good, and they can look to the future with hope. Another Harvest voice is Alwyn, a father of two from Northern Ireland. He had lost his job and found himself on a downward spiral. There was rent to pay, bills kept coming in, there were school trips to fund, but some days there was just no money for food and he found himself in a dark place. Often he would just give his daughters sugar to keep up their stamina and lots of water to keep them hydrated. He was referred to the local food bank and felt embarrassed going. But he was met with a welcome smile, a cup of coffee and given a bag of food. A few weeks later it was Christmas, and the family were given a bag of treats. Alwyn has since found a good job, and the family are on a stable footing, but he was so impressed by the Food Bank. At Harvest we give thanks to God for providing us with food to eat, but we are encouraged to look beyond ourselves and see those in our wider community and those overseas who struggle to make ends meet, and especially at this time of Covid-19, and reach out with love and practical assistance. Hymn 232 – Pears and Apples Prayers of Dedication, Thanksgiving and Intercession God of all creation, we praise and give thanks for all that You have given to us in our lives. We thank You for the beauty of the countryside around, for hills and rivers and fields and rolling landscapes. We thank You for the orchards, the grazing pastures and the rich soil for cultivation. We thank You for all those who work the land and sea to provide food to feed us; for farmers who grow crops and produce livestock with love and care and those fishing the deep oceans. We thank You God for the rich variety of food that comes from all across the world. We pray today for farmers and farm-workers, especially those we know in our parish. We pray for them in the heat of summer and in the wet and cold of winter, as they tend their stock daily and cultivate their fields, as they manage the hedges, woodland and waterways. We pray for safety in a hazardous industry, encouragement for the solitary and anxious, and a fair price for their products. Generous God, as we celebrate Your goodness to us in Scotland, we also remember the plight of those abroad, and especially those whose harvests have failed. We pray for those whose land or crops have been affected by floods, drought or fire, by pests and disease. For those whose families are hungry and for those who have no seed or livestock for the future. We also remember those who are dependent on food banks. Help us to be generous givers – of our money, food and time, as Christian disciples in this place, and show us how to be stewards of the resources of Your world, for the benefit of all people. We continue to remember our country and all the countries of the world at this time of pandemic. Be with all who lead and grant ever wisdom, and help us to be ever considerate to the needs and health of others. Be with those in countries where medical professionals are few and where facilities in hospitals and clinics are limited. Be with all who are sick at this time and grant healing we pray. Silence Amen Hymn 229 – We plough the fields and scatter (1,3) Benediction May God who clothes the lilies and feeds the birds of the air, who leads the lambs to their pasture and the deer to still waters, lead us, feed us and change us to reflect the glory of our Creator. And may the blessing of God almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, rest upon you and upon those whom you love and those whom we are called to love, now and for ever Amen  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those listening in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together for our service for the 16th Sunday after Pentecost.
Notices: · The podcast of this service can be accessed on Podcast page of the website or by clicking HERE. · A video of today’s service is posted on Video page of the website early on Sunday afternoon - or you can access it by clicking HERE. · Harvest will be held next Sunday, 27th September in both Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15). Donations to the Food Bank will be gratefully received. · Dorothy Baird will be cremated on Wednesday, 23rd September at 11am. You can access HERE it on with username Paha2593 and password 746453. · There will be an ecumenical drive-in service near St Boswells on 27th September at 3pm. Details can be had at: www.bordersdrivein.co.uk · Yetholm Kirk is open for private prayer every Wednesday between 10.00 and 12 noon. Colin will be there, if anyone needs to see him. · We join with all the other denominations in Scotland to light a candle at 7pm. · Our singing on the podcast is led by Heather and Gordon Call to Worship The Lord our God is great and to be highly praised. We come to worship. The Lord our God is great beyond our understanding. We come to worship. The Lord our God is loving and full of mercy. We come to worship. Hymn 457 – All Hail the power of Jesus’s name (1,3) Prayers of Adoration and Confession Loving God, compassionate Son, healing Spirit, You meet us in so many places and in so many different ways, when our need is deep and we long for you, and when we think we can manage on our own. You draw near to us in kindness, regardless of our state or condition. You turn weeping into laughter, sorrow into joy, death into life. You speak a word of challenge and a word of comfort to draw us to you. In gratitude, we come before you this day, to seek your word for us, and to enjoy your gift of life in its fullness. Receive our praise and our prayers this day offered in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen. God, you are the giver of all good gifts, yet we confess that our own generosity is limited. We share what we have, but often reluctantly. We compare ourselves to others and focus on what they have that we lack. We fear running short of things rather than trusting your attention to our needs. Forgive us our worries about tomorrow and give us generous hearts that trust in you. The mercy of our God is from everlasting to everlasting. Friends, hear and believe the good news of the Gospel. In Jesus Christ, God’s generous love reaches out to embrace us. In Christ, we are forgiven and set free to begin again. Thanks be to God! Lord’s Prayer Readings: Philippians 1: 21-30 Matthew 20: 1-16 Hymn 159 – Lord, for the years Weekly Prayer Faithful God, God of heaven and earth, companion in life, Spirit of truth; to Jesus alone, in whom all power and