We welcome everyone to our services at Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15)

• The podcast can be accessed by clicking HERE
  

• The Craft Group meets at Yetholm Kirk on Mondays at 2pm. All welcome.
• Coffee & Chat at Yetholm Kirk on Tuesdays from 10.30 – 12 noon. All welcome.
• Prayer Service is on Tuesdays at 1.30pm in Yetholm Kirk. All welcome.
• Wed 27th March – Kelso Churches Together service at 10.30am at  St Andrew’s
• Maundy Thursday 28th March –7pm Linton with footwashing/ communion
• Good Friday 29th March –2pm-5pm Hoselaw Chapel.  Come for 10 minutes or the whole three hours as you wish.
• The Guild are holding a coffee morning on Saturday 30th March at 10.30am at the Institute in Morebattle.
• Kirk Session meets on Thursday 4th April at 7pm at Yetholm.
• The Retreat is on 20th April. Please see posters.
• Next Sunday is Easter Sunday and we have our united communion service at Morebattle at 9am and our united all-age service at Yetholm at 11am.

 
Processional MP 167 – Give me joy
 
Call to Worship
Jesus is coming.
Hosanna!
He comes to us riding on a donkey.
Make way, make way!
Open wide the gates!
Hosanna in the highest!
Let us welcome him with branches and songs of praise.
Jesus is coming. Hosanna to the King of kings!
 
Hymn 364 – All glory laud and honour
 
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
God of grace and truth,
we gather in humility and hope
because we believe you have the power to change the world, to change it for the better with your love. We gather because we believe no one is beyond your concern,
no one is beyond your embrace.
Such love astonishes us. In this hour of worship, inspire us with a vision of love
which will change the world and our lives for goodness’ sake.
 
Lord Jesus Christ,
you call us to be servants yet we confess we like to be served. You call us to give ourselves away for love’s sake,
yet we confess we like to hang on to what we have. Lord have mercy Christ have mercy
 
We are quick to speak of faith, but slow to live it fully. We shout "hosanna" as Jesus approaches, as did the people of Jerusalem many years ago; but we do not want him to come too close
Lord, have mercy…Christ, have mercy.
 
We are quick to claim faith in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour;  but, like the throng who greeted his entry into Jerusalem, we are fickle, slow to live fully and everywhere as faithful disciples.
Lord, have mercy…Christ, have mercy.
 
Jesus said: I do not call you servants any longer, but I have called you friends. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Christ has laid down his life for us and invites us to love one another as he has loved us. Trust his love to give you strength and make you new
Lord’s Prayer
 
Blessing of Palm Crosses
We thank you Lord for these palm crosses,
A simple reminder of the love you showed for us. As we take them into our homes,
May they remind us through this special week
That you gave your life for us upon the cross.
May they remind us of how deep and wide and high is the love you have for us.
As we take them into our homes,
So may we take your love into our hearts
And worship you as Saviour and King.
And like the people on that first Palm Sunday,
May we also cry ‘Hosanna,
Blessed is the One who comes in the name of the Lord’.
 
Readings – Isaiah 50: 4-9a (Pg 737)
                        Mark 11: 1-11 (Pg 1016)
 
Hymn 399 – My song is love unknown
 
Weekly Prayer
Let us pray to the Father, who loved the world so much that he sent his only Son to give us life.  
Sovereign Lord, help us to appreciate the one who set his face as a flint towards Jerusalem. We join with those throughout the ages in our cry "Hosanna in the highest blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord". Amen 
 
Sermon
The Scout band were playing, drums and pipes echoing through the narrow streets, and behind came the crowd gathered from the various churches, waving palm branches, thankfully plentiful there, and shouting Hosanna. It was Palm Sunday in Nazareth. Throughout the Holy Land in mainly the Arab communities, there would be Palm Sunday parades, and the denominations would put behind their differences to parade together. This year I would imagine the celebrations would be more muted.
 
We all like a parade, especially if a band is involved. Growing up I remember how different streets and groups would each decorate a float, the back of a lorry with whatever theme it was, though like many things, it doesn’t happen so much now.
 
