18th. October. 2020 Service.

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

 

Let us worship God and listen to the Hymn:

“Jesus calls us here to meet Him”

The Collect for today

Almighty and everlasting God, in Christ you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 Hymn: “The Lord’s my Shepherd”

 The banqueting table is prepared, and God call us to the feast.
We have come from east and west, from north and south, to sit at Christ’s table.
Compassion, love and grace pour out like fine wine.
We taste the bread of life, bread for our journey.
There are gifts of God for all the people of God.
Let us taste and see that the Lord is good!

 Prayers of Adoration and confession
Holy God, Creator, Christ, and Spirit.
when we hunger for fulfilment, you meet all our needs.
You give us the bread of Life.
When we thirst for your presence,
you draw near to us in every place, at any time.
You fill our cup to overflowing.
You alone are truth,
you alone are love,
for you are the One who was, who is, and who ever shall be.

Holy One, you are our hunger filled, and our thirst quenched,
you are our deepest desire fulfilled,
So, to you, O God, Creator, Christ and Spirit,
we offer a sacrifice of praise with all your people,
here and everywhere, now and always.
Out of a desire to be free of past mistakes and start again with you and with one another, we join our voices in confession:

God of mercy,
we confess that we have often failed to speak and act with kindness.
We have not always cared for others as you care for us.
We have not welcomed others as we have been welcomed to your table,
nor have we forgiven others as we have been forgiven.
We remember the good not done, kind words not spoken, and things we regret. If only we could make these things right!
Hear our silent confession:
Assurance of Pardon
Once again Lord, we claim your forgiving love, offered so freely in Jesus Christ our Saviour.  Set us free from all our guilt and inspire in us a new determination to live as your people in unity and love. Give us the courage we need to accept your forgiveness and to extend it to each other knowing that none is sinless, but all are recipients of your mercy, for Jesus sake.
Prayer for Understanding
By your Word and the gift of your Spirit, deepen our knowledge and help us to understand the hidden mysteries of the gospel. Free our hearts to love more deeply, and our wills for greater service. Amen.
 

The Lord’s Prayer (in the words most familiar to you)
 

The Readings
Exodus 33:12-23

¹² Moses said to the Lord, ‘You have been telling me, “Lead these people,” but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, “I know you by name and you have found favour with me.” ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you. Remember that this nation is your people.’

¹⁴ The Lord replied, ‘My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’

¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, ‘If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?’

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.’

¹⁸ Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’

¹⁹ And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’

²¹ Then the Lord said, ‘There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. ²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.’ Amen.

Matthew 22:15-22

¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. ¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the poll-tax  to Caesar or not?’

¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, ‘You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for paying the tax.’ They brought him a denarius, ²⁰ and he asked them, ‘Whose image is this? And whose inscription?’

²¹ ‘Caesar’s,’ they replied.

Then he said to them, ‘So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.’

²² When they heard this, they were amazed. So, they left him and went away.

Amen. This is the Word of the Lord, to Him be all glory and praise.

Invitation to the Offering

Communion Sunday celebrates God’s gift of relationship around the world and throughout creation. Let us share our gifts with God, that today may be marked by an outpouring of generosity in Jesus’ name.

 Offering Prayer

Generous and gracious God, we have received so much from you in Christ and in creation. Bless the gifts we offer this day so they will speak of your love for the world in all its detail, and for people in all our diversity. May our gifts touch the need around us in the name of Christ who makes us one. Amen.

Sermon

It was Victor Hugo who wrote in Les Misérables, “To love another person is to see the face of God.”

How does this idea sit with the passage which we read today in Exodus 33:18-20?

 ¹⁸ Then Moses said, ‘Now show me your glory.’ ¹⁹ And the Lord said, ‘I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. ²⁰ But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.’

In a very bold prayer, Moses asked for one thing that no human can ever have. For to have it would be more than this frail mortal mind could bear. He wanted to look on the face of God. When we come to worship, we may hope for a deeper experience of God ourselves.

How do we maintain a sense of awe and mystery, without sliding backwards into the primitive superstition and terror which often marked Old Testament encounters with God?

There has been a remarkable resurgence in books and films about the supernatural in recent days. Ghost and horror stories often come to the fore in times of uncertainty and danger. It seems to be a collective way of facing and coming to terms with the things which we most fear as they surface from our unconscious minds. Something similar happened during the French Revolution and again in the years after the First World War and the 1919 flu epidemic and it lasted for several years. We have a deep need for the transcendent and mysterious.

