3rd. July. 2022. Service.
Inverkeithing Parish Church linked with North Queensferry Church
Worship 3rd July 2022
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Prelude “All hail the power of Jesus’ Name”
Bible Introit Hymn 783 “Lord, you are so precious to me”
Collect: O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbour: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
Hymn 160 “Praise, my soul, the King of heaven”
Sing praises to God, his faithful ones.
Give thanks and proclaim God’s holy name.
Weeping or joyful, mourning or dancing,
We come knowing that all are welcome here.
Open your hearts to healing, to life restored.
Father, receive our worship.
Prayer
Majestic and merciful God his world is yours, planned in eternity,
created in a moment of exuberance, permeated with love, well made.
This place is yours, in its simplicity, blue sky and countryside, pure creativity,
painted with care, well made. This day is yours, well made and given to us in pure generosity, for moments of gentle reflection, rest from our work and time for others, away from the bustle of the week that is past, a sabbath before the week to come These moments are yours in their entirety, drops of time in an ocean of eternity, well made and gifted with joy. Receive our worship a praise in Jesus Christ, the one in whom you created and will restore all things by your great power.
We are people whom you have called and commissioned to go
into the world as ambassadors of your love and peace. As we give account of our lives, we acknowledge that there are times when through lack of love, care or compassion we create discord and division. Often this is because we serve our own interests first and neglect the needs or desires, even of the people we love most, far less of neighbours or strangers. Forgive us for the times we love only those who are like us and fail to see our connection to the whole of humanity and indeed, the whole of creation. We bring our confessions and ask for your pardon and peace as in Jesus’ name we extend forgiveness to each other. Help us to be more faithful disciples of Jesus, eager to serve, willing to listen, glad to be of service in his name.
Father as you are among us this morning, may the still small voice of your love echo in the quiet spaces of our minds. And may your Holy Spirit give us wisdom to help us find our way as we hear your Word with new understanding. Inspire in us a humble and faithful response that will enable us to walk with Jesus Christ in the pilgrimage of this life.
For we honour you, Source, Saviour, and Spirit of Life, one God,
now and forever. Amen.
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever Amen.
The Intimations
Coffee morning this week on Tuesday at 10:00 am in Inverkeithing and on Wednesday at 10:30 am in North Queensferry.
A very warm thank you to all who helped make the Messy Church such as success in North Queensferry last Sunday. More than 30 children and a similar number of parents took part.
And the Children’s Church in Inverkeithing enjoyed their outing to Aberdour Park yesterday afternoon. Thanks to all who helped with the picnic and transport.
The Offering
God’s word encourages us not to grow weary in doing what is right. Through our gifts to God, we participate in God’s goodness at work in the world. Take heart. Whatever you give, give with confidence that God will use our gifts for the good purposes of the Gospel.
Prayer of Dedication
Generous God, you have blessed our lives with gifts, both visible and invisible. We offer our gifts in gratitude, to build your kingdom in the world. Bless all that we give that it may make a difference in the lives of others, for the sake of Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Psalm 30
A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.
1 I will exalt you, Lord,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
2 Lord my God, I called to you for help,
and you healed me.
3 You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
you spared me from going down to the pit.
4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favour lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.
6 When I felt secure, I said,
‘I shall never be shaken.’
7 Lord, when you favoured me,
you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.
8 To you, Lord, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
9 ‘What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
Lord, be my help.’
11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you for ever. Amen.
Hymn 565 “My life flows on in endless song”
Luke 10:1-11; 16-20
10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2 He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
5 ‘When you enter a house, first say, “Peace to this house.” 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
8 ‘When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal those there who are ill and tell them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets, and say, 11 “Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God has come near.”
16 ‘Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.’
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’
18 He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’
Amen, this is the Word of the Lord, to Him be all glory and praise.
Hymn 557 “O love that will not let me go”
Sermon
Forty-seven years ago, on the twelfth July 1975 I set off from home to Prince Edward Island to begin my ministry at the invitation of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
At the time it seemed a great adventure and looking back I wonder at the fact that I went with very few misgivings. Only a slight anxiety about the fact that I didn’t know very much about where I was going. I had written to the Session Clerk of the church about myself with details of my flights but had not received a reply. Would someone meet me at the airport, what would they be like, where would I be staying, how would I fit in to life on this Island that seemed both idyllic and alien?
Looking back and reading today’s gospel I don’t think I had thought about the risk which is involved in going out to preach. As one minister puts it, the profound risk Jesus asks his followers to take as he sends them on ahead.
For this call to step into the world with so little to, to protect them, from the ‘wolves’ which will certainly meet us there is risky.
To carry so little as one goes, beyond the message of peace with which they have been entrusted seems daunting as well. I laugh now at the fact that I took only one suitcase of clothes and a few books with me across the Atlantic.