At Palm Sunday we remember how Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem to the waving of branches and cries of Hosanna. There was a sense of excitement, of anticipation. Something was about to happen, and the city was like a powder keg waiting to explode. Then Jesus came, but not on a war horse, but on the humble donkey. We may think of it all being so spontaneous, but any parade needs lots of planning and lots of preparation. Mark in his Gospel spends half the story telling us about the preparation and how two of the disciples are sent on donkey detail. One commentator says it is James and John who are sent. They had been asking to sit on the right and left hand of Christ in glory, and the commentator suggests that, while Jesus prepares to confront the powers and principalities of evil, they are given the menial task of fetching the donkey. Yet, it was important; attention to detail is vital, and we are often called to mundane tasks, doing what needs to be done.
 
What needed to be done was the preparation to ride into the city on a donkey. Donkeys are shorter animals than horses, especially the colt. Perhaps the donkey was not just a symbol of humility and peace, perhaps Jesus chose it because it kept him among, not above, the people. Riding on the colt, Jesus would have still been close to eye level with the crowd.
 
But this was also a re-enactment of the prophecy from Zechariah, that the Messiah would ride in on a donkey. People would have been familiar with the prophecy, and certainly the scribes and temple officials would have been familiar with it. Jesus is throwing down the gauntlet, saying ‘Here I am’.  And the people went wild, crying Hosanna! And the treacherous ‘Blessed is the one coming in the name of the Lord’.
 
 “Hosanna” is no simple cheer. It means ‘save us’. And it paves the way for what will come. For Palm Sunday is a day of contrasts. Samuel Crossman sums it up so well in the 3rd verse of the hymn:
Sometimes they strew His way,
  And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
  Hosannas to their King:
    Then “Crucify!”
    Is all their breath,
    And for His death
    They thirst and cry
 
The crowd is fickle, and their cries of hosanna soon turn to Crucify. But at Palm Sunday they are faced with a choice, to follow the man who entered the city, proclaiming a new kind of Messiah or to melt away, keep their heads down, ask for no trouble.
 
They had a choice, and if they continued after Jesus, they would find themselves in the Temple, as he chased away the money changers. If they continued to follow Jesus, they would join him in an upper room as he talks about betrayal and denial and the way that love looks like humble service. They would watch as he breaks bread and pours out a cup and tells us that they will be reminders for us of his broken body and his shed blood, physical reminders of his suffering love. If they continued to follow Jesus, they would gather with him in a garden and watch as he prays and pleads for his life; watch as even his most committed followers cannot sit and pray with him without falling asleep. They would watch as he is led away, arrested, and betrayed. If they continued to follow Jesus, they would follow him all the way to a trial as the cries of Hosanna are drowned out by shouts of “Crucify Him!” If they continued to follow Jesus, they would follow him all the way to the cross as crowds who had once gathered to watch a parade now watch an execution.
 
That’s a choice we have as well. It is so easy to jump from Palm Sunday to Easter Day, ‘Hosanna’ to ‘He is Risen’, but if we follow Jesus, we have to go through all of Holy Week. Do we follow the one who makes himself known in vulnerability rather than might, who rides a donkey and not a war-horse, whose greatest victory is not on the battlefield but on the Cross and empty tomb?  Let us follow the one who walked the way of the cross and who moves us from suffering to salvation, from death to life everlasting.
 
