North Queensferry Church

6th June. 2021.Service.

Service of Worship 6th June 2021

Third Sunday after Pentecost

 

Prelude – In Christ there is no east or West version 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxG0EhEXA3k

Introit We are here to praise you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs3I7Xi8Td

Collect for today

O God, from whom all good proceeds: Grant that by your inspiration we may think those things that are right, and by your merciful guiding may do them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymn: O worship the King all glorious above
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dv2BqFgm6_M

 Call to Prayer

This is the day that the Lord has made!
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
This is a day of new beginnings!
This is a time for growing into the likeness of Christ
Come, let us prepare ourselves for worship
Let us prepare to serve our God, Amen.

Prayer of Adoration and Confession

 God our Father, creator, and sustainer of all that you have made, hear us as we praise you for the wonder and beauty of everything, every living being that you have made.
We marvel at the grandeur as well as the detail of everything on this earth and throughout the heavens above us.
You fashioned the fragile beauty and balance in the world,
receiving worship from the depths of the sea to the tops of the mountains. This morning we add our voices to the paean of praise.
You have caused your church grow from tiny beginnings into a worldwide community of people who follow Jesus, rich in diversity of voice and expression. We rejoice to be part of your family of faith in Him.
Receive our praise as we witness to your compassion over everything that you have made.
As our world faces many challenges caused by human sin and failure, we pray that you will reveal to us how we as your people may face the future with faith, hope and courage. As a congregation and a denomination, lead us through these difficult days. We offer ourselves in your service to the praise of your glory.

God of purpose and possibility, you give us work to do and the skills we need to accomplish your calling. Forgive us for following our own ways and for resisting the encouragement of your Spirit to attend to the words of the Saviour. We think we know better, and often fail in our relationships with one another, choosing ways and words that hurt and harm. Forgive our stubborn nature and our unwillingness to surrender to your word. Help us to repent of and repair every sin of word and deed and by the power of your Holy Spirit and the grace of Christ our Lord, make us open to your guidance, correction and instruction and give us a teachable spirit that we may live as good neighbours in church and community.

 Assurance of Pardon

 The prophet Micah reminds us that God requires three things of us:
to do justice, to love kindness, and walk humbly with our God.
To all who turn away from self-interest and seek reconciliation with God and neighbour in kindness and humility, God offers forgiveness and peace. The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.

 Prayer for Understanding

 Lord God, Loving God, our souls wait for you, more than those who watch for the morning. Send your Spirit upon us as your Word is read and interpreted, that we may hear your voice and know the way of truth and love through Christ, the Living Word. Amen.

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

 Invitation to the Offering

Our offering supports the ministries and mission we undertake together, in this country and around the world. Consider how your gift to God is multiplied in the witness of our denomination, combined with so many others!

Prayer of Dedication

God of grace and goodness, we offer our gifts in gratitude for all we receive from you, in Christ and in creation. We trust you can multiply them in ways we cannot even imagine. Bless the ministries of our congregation and of The Church of Scotland in these challenging times. Surprise us by what you accomplish through us as we sow seeds of generosity in the gifts which we bring to you. Amen.

Hymn: Let all the world in every corner sing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfXldoDnvq4&list=RDjuvfK_i4axs&index=2

 The Readings

  Psalm 130

 A song of ascents.

1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
2     Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
6 I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
8 He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

 Hymn: From the depths I cry to you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wI0m_D_sK-8

Mark 3:20-35

20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’

22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.’

23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.’

30 He said this because they were saying, ‘He has an impure spirit.’

31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting round him, and they told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’

33 ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ he asked.

34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle round him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’

Hymn: Beauty for brokenness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKAXTinhhq4

 Sermon  
Thinking about where to focus our thoughts about the Gospel reading for today, I came across the following from Janet Hunt:

It goes without saying that family is a powerful force…. Today, to be sure, but also in the time of Jesus.

I know that for me, my earliest memories and my most influential forces involve family.  For instance, I can recall sitting on the basement floor of our house on South 3rd Street.  I was three or four years old and had just bumped my head on a shelf and was willing myself not to cry, because I had never seen my daddy cry.  I wanted to be like him…  (You can be sure that I quit trying to emulate that particular trait a long time ago.)