The disciples’ call to was to go intending only to heal and to point to the remarkable gifts of God in the nearness of the kingdom. And to do so knowing that the outcome is nowhere near guaranteed. There is also the knowledge nonetheless that God does not send us out alone.
I didn’t think about the promise that along the way there would be people to welcome and offer a place of hospitality, only the thought that the mission matters and that the risks are part of it.
As it turned out I was very warmly received with excellent and generous hospitality and afforded a very loving welcome and a good start to the experience of ministry.
Even today there’s lots to learn in Luke’s story of how Jesus appointed seventy of his disciples to go out and proclaim the Good News. That number tells us that the picture of Jesus and 12 apostles traveling the dusty roads is not the whole story. Seventy has a sacred meaning in Scripture that is made up of the factors of two perfect numbers, seven (representing perfection) and ten (representing completeness and God’s law). As such, it symbolizes perfect spiritual order carried out with all power. The fact that Jesus sent them out in pairs reminds us that we’re not alone in the work of the church. We are to partner with others and work together as a part of a larger group. We may conclude then that the seventy went off in many directions.
Then there is the bit about lambs and wolves which reminds us that we no longer live in a time or country in which the Christian faith is the default setting. There was a time when Scotland was thought of as a very Christian nation, nowadays it is no longer true. Indifference is more demoralising than hostility, although there are times when there is an undercurrent of that. Recently ministers have been noticing that in schools there is resistance from both parents and teachers to specific teaching. Jesus was clear that his message would not always be welcome.
What are we to make of his reminder to take very little with us on the journey? Personally, most of us have too much stuff. And that may be true of the church. So much time energy and money are bound up with maintenance of the ministry which usually means huge buildings and equipment and expense. The interesting thing is that the training the seventy first missionaries had was only a fraction of the entire three years of Jesus’ whole ministry. They weren’t required to undergo years of education. They kept their message simple, and it was effective.
The story also highlights the idea of sharing the peace of Christ — refusing to play off one person’s hospitality against another, recognizing that all of us are worthy of our hire and the importance of table fellowship and bringing wellness with us when we minister to each other. It also reminds us that, sadly, there’s a time when we must wipe the dust off our sandals because although we can lead people to the door to happiness, we can’t make them walk through it. When does one stop encouraging people to make a commitment, to worship to serve? This also forces us to ask the question, is the gospel about bringing the love of God to people, or is it about adding to our numbers so we can keep an institution alive? Ask yourself, if the church were to decline to the point when it would be no longer viable, would you or I abandon our faith, stop living the way of the gospel, stop trying to be a witness? At what point did the church as an institution become an encumbrance to the gospel?
The reality is that a Christian’s responsibility is to witness, not to coerce, not to bully, not to force the gospel or impose Christian values on others who cannot accept them. It is worrying to learn this week that in America there is a move to impose Christian values on others in contravention of the separation of church and state enshrined in the constitution. When any religion becomes politicised it becomes an evil rather than a good and that is as true as of Christianity as any. Jesus said that people’s response to the gospel is for God to judge, not his followers we have to live by faith and let others work out their response to God.
And then there’s the astonishment of the disciples when they succeed! It happens! God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven. That ought to encourage us to keep plugging away. Clearly the disciples were elated by their success when they reported afterwards to Jesus. But a strange thing happened. Pride entered and they focussed on what they saw was their authority over evil. “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”
The gospel message is a powerful one, in its primitive form possibly more powerful than we realise. In this life our freedom to choose, opens the possibility 0f evil, and the purpose of the gospel is to resist and overcome that evil. These early missionaries clearly discovered this, and they were distracted by it
Few nowadays can fail to recognise how evil so quickly can dominate human experience and how it always the failure of love in the face of fear. But interestingly on this occasion Jesus minimises its ultimate power.
These strange words, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning,” probably need a whole sermon to explain properly, but in essence it is this: Satan is less of a factor than most of us believe. There is an adversary. There is the embodiment of evil. But Jesus makes it clear that Satan cannot stop us. Evil is rampant but will not triumph. Because of his vanity, Satan exaggerates his power. His fall is like lightning from heaven, so in terms of eternity evil will be short lived. So we should not be daunted, we have the means to combat it. Here is how one commentator sums this:
Instead, Jesus commits us to peace. Metaphorically speaking, just knowing that Satan has landed with a thud on this earth, cast out from heaven, humiliated and furious, is a reminder that there is some danger in serving Jesus. Jesus’ followers could get hurt out there. But passing the peace, the shalom of Christ — creating and maintaining the family of God — will ensure our names are inscribed in the book of life
Some of the simplest tasks — passing on the peace of Christ, sharing bread at the table, ministering with and for each other — have become much more difficult during the time of the pandemic, and since then. It has become much harder to be the people of God in today’s world strife and contention — not with Satan, seemingly, but with each other. But maybe in this we see more clearly than in some other manifestations of evil the true wickedness of the Adversary and realise that real danger is when Christians with strong faith turn their backs on each other in disagreement and strife.