Hymn 378 – Praise to the holiest
 
Prayers of Dedication & Intercession
Lord Jesus, compared with the gift you gave for our sake, what we offer today seems so small. Bless our gifts with your love so that they accomplish more than we can even imagine. Bless our lives, too, so that what we do and say will show we have the commitment to follow you, whatever the cost. Amen.
We think of Jesus riding on a donkey like a poor labourer… And so we pray for those struggling to get by, because they are badly paid or unemployed, because of illness or disability or prejudice or abuse. We pray that those who suffer may know your justice and that those with the resources to help may do so.
We think of Jesus fulfilling the prophecy of one who brings peace, and so we pray for those caught up in war… in Syria and Iraq, in Gaza and Palestine, in Ukraine and Sudan and Ethiopia. We pray for those who have the power to call a halt on violence may do so and that you will bless all peacemakers.
We think of the crowds cheering and waving their palm branches…and pray for those carried along by crowds or by social media or television. We pray for freedom and integrity and that social media may be a thing for the good and not for abuse.
We think of the disciples walking with Jesus, but later abandoning him when he was arrested… and we pray for ourselves, with our struggles and pain and grief, our gifts and joys- that we might know your continued presence with us and that, despite our fears, may continue to walk the way of the cross.
Silence
Amen
Hymn 365 – Ride on, ride on
 
Benediction
Go with courage to face the days ahead.
May the Christ who walks on wounded feet walk with you on the road.
May the Christ who serves with wounded hands stretch out your hands to serve.
May the Christ who lives with a wounded heart open your hearts to love.
May you see the face of Christ in everyone you meet, and may everyone you meet see the face of Christ in you.

We welcome everyone to our services at Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15) on the 5th Sunday of Lent, Passion Sunday, as well as St Patrick’s Day.

• The podcast can be accessed by clicking HERE
  

• The Craft Group meets at Yetholm Kirk on Mondays at 2pm. All welcome.
• Coffee & Chat at Yetholm Kirk on Tuesdays from 10.30 – 12 noon. All welcome.
• Prayer Service is on Tuesdays at 1.30pm in Yetholm Kirk. All welcome.
• St Cuthbert’s Day is on Wednesday 20th March, and there will be a guided walk with reflections at Old Melrose, starting at 2pm. Let Colin know if you plan to come.
• The Lent Study group will meet on Thursday 21st March at 10.30am at Susan Stewart’s house in the Yett.
  
• Date for the diary. Our retreat will be on Saturday 20th April at Holy Island.
• Food Bank requires: vegetables (tin), pasta sauce.
• Next Sunday is Palm Sunday and we have our services at both Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15am).

 
Call to Worship
Come, all who desire to know God.
We come, for we want to see Jesus.
Come, all who thirst for the Spirit.
We come, for God is in our midst this day.
So let us praise God’s holy name.
We will worship God with heart, mind, strength and soul.
 
Hymn 153 – Great is thy faithfulness
 
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Creating God, Loving Christ, Guiding Spirit,
With the promise of spring and new life awakening, you wake us from our slumbers.
You are faithful to us through every season of the year and every season of life.       
The hope you offer in Jesus Christ draws us together, as your Spirit rises within our hearts.
Even as the cross looms on the horizon, we praise you for Jesus’ courage and compassion, which bring renewal to us in the midst of all our challenges. We praise you, O God, for such love that will never let us go.
 
Gracious and Loving God,
as we draw closer to the Cross,
we recognize ways we fall short of your hope for us. We get lost in our own concerns
and neglect to show love, even to those right beside us. We find some people too difficult to care for. We think others unworthy of your love and ours. Forgive us and renew a right spirit within us, so that we find the courage to go on and the compassion to reach out in your name.
 
Jesus said, Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Friends, trust that peace and forgiveness are God’s gifts to you this day. Be renewed by the power of the Spirit that moves with you into each new day.
Lord’s Prayer
 
Readings – Jeremiah 31:31-34 (Pg 792)
                         John 12:20-33 (Pg 1080)
 
Hymn 356 – Meekness and majesty
 
Weekly Prayer
Merciful God, thank you for your promise to be our God and that our sins will be remembered no more. We thank you for Jesus lifted high on the cross so that we might have a living hope and a future where love will never be terminated and life will never end.  Amen
 
Sermon
Jason Leitch is stepping down as National Clinical Officer. He was of course on our screens seemingly every night during Covid and seemed ordinary and reassuring. He spoke at a compline service at St Andrew’s in Kelso last year. And there is always something exciting at being close up to someone famous. I like books, and it can be a thrill to see an author I admire in the flesh and hear them speak. I am sure that many of us will have met ‘celebrities’ or even members of the royal family.  There can be a buzz about being in the presence of someone famous, seeing how they dress, or what they eat or how they react to those around. One time I was in a restaurant when a politician came in, but he and his party were quickly shown to a private room away from everyone’s gaze!
 