authority in heaven and on earth is given, we turn our eyes and lift our hearts. Help us to serve you and you alone. Amen Reflection All of us like a story, and especially if there is something in it that makes us think. Jesus was the master storyteller, and his parables have spoken to people down the centuries. I wonder what your favourite parable would be? Maybe it is the Good Samaritan, where it is the outsider who helps the person who has been beaten up. We associate with him and are left with a good feeling. Or maybe it is the Prodigal Son, where the young man has squandered everything, but then comes to his senses and goes back home, expecting a terrible reception, but instead is enfolded in an embrace. Again, we are left with a good feeling. But I don’t think many would rate the parable we read today, the workers in the vineyard, as their favourite. There is no strong character for us to associate with and no warm feeling at the end. Instead, more often than not, we feel frustrated with it and cry out ‘It’s not fair!’ It’s not fair – from childhood we seem to have an innate sense of what is right and wrong, a sense of justice, and the way the workers are paid in this parable just isn’t fair. Let’s remind ourselves of the story again. Day labourers had gathered in the village square hoping for work. It is a situation I have seen in Africa and even in the Arab villages in the North of Israel. Workers hoping someone will come along and hire them for the day, so that there would be enough food to put on the table for their families in the evening. It is a precarious kind of existence. Hoping you look fit enough for the work, hoping you will be lucky. In the story, the landowner has work in his vineyard and comes and chooses some of the workers. The others were left disappointed, but then later on the landowner returned – maybe there was more work than he had imagined, but he chose more. The rest were left disappointed – and a bit undervalued, as you can imagine. It wasn’t their lucky day; the children would go hungry that evening. But as it grew late, the landowner returned yet again and picked up the rest. Imagine how they would have felt. Overjoyed- maybe they would be paid enough for a loaf of bread. But then comes the rub. Those who have come last and only worked for an hour or two at the most get paid a decent sum – a day’s wages. Word goes down the line, for surely those who have worked from early morning, sweating in the midday sun, will get far more. But no! They got exactly the same. And that isn’t fair. Those who worked far longer should have a greater reward – that is how things are. But the landowner stated, ‘We agreed a wage, and you got that wage. It is my money – what is it to you that I should be generous with my own money’. The parable is not really about the workers, but about the generosity of God, about the grace of God, which is overwhelming. And sometimes love in the form of grace trumps justice. The mother of the disciples James and John wanted her sons to have a special place in the kingdom, because they had been such loyal followers, but was firmly told that it didn’t work like that. As human beings we define ourselves against other people, comparing ourselves and often begrudging their good fortune – we are in for a shock. We may have been in the church from the year dot, made countless sandwiches and cups of tea, even been elders, but God’s grace is overwhelming and we are going to be surprised at those we find in the Kingdom. But I think this parable also shows the landowner helping those who were left behind, those who didn’t appear so strong, the undervalued and those with no sense of worth, and the Gospel has a bias to the poor and to the vulnerable. God wants them in the Vineyard, such is the generosity of grace. As the Church, we have to embody that. One way is to support the Food Bank. Another way is to be conscious of so many in our world working for minimal wages, and the importance of ensuring a fair wage and by supporting Fairtrade. God’s generosity abounds, and we too should show something of God’s generosity and grace. Hymn 798 – The peace of the earth Prayers of Dedication, Thanksgiving and Intercession Loving God, you have already today accepted our confession and turned it into forgiving love; you have accepted our praises and turned them into the song of heaven. Now accept our offerings of money and time and turn them into the tender ministry of the body of Christ in your world today. God of Hope, When the world is bleak and dim, you pierce the shadows with light. You help us see new paths and possibilities. For hope in times of despair, for a way forward when we thought all was lost, we give you thanks. We pray today for those who feel hopeless; for those who are sick or dying; for those who mourn; and for those weighed down by heavy burdens. We think of those in the West coast of America who have lost homes to wild fires. May each of us know and share your gift of hope. God of Peace, All around us there is conflict: in our world, our communities, our families, even our closest relationships. We thank you for steps toward reconciliation in our lives, our communities, and among peoples of different cultures. We pray today for places where pain, violence and cruelty seem to have the upper hand. We think of those refugees selling organs from their bodies. May each of us know and share your gift of peace. God of Joy, We give you thanks for moments of delight and occasions of celebration; for happy gatherings, gentle solitude, pleasure given and received; for laugher, friendship, and love. We remember those who do not taste such joy; those who are lonely or bitter, hurt, or difficult to love. May each of us know and share your gift of joy. We pray for our families, those closest to us or and anyone estranged. We pray for friends and for acquaintances, strangers, for those very different from ourselves, and even for our enemies. Help us draw our circles of affection wider, seeing our kinship with all people. May each of us know and share your gift of love. Hear us now as we pray in silence Amen Hymn 804 – You shall go out with joy. Benediction Go in peace to love and serve the Lord, and the Blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, wherever they may be, now and forevermore, Amen  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those listening in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together for our service for the 15th Sunday after Pentecost.