It is important for us to remember our initial calling, viz., to live and witness to the gospel; to meet refusal of God and evil with love and grace; to leave the outcome and all judgment to God; to live in the peace of God, to rejoice in our place in the kingdom of heaven; and remember that whatever is happening in the world and the church, God knows where we are going. Amen.
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
God our Father, we praise you for the promise that in Jesus Christ you have written our names in the Book of Life.
Source of that life we bring our prayers to you today, aware that this world and our life are full of wonder and possibility, but also in desperate need of your reconciling love. We pray for the many different peoples of this world, divided as we are into many nations, clans, cultures, and spiritual traditions. As your disciples we know that some will accept you and others reject you. Help us to understand our differences more fully, and to honour the good that binds us together. In our fellowship here bless both our diversity and our unity in Jesus Christ. Help us to witness as the seventy-two did in the knowledge that you go before us every day. God of all the earth, teach us to live in love.
Loving God, source of truth and wisdom, in the world we are confronted by powers and authorities who so often seem too powerful, and not motivated by love. Help us recognize their potential for both good and evil, and to act wisely and faithfully to discern whom we should trust, when we should speak and when we should act. When we see injustice or recognize falsehood,
give us courage to speak up in Christ’s name. Open our eyes to our own weaknesses and biases and prejudice and make us willing to change as we remember the example of Jesus, our Lord as he is revealed in your Word.
God of all the earth, teach us to live in love.
Compassionate God, every day we hear of violence and hatred that is affecting innocent people somewhere in the world and we feel powerless to do anything about it. Our hearts ache for people who live their daily lives surrounded by brutal conflict, fearful of rockets in the skies and gunfire in the streets. Many have died through violence or are suffering the effects of trauma. We can only wait before you with a plea for peace and wholeness to be restored to them.
So many have lost their homes through conflict and fled their countries just to survive. Open hearts and homes to welcome those who flee
and protect those who stay in war zones to work for peace. God of all the earth, teach us to live in love.
All-knowing God, you see into our own lives and know the heartaches we carry. We pray for people living with illness and pain, or grief as they mourn the loss of someone or something dear. Anxiety and despair affect many lives and add to the struggles of life in these difficult days. Give grace to everyone who is coping with emotional, mental, circumstantial, or financial challenges. Lead us to the people whom you have equipped us to help and stir our compassion God of all the earth, teach us to live in love.
Wise and welcoming God, give us the grace to live our faith everyday among family and friends, with acquaintances or strangers. Filter our thoughts through your love, purify our attitudes and keep guard over everything we say that we may reflect and honour the Spirit of Jesus Christ within us. Give us a new vision for our church and fellowship and help us to trust your guidance in every situation, inspiring prayer whenever we need your help. We offer these prayers in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
ChorusKumbaya
All Age Talk
Have you ever been on holiday? Everyone needs time away to relax and have fun, right? I have a suitcase here. Do you think you all could help me come up with a packing list so I don’t forget anything on my next holiday?
Hair products
Some comfortable shoes – for when I must walk
Sandals – in case I go to the beach
Swimsuit – for the beach or the hotel swimming pool
Camera – for sightseeing trips
A book – in case I get bored
Money to spend
Can you think of any other things I may have forgotten? I want to make sure I have everything I might need on the trip. What kinds of things do you pack to take on a holiday? (Sometimes we pack so much to take on holiday, it feels like we’re not really “getting away from it all” — we’re taking it all with us!
The Bible tells us that Jesus appointed 72 of His followers and sent them out, two-by-two, to go into every town and place where He was about to go. Do you know what Jesus told them to take with them? – Nothing!
Jesus said to them, “Go!” Then He went on to say, “Do not even take a purse, or a bag, or a pair of sandals.”
Why would Jesus tell them to leave everything behind? I think it’s because none of that stuff could help them share the good news the way only Jesus could.
Just as Jesus sent out 72 people, He wants you and me to go to people today and share the good news about Jesus. We don’t need to pack anything special; we can just go as we are and obey Jesus. Jesus loves us and He loves our friends. The results of us telling others about Jesus don’t depend upon us. We should not become proud when people receive the message, and we should not be discouraged when they reject the message. Jesus tells us just to go and tell others and leave the rest to Him.!
Dear Jesus, may we be ready and willing to go when You say, “Go!” and leave the results up to You. Amen.
Hymn 192 “All my hope on God is founded”
The Benediction
Disciples have said to their teachers, “I will follow you wherever you go.” May the peace of Christ follow you wherever you go: at home, at work, and in the world. And the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you now and always. Amen.
May God’s blessing surround you each day
Postlude: “You raise me up”