But for true mystery we need to keep in mind that the deepest and indeed most awesome experience must be that of God. The spine-tingling Profound; encountering and being overwhelmed by the unfathomable glory of the Transcendent Power that existed before the universe began and will still be when it is no more.

Maybe the tendency for many people to play around with the occult; séances; fortune telling; astrology, and communicating with departed spirits, is their attempt to revive this sense of transcendence.

In the twentieth century the rigorous application of the so called “scientific method,” has been extremely successful at explaining away many of life’s little mysteries. We should not regret that. It has rid humanity of a burden of superstition and misinformation in ways that should make the angels in heaven celebrate.

However, we seem to have come to a point where many people assume that science has just about eliminated every mystery. Yet the more science delves into the deep questions the more we encounter even deeper mystery and often begin to experience profound awe.

I was reading an article about Sir Roger Penrose and the future of the universe. Though a humanist he has written, “I think I would say that the universe has a purpose, it’s not somehow just there by chance … some people, I think, take the view that the universe is just there and it runs along – it’s a bit like it just sort of computes, and we happen somehow by accident to find ourselves in this thing. But I don’t think that’s a very fruitful or helpful way of looking at the universe, I think that there is something much deeper about it.”

There is a similar respect for the ultimate ‘mystery’ in the superb novels of the physics Prof. Dr. Gregory Benford of the University of California. Such first-rate minds as these know when they are on the edge of unfathomable depths and are not too proud to admit it. So, it is wrong to think we have eliminated mystery.

What about the church? To what degree is there a sense of Holy Mystery present in our worship?  How much are we caught up in awesome love, so profound that it has an element of holy dread in it?

The Lord Jesus has delivered us from primitive fear in the presence of God. As his disciple John later wrote: “There is no fear in love, for perfect love casts out fear.” Jesus taught us to pray to God as a tender parent. He chose the tender name “Abba” for God, which is what we say whenever we begin the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father in heaven.”

Sometimes in gatherings of Christian young people we, when praying, they use the expression “Heavenly Dad.”  For some reason I get edgy, slightly uncomfortable when I hear God spoken to in this way. I have also felt the same way in prayer meetings with older people when the language verges on sentimental and God is “just Lord,”  and is asked, “would you Lord? as if people are wheedling a favour from an unwilling friend. Prayers should be respectful and direct asking God if he will rather than would. “Would” is a modal verb which can introduce an element of uncertainty, which is the opposite of faith. The old reply to this used to be, “I would if I could, but I can’t, so I won’t!

Rationally I assent to what they are expressing. After all, they are praying to God with the familiarity that Christ asked us to have. It is wonderful that the perfect love of God in Christ has cast out fear, but that does not negate respect and awe.

Has our familiarity with God bred something verging on contempt? Maybe “triviality” is a better word? Have we tried to make God so much a part of the ordinary that we have forgotten how totally transcendent so spine-tinglingly different, God really is?

Some people dislike modern versions of the Bible and want only to hear the King James Version. They believe that the Scripture sounds noble, and otherworldly in Old English.  Certainly, the Bible is special and unique, and God is wonderfully unique. Maybe they are making a valid a protest against familiarity; again, the loss of “otherness” and the neglect of Mystery in worship.

You may have heard Roman Catholics express a similar thing when they become nostalgic about the old Latin Mass. Worshipping in a time-honoured language like Latin, increased the sense of “otherness”, maintained a feeling of mystery, they might say. The problem is that it may be less accessible to outsiders. We mustn’t forget that the New Testament was written in Koiné; common, every day, and not classical Greek for a reason.

Here then, is the dilemma: How can we worship with faith that comes before God fearlessly, without either specious awe, or turning worship into a chummy, superficial gathering?

Let us return to Moses on the heights of Mt Sinai communing with God like a friend. He wishes and prays to be allowed to see God face to face.

In this story the element of divine Transcendence is wonderfully maintained. God is accessible, God is there speaking with Moses, but God is not reduced to the ordinary. God remains the ultimate Mystery.

God does in fact make Divine “goodness pass before” our eyes; it is all around us every day. This generosity of God is a witness to his true face, but it is not his actual countenance.