When I was six, I came home from school to find my mother washing windows in the bedroom I shared with my sister.  No doubt she asked me how my day had been.  From there the conversation moved to her own journey and she told me she always wanted to go to a Lutheran College but hadn’t been able to.  I didn’t say it out loud, but I vowed then and there that since she couldn’t, I would. And I did and then some.

This resonated with me because when I was about six, my mother was a member of the local “Choral,” a choir in the town run by the parish church organist, Mr Adams. She had loved to sing in the choral in Markinch as a teenager and greatly admired the musical abilities of its leader, Dr Rimmer. For some reason this made an impression and encouraged me to pursue music.  Coincidentally, as my mother later pointed out, the Professor of Music at Glasgow University in my time was called Fred Rimmer. The influence of family in our lives is indeed a powerful force.

In 2006, Time Magazine had an article about the influence of siblings entitled, “The New Science of Siblings.”  This piece, (still available online) reveals how the particular mix of our own family configuration shapes us our whole life long and that regardless of how rocky the road has been between us, as we age we migrate towards one another once more. For brothers and sisters share our formative past in a way no one else does. There have also been studies about the psychology of birth order among siblings. There are four patterns of behaviour: eldest, second, middle, youngest which in larger families then repeat. Thus, a fifth child tends to mimic the first, whilst the youngest child tends to be the “baby” of the family regardless of how many are in it

While it would surely not be entirely accurate to equate the ‘families’ you and I have experienced with what would have shaped Jesus, it may still be fair to say that then, as now, it was a powerful force. Here are the characteristics of the eldest child of a normal family:

 

In his humanity, Jesus may have been all of these. Some may wish to leave out traits that we would consider faults or sins, but when you think about it, his behaviour in his early ministry was such that his family thought that he was out of his mind and went to take charge of him! Jesus had four brothers who are named in scripture, James, Joseph, Judas and Simon as well as unnamed sisters who turned up with Mary to take him home.

In Jesus’ time, it was expected that families would live with several generations together, so you can be certain the influences felt were compounded by the pressures of more than just what you and I know to be the ‘nuclear family.’  In those days as we understand it, gender roles were more rigid — and so, at least formally, those influences tended to be especially shaped by the patriarch.  And yet, for all that may be different, it’s not hard to imagine Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his brothers, having heard of what he was up to now, catching up with him and doing all they could to rein him in.  Because they loved him, but also to protect him and the family name.

The family name.  How many have been sacrificed to the family name? Children who become “black sheep,” daughters disowned, sons disinherited for bringing shame on the family name. Just yesterday there was an article in the Guardian about campaigns to shame the families of Jewish men who refuse to give the “get”- a document which sets divorced wives free. The man in orthodox Jewish circles has final power of divorce after a civil divorce is granted. Because of family reputation, many men refuse to do this, tying former wives to them against their will, sometimes for decades.  These former wives cannot just move on because they would lose their status in the wider community without the get. Campaigners are publicly naming and shaming the families of men who do this in an effort to help these women.

The family or the clan has for millennia been an important element of human life and interaction. I am sure you have heard of people who declare a passionate loyalty to family, who defend and promote who they are against all others. “Here’s tae us, wha’s like us? Gey few, an’ they are a’ deid!” Is it too much to say that inter-family rivalries are behind all the wars and dramas of human history?

Think of the nations in the Bible which took on the descendants of Abraham. The Philistines, the Edomites, the Moabites, the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Egyptians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans and so on. In the more modern world, the royal families and so-called nobility have always fought and squabbled and garnered power for themselves. The clans with their badges and mottos or coats of arms, kingdom against kingdom:  Yorkists and Lancastrian, Tudor and Stuart, Bourbon and Hapsburg, Montagues and Capulets, all focused upon their power, their prestige their reputations. At another level, USA versus Russia or China.

Family is, indeed then, a powerful force.  It defines us from our earliest moments.  It shapes our aspirations and gives us what we need to pursue them.  It teaches us how to live with others and influences our expectations of all the relationships we will form.  In recent years much work has been done by psychologists and groups of pastors taking a deeper look at families to understand how they affect all our lives.  It’s a wonder to see the courage with which these leaders tell the stories of both the life-giving and the painful which mark these ever-important systems.  It is also easy to hear in all of our stories how easily we can become enslaved by all that has been in the past.  In today’s gospel, the ‘family’ Jesus speaks about now points us in a whole new direction.