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For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is God’s steadfast love; As far as the east is from the west, so far God removes our transgressions from us. So let us rejoice in God’s presence! Let us praise the name of the Lord together Hymn 198 – Let us build a house Prayers of Adoration and Confession Holy and loving One, God of might and mercy, The heavens and the earth are full of your glory. Your love transforms our lives. You take darkness and give light. You take grief and give healing. You take fatigue and give strength. You take fear and give courage. You take death and give new life. So we come before you in worship, handing over to you all that weighs us down, waiting for your refreshing gifts. Renew us in this time of worship, we pray, so that we may serve you in Jesus’ name. Amen. O God, we confess that our lives do not always reflect your transforming power. You are gracious, but we cling to judgement. You are forgiving, but we nurse grudges and old wounds. You are filled with joy, but too often we are filled with dissatisfaction and complaints. Forgive us, O God, and fill us with your Holy Spirit, and make us new through Christ, our Saviour. The proof of God's amazing love is this: while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Know that you are forgiven by his grace and be at peace. Lord’s Prayer Readings: Exodus 14: 21-31 Matthew 18:21-35 Hymn 180 - Give thanks with a grateful heart Weekly Prayer Heavenly father we pray week by week “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,” but so often we fall short of your standards in our lives. Again today, we ask for your forgiveness and help to live as you intended us to live, as we seek to follow the example of Jesus. Amen Reflection ‘Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors’. Sounds familiar. We say it every Sunday in the Lord’s Prayer, though one or two may say ‘trespasses’ and even ‘sins’ instead. But ‘debts’ certainly works, considering our parable today. It trips off our tongues, but think about what we are saying, ‘Forgive us our debts AS we forgive our debtors’. I think we hope God just listens to the first bit and then switches off. In our Gospel reading today, Peter asks about forgiveness and suggests to forgive 7 times, which is incredibly generous. But Jesus says 70x 7. In other words, there should be no limits to forgiveness. And Jesus goes on to tell the parable about the servant who owed a massive debt to the king. Not even Trillions, but zillions, but graciously wipes the slate clean. Only to hear that the forgiven servant had not shown the same spirit of mercy to a colleague who owed him a trifle. The king’s spirit of mercy evaporated, and he sent the servant to be tortured. God doesn’t seem to like un unforgiving spirit. But as human beings, we are not very good where forgiveness is concerned. Sometimes it can be trivial things, and we should really know better, but often people really offend us, hurt us or, worse, hurt those whom we love, and it is a hard ask to forgive them – and especially when they don’t seem to show any remorse themselves. And I am sure we can think of many examples when someone has really hurt us. Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch woman and strong Christian, who wrote about her experiences in the 2nd World War, where she and her sister helped to hide a number of Jews. Ultimately someone informed on her, and they were both sent to a concentration camp. Corrie survived, but her sister didn’t. After the war she spoke a lot at various rallies and meetings about reconciliation, but on one occasion came face to face with one of the guards from the camp. Memories of her sister came flooding back, and she felt numb. He approached her, said that he had become a Christian and wanted to ask her forgiveness. She felt nothing but anger, but struggled within herself and somehow managed to forgive him. She felt such a sense of release. Forgiveness broke the chains of bitterness and freed her to live her life. It was as if she had been held captive by the past: she had to move on. The Israelites must have felt bitter by their experiences of slavery and oppression: the crossing of the Red Sea liberated them and they had their time in the wilderness to process their thoughts. Though the widows of the Egyptian charioteers who drowned and the stable girls or boys whose horses did not return would also have felt bitterness, though whether against Pharaoh or the Israelites, I don’t know. Maybe the two groups could have come together to share their feelings. That is what happens with restorative justice. In Rwanda, after the genocide there, Tutu and Hutsi came together, people whose families had been butchered to death came face to face with the perpetrators of the crime. There was so much anger and distress, but it was a cathartic experience and brought about so much healing, that the country was able to move forward. The past couldn’t hold them back any more. It is hard to forgive, but as the parable reminds us that we, like the servant, have been forgiven so much. God has been so gracious and merciful to us, forgiving and accepting us. We have experienced God’s amazing grace, and so we too should be gracious to others and forgive, and if that forgiveness is genuinely from our hearts, then we will have learnt something in the process. Amen Hymn 782 – Lord of life, we come to you Prayers of Dedication, Thanksgiving and Intercession Generous God, we offer you our gifts of love, of service and of money. Use these gifts to sow seeds of love and hope and bring closer your dream of justice and peace God of light and hope, we pray for those who face lives filled with darkness: those who suffer in body, mind, and spirit; those bent under burdens of sorrow; those who cannot see the way ahead. We pray for those who accompany others in dark times and places; For those who comfort the grieving, and work for healing and new possibilities. May all these find their darkness transformed by your presence. Lord in your mercy, Hear our Prayer God of peace and promise, we pray for those who work for peace in the world, for leaders and decision makers, for those who hold power and can make a difference in their communities, and for those who make, interpret, and enforce laws. Awaken a respect for the needs of the most vulnerable, including the earth and its fragile balances. Lord in your mercy, Hear our Prayer God of forgiveness and reconciliation; we pray for those we have hurt or offended and for those to whom we have been unkind. We pray for those who have hurt us, or been careless with our feelings. Work in our lives to redeem broken relationships. Shape us into gracious and forgiving people. Lord in your mercy, Hear our Prayer In a moment of silence we bring the prayers of our hearts. Amen Hymn 252 – As a fire is meant for burning Benediction This is still God’s world. May we live in it with faith. This is still God’s world. May we live in it with hope. This is still God’s world. May we live in it with love. And may the blessing of God Almighty, the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with you and be with all whom you love and those we are called to love, Now and forevermore. Amen.  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those listening in other places too! You are all very welcome. Come, people of God, let us worship together for our service for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost.