It was Passover time in Jerusalem, and many people had come to the city to be right at the centre of things at such a special time. Many were Jews from abroad wanting to celebrate the festival at least once in Jerusalem – the same as Muslims wanting at least once to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. But some were tourists, maybe attracted to Judaism, maybe just curious to see what happened. In John’s Gospel we read about some tourists, some Greeks who were in Jerusalem. Perhaps they had witnessed Jesus’ entry into the city on a donkey and had discovered about his healings and his feeding of the 5000, his raising of Lazarus from the dead. Maybe some of Jesus’ stories and sayings had been recounted to them. But to them, he was the man of the moment, and they wanted desperately to meet him or just to be in his presence. As usual, you need an introduction, so they somehow cornered Philip and Andrew, the two disciples with Greek sounding names, and so had their entry.
 
‘We want to see Jesus’, they said. We don’t know whether they had a conversation with Jesus or whether seeing was enough, the Gospel doesn’t tell us. What we do know is that Jesus gave a fairly long theological discourse and basically said, ’If you want to see me, you soon will, lifted high on the cross, but I will draw all people to me’.
 
Passover could be a turbulent time. Today in Jerusalem it is Ramadan, and by the end of the month, Easter; Passover is later this year. It is a tense, emotional time. So it was at the time of Jesus. Maybe Jesus could sense that the tide was turning and that his death was not far off, so he talked to his disciples and told them how a seed had to be buried in the ground, dead to the world, in order to sprout. Only if it was buried could it bear fruit. So he had to die that we might have life.
 
‘We want to see Jesus’, said the Greeks.’ Wait and you will see him hanging on the cross. But when as followers of Jesus we look at the cross, we see sacrifice and love. When we see Jesus hanging on the cross, we are reminded of the new covenant that Jeremiah speaks about, for what God is doing here is something new.
For the disciples, they had to realise that that their old way of thinking had to die; that their preconceptions of what the Messiah was had to die; that their prejudices had to die. To me it was a wonderful thing that the Greeks came looking for Jesus and heard what he was saying, for they represented the outsider, the Gentile, people that the disciples would normally shy away from and consider unclean. Yet they are included here in the Gospel.
 
But we too have to let our prejudices and old way of thinking die in the face of such love that we see on the cross. Today there is so much talk about extremism, about antisemitism and islamophobia, about racism. You have to watch what you say and even how you edit your photographs. The world isn’t in a good way. It needs a lot of love and cherishing. So we need to include and affirm others around, as Jesus included and affirmed those around him, including the Greeks.
 
‘We want to see Jesus’. We look to the cross, but we also look around us, for the followers of Jesus are still showing his face today. Wherever there are those working for reconciliation and understanding between different groups, we see Jesus. Whenever there are those seeking to bridge gaps, we see Jesus. Wherever the hungry are fed and the marginalised included and the stranger welcomed, we see Jesus. When the oppressor and those who seek to diminish others are challenged, we see Jesus. When the world is loved and tended and taken care of, we see Jesus. We want to see Jesus – then look around, for they will know we are Christians by our love.
 
Hymn – Lift high the cross (CH3 550/ MP 417)
 
Prayers of Dedication & Intercession
God of growth and new life, with our gifts we offer you our thanks and praise for the promise of spring and the promise of resurrection in Christ Jesus.  With these gifts, accomplish more than we can ask or imagine, as they bear fruit in the world you love, through Christ, our Lord.
 