It is easy to hear Jesus’ words today as rejection of the family who were once his entire world. That’s not what’s happening here, though.  Rather, Jesus is expanding the definition of family to a be a web of relationships that opens up places within it for a whole host of others.  Jesus moves our understanding of family as simply a place of genetic origins (which, to be sure, does a great deal of good in terms of protecting and continuing life itself), to an understanding of family being a group of people that is marked instead by the choices we make when he declares that “whoever does the will of God is my mother and my brother and my sister.” These words may be the key to peace in the world and are the key to the kingdom of heaven.

Think of how from the beginning the scriptures speak about the reach of God’s promises to Abraham. The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.2 ‘I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ Genesis 12_2-3

St Paul amplifies this: 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. Ephesians 5:14-15

Jesus himself went beyond this as we note here:

33 ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle round him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’  Far from repudiating family Jesus here transforms it by calling every family to become one in God. This is very bold, implying that it is His family that is the supreme, ultimate all-inclusive family. He is claiming divinity and he is inviting every family to join him in his divinity.

And so, we may wonder about the ‘family’ Jesus speaks of now. How it is like those other families we know so well with all their power over us.  We may ask how this new family can be a place where people are never enslaved, but always set free to be all that God calls each of us to be.  I’m not entirely sure I’ve experienced that ‘family’ in all of its fullness.   For all the truth that most every congregation I’ve ever been a part of has liked to think of itself as ‘family,’ more often than not they and I have fallen back into our most basic understandings of ‘family.’  We tend to equate it with what we have known, what our own family was really like, instead of what we could know — what Jesus calls us to know. Sometimes that’s not all bad.  Sometimes it’s not so good, especially when the going gets tough.  How about you? How have you experienced the ‘family’ to which Jesus points us now?

Part of the theory of the science of siblings is that as we grow older, we take the roles we have created for ourselves and work our way in life. For instance, some younger children may decide they are not going to copy their older siblings and often there is conflict or growing apart. But eventually as we mature, we work our way to acceptance of each other’s differences and begin to grow closer. Age and wisdom may mellow us and reunite and reconcile us with our siblings.

Today, my eldest brother is celebrating his 86th birthday. Looking back, I can see the ways in which I chose to copy him and also what I decided to reject. Over the past few years, we have shared our quite different experience of our family, given the fifteen years between our ages, and have both come to a more complete understanding of it.

And thus, it is in the church. As we grow and mature in faith, our understanding of the family of God deepens; we learn to accept, to forgive and to rejoice in the diversity of our unity in Christ. What binds us is that as we do God’s will, we become each other’s brother, sister and mother – in Him. Amen.

Here are some thoughts about this from Janet Hunt.

 

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession

God of our communion and community, in you are all the families of the earth named and we thank you for our life together in Christ,
and for the work of the Holy Spirit that draws us closer to you and to each other in love and fellowship.
We pray for the life of our denomination as it has met in General Assembly and outlined a way for us to claim the future in our Lord and Saviour.
We claim the power of your Spirit recognise and face with courage and faith the challenges of reforming and reviving your church in this land. Integrate us into the greater family of the children of God and give us grace to overcome the barriers we create which separate us from each other.
God of compassion and concern,
Thank you for all the ministries and mission our congregations undertake together
in Scotland and in many places throughout the world.
Thank you for the lessons we have learned, and the hope inspired by all the people we have worked with during this difficult year as well as in the past.
We pray for all who serve in the name of our church as ministers, OLM, readers deacons and elders and for those who join in or help with ministries supported by the agencies of the wider church.
the important work undertaken in Jesus’ name in all its diversity. Inspire innovation and show us new ways of serving you in our day and generation Make us generous in giving and ongoing prayer, that people may be healed, transformed and strengthened
through the compassion which you inspire in your people
God of our hearts and our hopes, we pray for those whom you have given us to love.
Hear us as we place their needs and hopes before you in this silence.
(Hold a brief silence)
We pray for all who serve our nation as leaders in business, politics, health care and education. Give them wisdom to weigh the evidence and inform the decisions that they must make to carry the nation through this challenging time. Help us all to meet the needs of the most vulnerable and the people whom we name before you in silence.
(Hold a brief silence)
We pray for those who face uncertainty, unrest, and threat from violence day by day. In this moment of silence, we bring before you people in our own community who are going through upheaval because of the pandemic, as we remember others in places around the world where the upheavals of nature,  poverty, violence or injustice make daily life and survival difficult.
(Hold a brief silence)