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O God, who called all life into being The earth, sea and sky are yours Your Spirit enlivens all who walk the earth With her we yearn for justice to be done For creation to be freed from bondage For your Kingdom of peace to come on earth. Hymn 165 – Praise to the Lord for the joys of the earth (vv 1,4,5) Prayers of Adoration and Confession Holy One, God of grace and glory, Your creative power is beyond imagining. Your love is wider than the whole universe; your mercy, greater than the heights of heaven; your wisdom, deeper than the sea. Maker of all things, you became one of us in Jesus Christ, and through your Spirit you are present with us in every place and every time. We worship you, Creator, Christ, and Spirit, one God, now and always. Creator God, we confess that we have not been conscientious stewards of your creation. We confess our failure to learn lessons, to care for our world, and to treat nature and animal life with respect. Forgive us, good Lord, and help us to turn our sorrow into action, our failure into change, our guilt into grace. God, the source of all mercy, has sent the Holy Spirit amongst us for the forgiveness of sins, the equipping of the saints and the fine tuning of our hearts. We are forgiven! Be at peace with God, with yourself and with each other. Lord’s Prayer Readings – Exodus 12: 1-14 Matthew 18: 15-20 Hymn 251 – I the Lord of sea and sky (1, 3) Weekly Prayer Faithful God, thank you for your promise that where two or three come together in your name you have promised to be with them. Deepen our understanding of the message of the Passover, that we are safe under God's protection and as we pray through this coming week may we do so with your heart of compassion. Amen. Reflection In discussing our experiences over the lockdown period, everyone I have spoken to has commented on how lucky we have been to live in this part of the world with the countryside on our doorsteps and being able to look out on hills and on rolling fields, whose colour has been ever changing depending on the crops being grown. But there has been another picture of the countryside over the last few months – of crowded beaches, and bottles and plastic bags of rubbish, strewn over the sand. Another picture has been of beauty spots violated by day-trippers or campers, littering, soiling, damaging the habitats. It has been horrific, and while none of us could think of anyone who would pollute the countryside in this way, there are obviously those who do. We have become more and more conscious of the environment and just how fragile our planet is and how we need to care for it. This month of September has been designated as ‘Creation Time’ by the British churches, including Church of Scotland, and we have invited to reflect on the way we as humans abuse the earth but also be challenged to take action. At first sight, we may wonder what our lectionary readings have to say about this. The Exodus reading can be a bit gruesome, talking about slaying lambs and smearing the blood over the door lintels and also of the slaying of the Egyptian first born. It is about the preparations for Passover. The Israelites had been oppressed and enslaved, and despite plague after plague, Pharaoh had not listened and had rejected any change. But now God was preparing a fresh start for the Israelites. Led by Moses, they would escape the oppression of Egypt and be liberated, set free. A new way of living was beckoning, and that was a life with God. Like Pharaoh, we have had so many warnings about the damage we have done to the earth, and the plagues of pollution and over consumption and abuse of the good resources like water. We have to listen and act. In the Creation story in Genesis 1 there is a constant refrain – It is good, it is good, it is good. God created a wonderful creation, and we have to remember that and treasure the earth, treating it gently (Yoruba Poem: Enjoy the earth gently, enjoy the earth gently; for if the earth is spoiled it cannot be repaired; enjoy the earth gently). We can, like the Israelites, make a new start. But our Gospel reading reminds us how divided we can be as human beings. There is the wonderful phrase, often said at evening services, ‘Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them’, but where two or three are gathered, often there are two or three different opinions. It is just the way we are as people. It is called living in community. But for the small Christian community that Matthew was addressing in his Gospel, these views or maybe actions could severely damage the community, and so had to be addressed. Matthew proposes a way to restore good relations – by being open and talking together. It still happens today – sometimes congregations can be split in two, and healing has to take place. There is an organisation in the Church called ‘A place for hope’ which remit is to bring about reconciliation. Just as we are called to treat the earth gently, so we have also to treat one another sensitively and ever seek to build up the community. In our world where there is sexism and racism denigrating others and causing so much harm, we have to learn to live together with one another, but also live together creatively and gently with our planet. Song – Let my people go! Prayers of Dedication, Thanksgiving and Intercession Lord God, receive these gifts, offered in a spirit of generosity and humility. Bless and use them for the work that you long to do in the world for Jesus’ sake Creator of heaven and earth, lover of each and every soul, we are filled with a sense of gratitude for all the blessings of this life. For making us in your image to love and care for one another, we give you thanks. For the gift of Christ, who redeems and guides us, and