Steadfast God,
amid many changes and challenges around us, we are grateful that you are with us.
You understand our fears; you support and guide us; and you give us courage to face whatever lies ahead.
Thank you for the gift of faith, a solid rock to support us, and so we trust that you keep working, in ways seen and unseen, for goodness to prevail. 
God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
 
Loving God,
in this time of when there is much to be anxious about, we pray for the world you love.
Send your healing Spirit to bring peace with justice to the troubled places, Gaza, West Bank, Ukraine, Nigeria, Haiti
Bring care and comfort to those who have been hurt in conflict, wisdom to those who seek to end hostilities, and courage to those who advocate for the most vulnerable.
God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
 
Send your healing Spirit to people we know and to the earth you love. We remember before you friends in grief… (pause)
those suffering illness and all waiting for treatment… (pause): those facing difficulty at work or finding work… (pause); concerns about the environment we depend on… (pause)
God, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
 
We pray for the continuing ministry of the Church in our area and around the world.
As we move toward our celebration of Christ’s resurrection, send your healing Spirit to raise our hearts and our hopes with the promise of new life in Christ.  Restore to us the joy of your salvation and sustain in us all a willing spirit.
We pray through Jesus Christ, Amen
 
Hymn 465 – Be thou my vision
 
Benediction
People of God, go out into the world
as agents of change, as bringers of hope
as beacons of God’s love
and the may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and forevermore, Amen. 

We welcome everyone to our services at Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15) on the 4th Sunday of Lent.

• The podcast can be accessed by clicking HERE
  

• The Craft Group meets at Yetholm Kirk on Mondays at 2pm. All welcome.
• Coffee & Chat at Yetholm Kirk on Tuesdays from 10.30 – 12 noon. All welcome.
• Prayer Service is on Tuesdays at 1.30pm in Yetholm Kirk. All welcome.
• The Lent Study group will meet on Thursday 14th March at 10.30am at Michel and Margaret Rustad’s house in Town Yetholm.
• St Cuthbert’s Day is on Wednesday 20th March, and there will be a guided walk with reflections at Old Melrose, starting at 2pm. Let Colin know if you plan to come.
• Date for the diary. Our retreat will be on Saturday 20th April at Holy Island.
• Food Bank requires: vegetables (tin), pasta sauce.
• Next Sunday we have our services at both Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle (11.15am)
  
  

Call to Worship
We gather together to worship
our loving, nurturing God,
who, like a mother, knows us intimately,
loves us unconditionally,
teaches us the way we should go,
and comforts us in times of need.

 Hymn 694 – Brother, sister let me serve you

Prayer of Adoration and Confession
Gracious God,Great and wonderful are your works!Where there is darkness, you bring light.Where there is sadness, you speak words of hope. Where there is despair, you bring new possibilities. Stir us with your Spirit, O God, in this time of worship. Awaken a sense of joy and reverence within us as we offer you our songs and our silence, our prayers and praises, for you are our God. 
Mothering God, embrace us in your fierce love, enfold us in your protective care, Calm our anxious worrying and quieten our teeming minds. Still us, body, mind and spirit, to rest in you. 
Merciful God,Even as we praise you, we are aware of our failures as your disciples. We take your love and acceptance of us for granted.We are often careless with our relationships,more focused on ourselves than on you or those around us. Forgive us. Awaken our spirit of commitment and compassion, so we may serve you more faithfully, day by day. 
Friends in Christ, by grace we have been saved through faith. Know that God forgives you and forgive one another. So may the peace of Christ be with you.
Lord’s Prayer
 
Readings – Numbers 21: 4-9 (Pg 158)
                         John 3: 14-21 (pg 1066)
 
Hymn 181 – For the beauty of the earth
 
Weekly Prayer
Father God, as we celebrate Mothering Sunday today, help us reflect your love for us, love in our families, our church and our community. May we be true followers of your son Jesus Christ, lifted high on the Cross so that all who believe might have life eternal. Amen
 
Sermon
Have you any phobias? Is there anything you are really scared of, to the point of your legs turning to jelly or that you have to hide behind the couch? I remember some people who were scared of thunder and lightening, for example.  Some people don’t like fire or heights; for so many these days, there are certain foods which they react against or which they couldn’t even look at. I can eat almost anything, apart from okra, which admittedly you don’t get much in this country, but cooked the African way becomes really slimy. But one big phobia would be snakes. Even now, if I snake comes on television, I close my eyes, switch it off, get out of the room. That said, when I was in Africa, just shortly after I arrived, I saw a long black snake outside my house, and I didn’t freak out, but the very fact of facing the thing that terrified me actually helped me. Which brings us to this strange story in the book of Numbers. It is a story we would probably avoid, but it is in the lectionary simply because Jesus refers to it in the Gospel.