God of the earth and all its fullness, in this season of planting and growing, of nesting and nurturing, we pray for our world’s many environments and all the creatures it supports. Show us how to protect species and habitats at risk,
and challenge us to better stewardship in the garden of the earth which you have entrusted to us.
We commit our sick, our grieving, our struggling and our anxious neighbours and friends to your fatherly care, acknowledging our kinship with them in the family of the kingdom of heaven. Make us truly one in and hear our prayers for everything and everyone you have created in love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Hymn: In Christ there is no east or west (version with words)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpITJOShix0

 Sending out and Benediction

May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus, so that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you this day and evermore. Amen.

May God’s blessing surround you each day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_3O_N49GiU

Postlude:  Lord whose love in humble service
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcM-ljmh8QY

 The Hymns  

In the text are suggestions to check on YouTube if you wish to sing along. Some may not be as familiar as their titles suggest.

For Children

Do you have a sweetie jar at your house? Lots of families do and often the mother will say “Don’t eat any of these sweeties before dinner; you’ll spoil your appetite.” That can be quite a temptation. Do you know what the word “temptation” means?  Temptation happens when something or someone makes you desire to do something that you’re not supposed to do. But God is always there to help us do the right thing.

There is an old game Sweeties from the Sweetie Jar?” You   sit in a circle and say a rhyme.  Maybe you know it:
Accuser: Who stole the sweeties from the jar?
[Person’s name] stole the sweeties from the sweetie jar.
[Person]: Who, me?
Accuser: Yes, you!
[Person]: Not me!
Accuser: Then who?
[Person [Another person’s name] stole the sweeties from the sweetie jar.

You know, that must be the oldest game in the world–a similar version of it started in the Garden of Eden. That was a beautiful garden that God gave the first two humans, Adam and Eve. Gold told them they could eat anything they wanted, except for the fruit from one tree. But when Adam and Eve were tempted by the fruit, they disobeyed God and ate it. Then they both blamed it on someone else, like in the sweetie jar game. Adam blamed it on Eve, and Eve blamed it on the snake who helped convince her to eat it.
Can you tell about a time your parents told you to do something and you did the right thing? Now tell about a time someone blamed you for doing something wrong, but they did it!
God wanted Adam and Eve to do the right thing. God wants us to do the right thing, too. And God helps us do the right thing.

Dear God, thank You that You help us do the right thing. Thank You for giving us the power to choose the right way. In Jesus’ name, amen

Here is a video about Adam and Eve
https://youtu.be/VG3D9EOwSyc

 Intimations

 Children’s Church worship this afternoon in the sanctuary space 2pm-3pm. Children/families will have to “book in” like they do for just now for Sunday morning worship. According to Church of Scotland guidance can only have a total of 30 people in the space including children.

Our gift day service on 27th June instead of prize giving when all 24 of our children/young people will receive a Christian age appropriate colouring book.

Please continue to pray for CC we can only run if we remain in level 2 of Covid guidance. Angela

A new project is starting soon.  It’s part of the Regeneration Project.  An artist called Nikkita Morgan is leading the project to make a wall hanging about Inverkeithing’s history to be displayed upstairs in the Town House after the improvements work is finished in about a year’s time.   You don’t have to have any sewing skills, everyone is welcome.   If you are interested, please speak to Liz Hunter.

Communion Service.

It is proposed that we celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper during worship on Sunday 27th June 2021. Please accept this invitation to attend. As we have moved to level 1 in Fife, we hope to be able to sing with our masks on during worship. These matters require the approval of the Inverkeithing Session which is called for Thursday 10th June at 7:00 pm via Zoom in hunc effectum. The North Queensferry Session will meet briefly after worship today.

The Bible discussion group will meet via Zoom on Tuesday 8th at 7:30 pm. Please let the minister know if you wish to join us for the first time, for a Zoom invitation.