who gives us a pattern for everyday living, we praise you. Hear us now as we pray for situations where your love and grace are sorely needed in the world you love. We pray for the Church in this place and around the world, facing so many new challenges to respond to, so many enduring needs… We pray for this beautiful planet, the fragile home we share with all living things… For those who govern in this place and the nations of the world, that they may find the wisdom and courage to do justice in the decisions they make… For the homeless and the hungry, for the unemployed and the anxious, and for all who have become more vulnerable through the pandemic… For those lying on hospital bed, those who mourn and those who are alone or feeling isolated… For the powerless and oppressed, and those caught up in destructive relationships or unjust political systems… And for the concerns we bear on our hearts this day… Eternal God, we thank you for those who have gone ahead of us and showed us some measure of your eternal love. Keep us always in communion with you, and with your people from every time and place. Amen Hymn 515 – Soldiers of Christ, arise Benediction May the blessing of God who is always sustaining as Parent, Beloved, and Breath of All Life - surprise you, connect you as friends of Creation, hands, feet, hearts at the ready, alert and awake! Amen  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those listening in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Come, people of God, let us worship together for our service for the 13th Sunday after Pentecost.
Notices:
Give thanks to God and tell of God’s gifts. We will sing praises for all that God has done. Let your hearts be joyful! We will seek God’s presence continually. Call to mind God’s wonderful works. We will always remember the blessings of God and glorify God forever! Hymn 125 – Lord of all being (vv 1,4,5) Prayers of Adoration and Confession Eternal and ever-loving God, Deep is our desire for what is true and enduring. Deep is our need to see clearly. Deep is our longing for you, O God. In you we live and move and have our being. You are the root of love, the fountain of knowledge, the source of wisdom, the path of right living. You are the beginning and end of all things. Our thoughts cannot comprehend your mystery And so we worship you in humble praise, Holy God, ever three and ever one. May our worship bring us back to You and increase our awareness of Your beating heart at the centre of life, calming our fears and restoring our souls, knowing ourselves beloved of God, united with all Your creatures in heaven and on earth. We confess together that we have often turned away from you: We have sought meaning in shallow places. We have clung to old hurts and familiar habits. We have nursed anger and envy. We have been self-absorbed and lacked compassion. We have turned our backs on those in need. Forgive what we have been, amend who we are, and guide us toward what we may become according to your grace. If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation. Everything old has passed away. See, everything has become new! Thanks be to God that we are forgiven and can all make a new start through God’s grace. Lord’s Prayer Readings – Exodus 3: 1-15 Matthew 16: 21-28 Hymn 189 – Be still, for the presence of the Lord (1,3) Weekly Prayer - Holy God, we thank you that your wisdom not only enlightens us but transforms and guides us. As with Moses, we are sometimes tempted to say "Who am I? " when we hear you speak. We thank you for your promise to Moses and to us as we go from this place of worship, and into our daily walk through life with you "I will be with you". Amen Reflection In Christchurch, New Zealand, Muslims were going to the mosque as they did every Friday for prayers, just going about their routine, when a white supremist started to shoot them. 51 died at the hands of this one man. He was sentenced this week, but I was so impressed by one woman saying she forgave. Going about their daily life. A few weeks ago in Beirut, people were going about their daily life, when an explosion at the docks shattered their lives. In our reading from Exodus, Moses was going about his daily life. He may have grown up in a palace by the Nile, but now he had fled to Sinai, had married and was now looking after his father-in-law’s sheep. Boring, uneventful. But then something happened that changed his life completely. Nothing as extreme as the events in Christchurch or Beirut, but maybe as dramatic. He saw a bush on fire. The odd thing was that the scrub around didn’t catch fire, but also the bush didn’t seem to burn out. He walked closer to observe this phenomenon. But he couldn’t just stand back and observe – suddenly there was a voice – and Moses was drawn in, involved. God called out from the Bush, and Moses life changed forever. God reminded Moses that he was on holy ground, but then came to the nub of the issue. God had heard the groaning of the Israelites, in their oppression and in their slavery. Their lives were miserable, and their voices reached heaven – and God responded. God was identifying with the weak and suffering, just as Christ would feed the hungry, give sight to the blind and welcome the stranger. ‘I know my people’s pain’, God says to Moses, and that is encouraging for us, for we have a God who knows the trials and tribulations we face – and wants to do something about it. That is why in Matthew, we read of Jesus committing himself to a life of sacrifice for others, which would eventually lead to the Cross. Again, Moses discovered he couldn’t just observe or listen, for he soon realises that he is being called and commissioned. God uses people, and it was to be Moses, despite his protestations, who would be the one called to stand up