Jesus had been in the wilderness, tempted by Satan, but he resisted the temptations. The Israelites were in the wilderness, but they fell straight into temptation – and they whined and they complained. Complained about the lack of water, complained about the boring manna – remember the melons and cucumbers we had in Egypt, they said. Maybe life in slavery wasn’t too bad after all. Even when they were brought to the verge of the Promised Land, they heard from the spies they sent out that the inhabitants were like giants, and maybe they had a phobia of giants, but they didn’t trust in Moses and they didn’t trust in God. And in this story today, poisonous snakes were sent and bit them, and many died. They realised that their complaining had led them here, so they went to Moses, asking for help. The outcome was the making of the bronze snake on a pole. The snakes didn’t go away, but if they were bitten, the people had to look at the bronze snake, and they would be healed. It was an antidote to the venom, you could say.

The story and a God who punished the people with snakes doesn’t quite fit into our idea of a loving, caring God. But there is a psychological aspect to the story, for it is sometimes strengthening to confront what fears us, to face the things that somehow diminish us. Lent is a time for self-examination and we can identify things which hold us back from fullness of life in God’s service and seek to do something about it.
In Kings we read how Hezekiah got rid of the bronze snake from the |temple, because people had turned it into an idol. But in John’s Gospel we hear Jesus referring to the story, of how the snake on the pole was lifted high to bring healing, and how he himself would be lifted up also to bring salvation. He was of course referring to the Cross and how he would be nailed to the cross and it lifted up for all to see. A terrible sight of suffering and agony, yet by his death we are healed, we are saved. Here we get a glimpse into the heart of God, a God who loved the world so much, he gave his only Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  That wonderful verse from chapter 3, verse 14. One of the most beloved verses in the Bible. So, as the Israelites looked to the bronze serpent, we can gaze at the cross this season of Lent. We are not asked to do anything heroic, but simply gaze and see what God has done for us on the cross, behold the crucified Christ, arms outstretched, embracing the world. The Son of God is lifted up before us, and somehow we are drawn into the scope of his salvation. And we see love is at the heart of God. Love for the world. Love for you and me.

Today is Mothering Sunday and we think of a mother’s love, whether it be a mother or an auntie or a granny or a lollipop woman – or someone like Rio Ferdinand, a macho footballer, whose wife died and who had to bring up their three children and be a father and a mother to them, discovering new sides to his personality he wasn’t aware of before. So God is a parent to us:
Isaiah says: Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget,
I will not forget you! 
Hosea says: It was I who taught Ephraim to walk and took them up into my arms. I led them with cords of kindness; I bent down and fed them.
Jesus says: How often have I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings…
 
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him, should not perish but have everlasting life.
 
Hymn 549 – How deep the father’s love
 
Prayers of Dedication & Intercession
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise him all creatures here below
Praise him above, ye heavenly host,
Praise Father Son and Holy Ghost
 
Loving God, we thank you for the gift of motherhood and for the many
examples of faithful mothers in scripture, like Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth,
Mary, and Lois. We give thanks for mothers the world over. We celebrate
all those who have nurtured and cared for us, remembering especially mothers, stepmothers, aunts, grandmothers, teachers, neighbours, and all women who have mothered us.
We celebrate today our mothers who bore us
and cradled us as infants. We also remember mothers who have lost their children through illness or violence, whose tears still flow from their broken hearts.
All shall be well, all shall be well
And all manner of thing shall be well
 
We remember families who are separated
and those exiled from the land of their birth
by frontiers, by barbed wire, and by war’s violence. We pray for all mothers who are struggling to be the parent they want to be.
We remember those who through choice or circumstance cannot be mothers.
All shall be well, all shall be well
And all manner of thing shall be well
 
We express gratitude to our spiritual mothers and fathers who guided us throughout life, modelling for us the love of God.
All shall be well, all shall be well
And all manner of thing shall be well
 
We give thanks for our Mother Church; for our experience of being loved by a family that is as wide and broad as the human race. Creator God we thank you for always holding us in the palm of your hand.
All shall be well, all shall be well
And all manner of thing shall be well
Silence
All shall be well, all shall be well
And all manner of thing shall be well
 
Hymn 167 – Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
 
Benediction

We welcome everyone to our services at Yetholm (10am) and Linton (11.15) on the 3rd Sunday of Lent.