In response to Moses prayer, God does give him a name the same name given when Moses is called by God at the burning bush. It is the name that is a verb not a noun; we call it Yahweh, but its meaning expresses the total freedom of God to be and do whatever God wishes. We cannot define God, cannot assign limits. This is underlined in the passage today when we read: “I will be gracious to whom I chose to be gracious, and merciful to whom I wish.” This is a variant of “I am who I am.”

 Then the warning: “You cannot look on my face. For no mortal can look on me and live.” I find this a wonderful help. God is too much for us. Everything that is hidden about God is for our wellbeing. We could not cope with the glorious Otherness of God. God in his love hides the glory of ultimate holiness from us.

This chapter in Exodus finishes with the whimsical story of God making a concession to Moses request. He is told of a crevice in a rock where he may hide. God will pass by and Moses will be safe in the crevice and protected from harm. He shall get a glimpse of God, not front on but departing.

The sense of awe is often present in the Bible. Moses on Mt Sinai; Elijah on Mt Carmel; Ezekiel feeling himself lifted up by a lock of his hair and suspended between heaven and earth; Isaiah with his dazzling vision of the Lord in the Temple; Peter James and John on the mount of transfiguration; Paul on the road to Damascus when the blinding light shone from above; young Stephen just a few minutes away from death by stoning sees the heavens opened and the glory of God, with Jesus standing at the right hand.

We return to the earlier question: How do we maintain a sense of awe in our worship, but an awe that is without fear? How to express the loving intimacy of God which drives out fear without losing the sense of wonder? There is in fact no answer to this. The nearest we may come, is in trusting that as we worship reverently and accept the invitation to meet at the Lord’s table. There we may sense and share the divine love. We may even be given rapturous moments when we sense God’s presence more deeply.

Victor Hugo whom we quoted at the beginning rejected Catholicism and priests, but we are told that he believed in life after death and prayed every single morning and night. He was quoted by Vincent van Gogh as saying, “Religions pass away, but God remains”, though it was another Frenchman, Jules Michelet, who actually said that.

But perhaps Hugo is right in saying that in this life, “To love another person is to see the face of God.” Amen.

 

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
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 librarians, healthcare workers, coaches, construction workers, farmers and labourers, store clerks and wait staff.
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.

 The Apostles Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

 The Communion

 The Lord be with you! 
And also, with you. 

 Lift up your hearts! 
We lift them up to the Lord. 

 Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. 
It is right to give God thanks and praise. 

 It is right, our calling and greatest joy to thank and praise you, O Lord, our God, creator and sustainer of heaven and earth.

You spoke, and at your word all things took shape and came into being: the sun and moon and stars, the sky and earth and waters; and all they contain.  And your Spirit moved over creation, bringing order out of chaos, so that all creation worked together and was called by you good.

From the elements of the earth you created us as unique and distinct people but all in your holy image.  You breathed life into us and called us to love and serve you and to live with you and one another in covenant and community.

But we turn away from you and we have tried to live apart from you and one another; but, you never turn from us. Through the prophets, you call us back to you and to your ways.  Throughout all generations and in all places around this earth, you have been faithful.  In the fullness of time, you came to us, born of a mother’s flesh, to reveal the full extent of your grace and love.  Over and again you welcome us and receive us with the open and welcoming arms of a loving father.

Therefore, we praise you, joining our voices with those from every time and place, to proclaim with them your glory, in their unending hymn:

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory.  Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.  Hosanna in the highest.

Holy is your son Jesus.  Walking this earth, feeding the hungry, calling the lost, noticing the forgotten, touching those in need of healing, teaching those who sought out wisdom, and loving all, he revealed that your kingdom is near to us.  In breaking bread and sharing wine with your people here and in all places, we recall the mystery of our faith:

 Christ has died!

Christ is risen! 

Christ will come again. 

 Gracious God pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, and upon this bread and wine, that we, and all who share this feast, may be one with Christ and he with us.

Remember your church around world as we celebrate the feast with brothers and sisters of every nation and race.  Especially where keeping the faith is dangerous or difficult, may your Spirit protect and nourish your people.