to Pharaoh and demand that the Israelites be set free. In our world of pain and suffering, it is us who are called to do something about it and see God’s justice prevail. Now, Moses would have been conscious of his Hebrew heritage, but he had an Egyptian name and had grown up in the palace. Would they listen to him? He needed to be able to say who had sent him, and God replied enigmatically ‘I am who I am or I will be who I will be’. In Hoselaw Chapel just above the communion table, there are 4 Hebrew letters, spelling out the name of God, but too holy to say. Jews would just say, HaShem, the Name. God was being cryptic, but Moses would get to know far more about God, as he journeyed with him in all the adventures that lay ahead. Just as we learn at first hand the truth, nature and purposes of God, as we follow the paths laid before us. We may never see a burning bush, but God asks us to pay attention to our lives catching sight of the divine in the ordinary and see where we are called to serve. None of us are perfect, just as Moses had his flaws, but God calls us all. But whatever we are called to do, we are never alone, for God is always with us. Hymn 771 – If you believe … Prayers of Dedication and Intercession We offer our gifts in anticipation that God will use them—and us. Use us to transform the world you love with the good news we celebrate in Jesus Christ, our Lord. O God in whom we live and move and have our being We come to you in prayer as the summer season draws nearer to its close And we prepare for an autumn filled with many changes: We give you thanks for the occasions we have enjoyed over this strange summer. savouring the beauty of your creation right outside our doors, Thank you for the chances we’ve had catch up with family and friends, and whatever opportunities for travel, recreation & restoration have been possible. We recognize how blessed we are to live in the Borders and so, we are grateful for each moment in which we found rest and relaxation. Today we remember those for whom this summer has been difficult: Those still isolated by the restrictions because of COVID-19, and we think of the cases in Hawick; Those who go hungry or face violence in forgotten corners of our own community and around the world; Those whose businesses are struggling, who have to figure out how to be inviting and safe at the same time; And those who are uncertain how to engage with friends and neighbours and still be wise and careful in this strange time of pandemic. O God, Jesus walked the road of suffering with so many in pain and grief We remember those whose lives have faced crises this summer-- Through tragic death and unexpected loss, Through critical illness or injury, Through pain or problems that seem to have no end… Surround them with your comfort and compassion O God, Jesus often faced many demands and the pressure from his critics, So we pray for all those who have not found rest this summer: For leaders trying to figure out ways forward to care for their communities when there are no examples to follow; For those whose jobs and responsibilities have changed, and every day presents a new challenge; And we also remember those involved in the riots in Wisconsin, the protests in Belarus, the storms in Louisiana. Silence Amen Hymn 458 – At the name of Jesus (vv1,3) Benediction We go now into whatever experiences the week will bring always ready to offer God’s peace to all, and may the blessing of God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with you, and with all whom you love and all we are called to love, forevermore. Amen ere to edit.  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those listening in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Let us worship together for our service for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost.
Notices:
We, who are members of the one body join together to praise God. We, who are blessed with the gift of grace Join together to sing of God’s glory We, who are part of the family of God, join together to affirm Jesus as Lord Hymn 132- Immortal invisible Prayer of approach and confession Eternal God, you are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, and yet you come to us afresh each new day. You breathe new life into what has grown tired and discouraged. You offer healing for what is broken and worn. You restore hope for what seems impossible. We gather today in hope and expectation, we come to you as we are, overwhelmed by your love and in awe of your mercy. We lay at your feet our whole being, everything we are and everything we have, for you are the source of life, and so we worship you as Creator, Christ and Holy Spirit, one God, now and always. “Unresting, unhasting”, You are our God. And, because of all of this, we come tentatively into Your presence – in awe of Your justice; wondering whether we are worthy; questioning whether we deserve to be here. Yet You bid us come; You call us to confess; ….. and You say, ’Come closer, my friend. You are forgiven. You need fear no more. Make a fresh start’. Thanks be to God. Lord’s Prayer Readings – Exodus 1: 15 -2:10 Matthew 16: 13-20 Hymn 676 (CH3) – Hark! My soul, it is the Lord Weekly Prayer Everlasting God, we thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus Christ and for revealing him as "Messiah and Saviour of the World.". Forgive us when we only turn to you when things trouble us and when we forget to thank you for your blessings and bounty. Help us to recognise all the wonderful things in your world for which we should be grateful and send us out into the coming week ready to show our gratitude in all that we do and say. Amen Reflection Tom Gordon is a very active retired minister, who writes a lot of books. Very involved in the Iona Community. He tells the story of going into a hospital where he was chaplain and noticing someone new. Above his bed was the name – William Campbell. Tom went up and introduced himself, I am Tom Gordon, the chaplain. Now what do I call you? Is it William or Bill, perhaps?