• The podcast can be accessed by clicking HERE

• The Craft Group meets at Yetholm Kirk on Mondays at 2pm. All welcome.
• Coffee & Chat at Yetholm Kirk on Tuesdays from 10.30 – 12 noon. All welcome.
• Prayer Service is on Tuesdays at 1.30pm in Yetholm Kirk. All welcome.
• The Worship committee meets on Wednesday 6th March at 1.45pm at the Manse
• The Lent Study group will meet on Thursday 7th March at 10.30am at the Manse. All welcome.
• The Guild meets on Thursday at 2pm at Morebattle Institute. Debbie Brown will speak on ‘Choices’.
• Deadline for articles for the Cheviot is Friday 8th March.
• St Cuthbert’s Day is on Wednesday 20th March, and there will be a guided walk with reflections at Old Melrose, starting at 2pm. Let Colin know if you plan to come.
• Food Bank requires: vegetables (tin) meat (tin), fruit (tin), pasta sauce.
• Next Sunday we have our services at both Yetholm (10am) and Morebattle(11.15am)

 
Call to Worship
The heavens are telling out the glory of God
The firmament proclaims God’s handiwork.
The law of the Lord revives the soul
May God’s teaching bring wisdom in our worship
Let the words of our mouths and the meditation of our hearts
Be acceptable in your sight, O Lord
 
Hymn 212 – Morning has broken
 
Prayer of Adoration and Confession
God of majesty and mercy,
you set the whirling cosmos in motion
and call all creatures into being.
Mountains and molehills alike speak of your majesty, for no detail misses your care and attention. You know each of us by name,
and make yourself known to those who seek you.
We gather in your presence to listen for your wisdom for our times and our lives.
To you, O God, we offer all honour and glory in our prayers and our praise this day and every day, now and always.
 
Wise and welcoming God,
You are always seeking us out, yet we confess we are easily distracted from your presence.
We envy those who are successful in the world’s terms, and pursue our own desires.
We fail to question the cost of our desires
to the earth or those in need.
Forgive us, O God. Re-awaken us to your purposes and re-ignite our commitment to pursue them for the sake of Jesus Christ
 
Brothers and sisters in Christ, here is the good news: God loves and values us and forgives what is past. Trust in your hearts the promise of new life and proclaim with your lips the goodness of God.
Lord’s Prayer
 
Readings – Exodus 20 : 1-17 (Pg 77)
                         John 2: 13-22 (pg 1065)
 
Hymn 360 – Jesus Christ is waiting (vv 1,2,5)
 
Weekly Prayer
Everlasting God, help us to feel your presence as we worship You and You only.  Mindful of the Commandments that you gave to Moses, we pray that you would be worshiped above all else. Grant us the strength to reject all the idolatry of our secular world. Amen.

Sermon
In the National Gallery in Edinburgh there are many wonderful pictures, including a stunning new gallery for Scottish art. Some pictures stand out like the Monarch of the Glen, Landseer’s picture of a majestic stag. But somehow even more iconic is the picture of a minister skating on Duddingston Loch. He skates so effortlessly, seemingly without a care in the world, though I am sure that wasn’t the case.

It reminds me of a story about a Dutch pastor, who had two churches, and after he finished the first service would go across country to the next church. But the winter was hard, and snow blocked the route overland. So the pastor took his skates and skated along the frozen canals to arrive at the other church. Afterwards the elders called the minister, who thought they might congratulate him on his ingenuity. But no, they expressed their concern that he had broken the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy. They debated the issue, and in the end decided that is was fine to skate, as long as he didn’t enjoy himself while skating.