Remember the world of nations …
By your Spirit renew the face of the earth. Let peace and justice prevail. 
 When we eat this bread, and drink this cup,
We proclaim your death, Lord Jesus,
Until you come in glory.
Gracious God,
pour out your Holy Spirit upon us
and upon these your gifts of bread and wine,
that the bread we break
and the cup we bless
may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ.
By your Spirit make us one with all who share this feast,
united in ministry in every place.
As this bread is Christ’s body for us,
send us out to be the body of Christ in the world.

Commemoration 
 
Give us strength to serve you faithfully
until we feast with you and all your people
in the fullness of your joy.

 
Doxology 
 
Through Christ, with Christ, in Christ,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
all glory and honour are yours, eternal God,
now and forever. Amen
   
The Communion 
The Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, took bread, 
and after giving thanks to God, 
he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying: 
Take, eat. 
This is my body, given for you. 
Do this in remembrance of me. 
 
Take, eat this is the body of Christ which is broken for you.  
 
Jesus said: I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

 In the same way after they had supped Jesus took the cup, saying: 
This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood, 
shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. 
Whenever you drink it, 
do this in remembrance of me. 
Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup 
you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord, 
until he comes. 
Drink of it, each of you. 
 
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me, bless God’s holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all God’s benefits.
 

Prayer after Communion 

Gracious God, we thank you for the love which brings us, as food from heaven, the life of your dear Son, and assures us that we belong to the company of all his faithful people in heaven and on earth.
Grant that we, strengthened by this fellowship and by the power of his Holy Spirit, we may continue his work in the world, until we come to the glory of your eternal kingdom, through the same Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.

Glory to God the Father, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ and crowned him with glory and honour.
Glory to God the Son, who lives to plead our cause at the right hand of God, and who will come again to make all things new.
Glory to God the Holy Spirit, who brings us the taste of the good Word of God and the power of the age to come.
Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honour, power and might be to our Lord forever. Amen.

 Hymn “The God of Abraham Praise”

 Benediction

The blessing of God be yours,
The blessing of the beloved Son be yours,
The blessing of the perfect Spirit be yours,
The blessing of the Three be poured out upon you,
Serenely and generously, today and for ever. Amen

Hymns

Here are some hymn suggestions to check on YouTube if you wish to sing along. Some may not be as familiar as their titles suggest and the ones marked “listen” do not have the lyrics on the screen:

Here O my Lord I see thee face to face – two versions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE0b4hSXR2c

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wxCFZMdqRw

Jesus calls us here to meet him

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ModYoPReYYw

The Lord’s my Shepherd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbGsIVeKU_E&t=50s

Let us break bread together

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Egk-pX_1nHg

Remembrance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d53V3OO9ihU

The God of Abraham Praise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvTgzJ2nZGo

May God’s blessing surround you each day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_3O_N49GiU

The Lord is my Shepherd F. Schubert

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz6Yx5Zlooo

For Children

Ask an adult for a £1 or £2 coin if you don’t have one yourself.

Has anyone ever asked you a question that there just wasn’t any way to answer without getting yourself into trouble? That’s what we call a loaded question. A loaded question is one that is worded so that a person cannot answer it without appearing to be guilty.

Here are a couple of examples of loaded questions:

• Have you quit cheating at cards? If you answer, “Yes” you are admitting that you used to cheat. If you answer, “No” you are admitting that you still cheat.
• Do you still pick on your little brother? That is like the other question. You are either going to admit that you used to pick on your brother or that you still pick on him.

Sometimes a loaded question is asked to try to trick a person into saying something that will get them into trouble. Our Bible lesson today is a good example of that.

Jesus was gaining great popularity among the people. This was very upsetting to the religious leaders called Pharisees. They thought He was a threat to their authority. They tried everything they could think of to make Jesus look bad and yet Jesus had more followers every day. So, a group of Pharisees met and came up with a plot to trick Jesus into saying something that would discredit Him among His followers.

The people in Jesus’ day were required to pay taxes to the Roman government. That was not popular with the people. The plan was to go to Jesus and ask Him his opinion about paying the taxes. So, the Pharisees sent their followers, with a few of Herod’s followers mixed in and asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know how honest you are. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us what you think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” They were actually trying to trick Jesus, because they knew if He said, “Yes,” the people would be angry. But if He said, “No,” he would get into trouble with the Roman authorities.

Jesus saw right through their plan and He did a wise thing. He asked them for a coin. Then He said, “Whose picture is on this coin?”