‘ The gentleman said, well most of my friends call me Professor, but you can call me Dr Campbell. And I will call you Mr Gordon, he added. I have certainly had that experience too. While most people are happy to be called by their Christian names, some would rather keep it more formal. For Dr Campbell, he had lost his independence and also his good health, but he could cling on to his name. Names are important, and in our readings today, names feature prominently, from Moses being named by Pharaoh’s daughter as she brought him from the water, to Simon Peter calling Jesus ‘Messiah’, and Jesus in his turn giving Simon the nickname, ‘Peter’. But there are other names too in our Exodus reading. Like Joseph. Last week we had Joseph reconciled to his brothers, and the Hebrews came to Egypt as welcome guests. But Exodus starts with the stark desciption of a ‘king who knew Joseph no more’. Joseph and the prosperity he had brought Egypt had been forgotten; the past was erased. Sometimes as we grow older, and people come after us with new ideas, we can feel forgotten. But here it was worse. Not only was Joseph forgotten, but worse the Hebrews were no longer treated as guests, but as a threat. They were oppressed and enslaved, and made a scapegoat for Egypt’s ills. In Exodus 1, the scheme was hatched to kill the Hebrew boys, especially as they were being born. The two midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, two more names, were given strict orders to kill any Hebrew boy at birth. There are actually a lot of similarities to Matthew’s nativity story with the massacre of the innocents. These are two remarkable women – they should be more well known. The believed in God, and they also believed that what Pharaoh was asking was against God’s will, so they didn’t follow the orders. They let the boys live and gave excuses to Pharaoh, that they always arrived too late. Their loyalty to God was above their loyalty to pharaoh, and they were given the courage to spare the Hebrew babies. One small action but it had enormous consequences and led ultimately to the freedom of Israel. We never know the consequences of our actions – small gestures, a kind word, greeting a stranger, but they can have far-reaching consequences. Interestingly the girls were to be spared, but it was the women in this story – the midwives, Moses’ mother, Pharaoh’s own daughter - who proved Pharaoh’s undoing, as Moses was saved and grew up to be one of the towering figures in the OT. Names are important, and in the Gospel we find ourselves at Caesarea Philippi. The name tells us a lot – it was a Roman town. A place of commerce, but also worship, and there were shrines to Pan the god of nature and to Caesar himself. It was in that setting of commerce and worship of idols that Jesus asked the disciples who people said he was and who THEY themselves said he was, and Simon Peter, for once, gets it right and says that he was the Messiah, the son of the living God. It does of course prompt the question, Who do WE say Jesus is today? Hopefully with Peter we can say, The Messiah, the Son of God, but certainly what we believe shapes the way we live and when our relationship with God is clear, our priorities are ordered and we have a better chance of living lives of service, justice and love. – and making a difference where we are. Hymn 516– We are marching… Prayers of Dedication and Intercession As you have bound us to your life-giving self, we come today in praise, to declare that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, our Saviour. We offer these tokens of money, time and talent, as a sign of our continued commitment to your church, its mission and its work, that it might continue to be built through us as a solid foundation bearing witness to you. We give thanks for the wonderful countryside around us, for the communities in which we live and for all the support of families and friends and neighbours. We thank you that we are able to meet together and pray for all the members of the church wherever they are and however they are worshipping. Keep them always in your care. We pray for the Church. Keep us one in faith and service, so that Your Good News might be proclaimed, and so that Your love and light might be beacons of hope and purpose in the darkest places. We pray for our world and all who rebuild where things are destroyed. For those who fight hunger, poverty and disease; For those who fight corruption, and like the Egyptian midwives, stand up against tyrants. We think of those protesting in Belarus. As the summer comes to an end, we pray for all your children, young and old. For those returning to school after the longest break and their teachers; for those without work; for those who make sure we have food on our tables; and for those who labour tirelessly to keep us safe and healthy, we ask for your love and support, that whatever this new season will bring, you will be with us. Silence Amen Hymn 694 – Brother, Sister, let me serve you Benediction Go out into the world in peace. Love your God with all your heart. Be challenged by the Spirit’s promptings. Hear the call to serve Christ and be obedient to God’s will. And may God bless you, and the Spirit restore you, and Christ’s presence strengthen you, now and always Amen  The Lord be with you! Good morning, Cheviot Churches – and Good morning to those listening in other places too! You are all very welcome. This is Colin, and I hope everyone is staying well. Let us worship together for our service for the 11th Sunday after Pentecost.