They had misunderstood the commandment, but maybe we all misunderstand the commandments. The Israelites had fled Egypt and were at Mt Sinai, and Moses went up the mountain, and when he eventually came down he brought the 10 commandments. God was providing the framework of how they would live as a community, as a society.  The first 3 commands were ‘vertical’, you could say, relating to how they would interact with God, while the rest were ‘horizontal’, dealing with how the Israelites related to their neighbour.  Most of the laws were common to other societies around them. Do not kill, do not steal, don’t commit adultery. You would find these laws in Egypt, in Mesopotamia. But some were unique, such as worshipping God and God alone, whereas in Egypt there had been many gods, you could take your pick. But maybe the most radical was to keep the Sabbath holy.

The Dutch elders maybe thought it was about going to church and doing little else, and we can think about the Sabbath in that way too. But for people who had been slaves in Egypt, who had worked all day, every day, the prospect of a day off was very radical. It still is, with all the mental health issues of today, we need time to recharge our batteries to rest, as well as to worship.

Of course, over time these 10 laws were developed to cover all sort of situations the Israelites might find themselves in, just as our laws do today, reflecting the culture and values of today, the role of women in society comes to mind. In time, as the Israelites settled, the worship of God became centred on the temple in Jerusalem, where sacrifices were made, and there were rules about what to sacrifice and when.
The Temple should have been a place where people could feel close to God. But in our Gospel reading, we find that this was not the case when Jesus went to the Temple in John’s Gospel. It was like a market place, full of the clamour of buying and selling. There were various booths, changing money into Temple currency and selling animals and birds for the various sacrifices. In seeing it, Jesus was filled with righteous anger, that God’s house should be defiled in this way. What’s more, they had taken over the Courtyard of the Gentiles, so they were depriving people, excluded from other parts of the Temple, space from worshipping, and Jesus proceeded to overturn their tables and drive them out. It seems out of character with the gentle Jesus meek and mild image we sometimes have, but he felt strongly that God was being dishonoured. Similarly, there are so many injustices in our world, and over the centuries and indeed today many Christians have channelled their frustration with injustice to reform society and keep it more in line with the vision of Christ’s kingdom.

So may we live our lives, seeking to live out God’s  commandments and overturn the barriers of fear and injustice and manipulation and greed and build a society where love and respect and compassion hold sway, build the Kingdom of God.
 
Hymn 535 – Who would true valour see
 
Prayers of Dedication & Intercession
As offer ourselves in service to the work of the Kingdom, so we bring our gifts of money, time and energy, offering all that we are, for the sake of Christ.
Loving God,
we thank you for the world you created, its beauty and its life sustaining promise. When we breathe in fresh air and enjoy the outdoors, remind us of our partnership with you to care for creation. As spring comes and the sun shines longer each day, reawaken our hope in your promise of new life.
 
Ever present God, thank you for walking with us through days of uncertainty as well as times of pleasure and satisfaction. In times of stress and worry, you provide a still point of calm.
In times of challenge, you inspire courage and confidence in us. Thank you for the wisdom and encouragement we receive from you.
 
Today we pray for those who find this year hard going, For those worrying about making ends meet, and for those concerned about the way the world is going. Give us all peace and patience through your love.
 
We pray for all churches searching for new ways
to worship and witness in a changing culture. Keep us strong in faith and fellowship, and make us creative agents of healing and hope in our communities.
 
We pray for our nation and the nations of this world. Raise up leaders the with courage, wisdom, and compassion to confront the challenges of these times.
 
We pray for innocent victims of violence around the world. Work through advocates for peace with justice to bring an end to conflict, to inspire change where it is needed, and offer daily bread to those whose lives and livelihoods have been disrupted.
 
And we pray for all those who are enduring pain and illness, those who are facing grief and loss,
and those who work to relieve suffering in so many ways. Grant rest and renewal to all who find their situations exhausting. Be our comfort and encouragement day by day. Amen
 
Hymn 396 – And can it be
 
Benediction