They answered, “It is Caesar.” Caesar was the Roman ruler and all taxes had to be paid to him.

Jesus then said to them, “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

Look at your coin. Whose picture is on it? What does it say right above the picture? It says, Elizabeth II D G REG FD which means “Elizabeth the Second, by the grace of God, Queen, Defender of the Faith.” Well, I guess that means that this coin belongs to the person whose picture is on it, the Queen.

But what about God? Jesus also said, “Give to God what belongs to God.” The Bible says that we were created by God and that we were created in the image of God. If we are created by God, and we were created in His image, we must belong to Him. That means we must give ourselves to Him!

Now flip your coin in the air and  say, “give yourselves to God” as you try to catch your coin.

Dear God, help us give You what is Yours. Help us spend our hours in acts of love and our days in doing acts of kindness. May we always obey You and give You honour. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Here is a video about this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y0JXVAaLH8

 

Intimations

Please remember to indicate to Joan More if you wish to attend worship in Inverkeithing. Owing to Government regulations, numbers will be restricted to fewer than fifty persons and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis each week. Please call Joan 01383 414515 on Friday to indicate that you wish to attend. Please do not come without first ensuring your place each week as we do not wish to turn anyone away on the day.

The minister will be on holiday from Saturday 24^th October – Wednesday 28^th October inclusive.  Next Sunday the services will be led by elders in both congregations. Remember to put your clocks back next Saturday night or you may arrive at worship an hour early!

Please contact the Session Clerks if you require pastoral assistance.

We are saddened to intimate the death of Mrs Nan Roberts of Brock Street North Queensferry. Her funeral will be held at Dunfermline Crematorium on Tuesday 27th. at 10.45 am. Please remember her family in your prayers.

This warning was received via the Church Offices this week:

OFFICIAL

Good morning, my name is Jacqueline Mercer, I am a response sergeant at St Andrews police office in Fife, would you be kind enough to disseminate the following press release to the church of Scotland churches in and around St Andrews, many elderly people in our area have been targeted recently, we have released this previously to the local papers however it has still been happening and people are still falling victim to these scammers.  I thought that the local churches could add it to their bulletins, announce it from the pulpit or be included in their weekly emails, I know the churches will all contact their parishioners differently so however each church deals with their communications with the congregation would be acceptable.

BANK FRAUD WARNING – FIFE

 Officers in North East Fife are continuing their investigation and warning the public to be on their guard following three recent high-value bank frauds.

In the last two months, many people from the St Andrews area have been the victim of high-value frauds where four and five figure sums of money have been stolen for their bank accounts.

In each of these cases the victims have received telephone calls from someone with a reported local accent, purporting to be from the fraud team of their local bank branch and appear to be calling from a genuine bank telephone number.

The fraudster then tells the person they have called that they have concerns regarding local bank staff employees and asks the caller for assistance.  The fraudster will provide information regarding their account and asks for help testing security procedures.  They may ask the person to transfer funds, apply for banking products, or even for them to visit their local banking branch to check staff are responding appropriately.

Community Sergeant Matt Spencer from St Andrews Police Station said: “I would ask everyone to be on their guard from any type of online or telephone scam.

“Each of these incidents is clearly extremely upsetting for the people involved who all believed that the calls were made from their own banks.  They trusted that the information they were given was correct.  The people behind these scams are contemptible, abusing people’s trust and then stealing money from them.

“The criminals who use these sophisticated tactics go to great lengths to appear legitimate including making it appear they are calling from a genuine bank telephone number.  It is important to remember that a genuine caller from your bank would never ask for your banking or personal details as they already have it.  They would not ask you transfer money during an unsolicited call.  It is best to politely end the call and call back on a number you have sourced yourself, ideally using a different phone.  If you are unsure, end the call and ask a relative or friend for advice.  Any victims of these crimes or anyone with concerns regarding calls they have received should contact their local police station through 101.  If you in any doubt that the call is not genuine then please end the call, your bank will understand.”

Anyone with information should contact Police via 101 quoting reference number 1452 of 09/07/2020.  Alternatively, Crimestoppers can be contacted on 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.

For further advice on keeping safe, please visit our website – https://www.scotland.police.uk/keep-safe/personal-safety/identity-theft-fraud-and-scams