Notices:
How good it is, how pleasant it is, where the people dwell as one! The Lord has lavished blessings upon us, Life for evermore. Let us worship God Hymn 225- Summer suns are glowing (vv1,2) Prayers of Approach and Confession Welcoming and generous God, you make all things new. We are glad to come together wherever we are this day. You invite all people into your fold to receive your blessing. Justice and right relations have their source in you. We are filled with joy to be counted among your children. As we gather, make us one in worship and thanksgiving. We lift our voices to proclaim your all-encompassing love. May our praise join with the praise of all your people. And reach the ends of the earth, for you are our Saviour and our hope. Merciful and wise God, In your presence we confess that we have not lived as you taught us to live. Forgive us those times we have not welcomed others into our community; and those times we have avoided others because something about them made us uncomfortable. Forgive us the ways we have judged unfairly. Reveal to us our own prejudice which separates us from others and our failure to seek your goodness in those who seem different from us. To all who humbly seek the mercy of God I say, In Jesus Christ our sin is forgiven. Be at peace with God, with yourself and with one another. 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. Save us from the time of trial And deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours, Now and forever. Amen Readings -Genesis 45: 1-15 Matthew 15: 21-28 Hymn 498 – Angel Voices (vv 1,2,4) Weekly Prayer Gracious God we thank you that, as Joseph was able to see the bigger picture, we too may reflect your love and forgiveness in our families, our church and our community. Then they will be able to witness our faith as followers of Christ and be drawn into his loving care. Amen Reflection There has been a furore this week over exam results. The young people could not of course sit their exams this year, so their grades had to be assessed. When the results came out, many students were disappointed and found that their marks had been downgraded, which affects their hopes for the future, for jobs, for college. Worse, those in poorer areas seemed to be affected more. It was a mess; The Qualification Board were really on a hiding to nothing, and I am sure we all have our opinions about it, but the Scottish Government ended up saying, ‘We got it wrong’, and did a U turn. In the Bible there are many U turns: we think of Saul of Tarsus, persecutor of the Church, having a complete turnaround on the road to Damascus ,or Zacchaeus or even Joseph and his brothers, now reconciled in our story today. But what about Jesus? Today Jesus finds himself challenged by the Canaanite woman. Wherever Jesus had gone, crowds had followed, all demanding his attention, his compassion, his healing. He must have been completely drained, and in our story today, he gets away. He goes with the disciples across the border into Lebanon, to the area around Tyre and Sidon. It is almost like a holiday, away from all the crowds. Perhaps that is why he didn’t want to answer the Canaanite woman, when she asked for help. We are so used to Jesus responding immediately with compassion, reaching out to touch and heal, but here he resists. Maybe he was drained, but also he crossed the border, and this was a Canaanite, the traditional enemy of the Jews. She was a woman, and she was a nuisance, who didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. But also she was a mother, and her daughter was sick, and she knew that Jesus could heal her. As a mother it didn’t matter to her if Jesus was Jewish, she wanted the best for her daughter. Like the students with poor grades and like the people of Beirut, just up the coast from Sidon, after the explosion last week, they wanted an answer and wouldn’t give up. The woman persisted, persevered, spoke to the disciples until they told Jesus to send her away, and at last Jesus spoke and said that he had come only for the Israel and not for anyone else. He even speaks quite harshly to her, but she counters him by saying that even dogs eat the crumbs falling from the table. She challenges Jesus to look beyond Israel, and such is her persistence, that he praises her faith, and her daughter is healed. This story is not wonderful for Jesus’ PR; it is so out of character. His views were maybe shaped by the culture he was brought up in, as our own are, but he learns from this exchange. He realises that the kingdom message is for all people, that God’s mercy and love are for everyone regardless of race or gender. When Matthew was writing his Gospel, that was a hot topic, as the early church debated whether the Church was for Jews only or Gentiles too. The passage shows us that, whatever age we are, we are all still learning. This passage also challenges us to see how expansive, how inclusive God’s kingdom is, reaching out to everyone, to say ‘All are welcome’. It challenges us to persist. When there is injustice or wrong in society, we must call it out. But one more thought. The woman’s modern day equivalent– the Lebanese -protested against their government after the explosion last week. But they also arrived from all over the country with brushes and buckets, to get on with the work of cleaning up, and I love that picture. Speaking ou,t but also doing something to improve the situation for all around. We can learn from them – and we can learn from the Canaanite woman. Hymn 65 - Jubilate Prayers for Intercession O God, we place our hope and trust in your loving kindness, leaning on you for all our needs. Because we want to praise you with more than mere words, we bring our gifts to support Christ’s mission in the world. Bless these gifts and use our energy for your good purposes, so that all the world will know your loving kindness. Generous God, we pray for your blessing on this community, as we seek to find you in the midst of anxiety. As we search for hope in times of darkness, shine your light into the lives of each one of us, that we may know your love is with us always. We pray for your whole church, a people attempting to live in your example and spread your message throughout the world. We recognise the difficulties in this time more than any other that face those bearing witness to you, but we ask that all Christians will have strength in your love, to continue and to flourish. We pray for those persecuted for their faith. We pray for those on the margins of our society, living in fear or hurt, attempting to overcome problems, without the comfort and security many of us take for granted. We pray that we, your people, will give everything to help them and that they will find support in you. We pray for our global community. The world seems ever smaller, and one country is not immune from the troubles of another, and so we pray that leaders as they make difficult decisions. May all citizens will follow your example of peace, love, and forgiveness, and work towards a better world for all peoples. We pray that each one of us will show your love to the world welcoming friend and stranger alike, bringing your kingdom ever closer. We think of all involved in the terrible train crash at Stonehaven and pray for those who lost loved ones. We remember all who mourn; those sick in hospital, all in nursing homes and all suffering from depression. Silence Amen. Hymn 396- And can it be (vv 1,5) People of God, go forward into this week with faith. For the love of God is with you; surrounds and upholds you. May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and be with all, now and forevermore Amen |
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