Sunday Worship, 26 July 2020

CCL 125049

Contents

  • Welcome
  • Hymn             146 From all that dwell below the skies Tune Laast uns Erfreuen (Church Hymnary 4th Edition)
  • All age time
  • Prayer
  • Reading         Matthew 13: 31-33 (Good News Bible)
  • Hymn             497 Almighty Father of all things that be  Tune Chilton Foliat (Church Hymnary 4th Edition)
  • Reflection
  • Prayer for others
  • Hymn              471 To the name of our salvation Tune Tantum ergo Sacramentum (Church Hymnary 4th Edition)
  • Blessing

Welcome

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Welcome and let us worship God

‘My one desire is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.’

Philippians 3: 10

Hymn 146

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1 From all that dwell below the skies
let the Creator’s praise arise:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let the Redeemer’s name be sung
through every land, by every tongue:
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia!

2 Eternal are your mercies, Lord;
and eternal truth attends your word:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Your praise shall sound from shore to shore
till suns rise and set no more:
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia!


All age time (for ages 0-100)

  • Today’s Bible story
    In today’s Bible story Jesus tells a couple of short stories showing how a little bit of hard work, or even the work of one person, can with God’s help make a big difference
  • Something to make
    How do you fancy trying some home baking and sharing it with someone?
    Or buy something and share it with someone? Or buy it and put it towards the foodbank?
  • Something to think about
    A little effort on our part can actually have significant impact. Anything we can put effort into achieving this week? And if we work together on doing something?
    Why do we need foodbanks? What do we have to do to eradicate the need for them?

Opening Prayer

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Lord

You are the bringer of life

At your word all that is came into existence

 from you came the mystery of life

 by your will and care

 all things continue and life renews and changes

Your Word took flesh and came among us

 showed you to us

 showed us how you want us to live

 and by his death and rising again

 he defeated death and brought new life

By the gift of your Spirit

 you have shared his new life with us

By the gift of your Spirit

 you are constantly working to renew

 and bring new life

 to your hurting world

We come here this day

 with many thoughts, worries

 joys, hopes and fears

 we come bringing thanks and praise

 we come asking for healing

 we come asking for forgiveness

 we come needing comforted

 we come needing challenged

 we come to find new life

Speak to us, touch us, feed us, fill us

 and send us out to serve you

Through Christ our Lord we pray

Amen


Bible reading

Matthew 13: 31-33

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Jesus told them another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man takes a mustard seed and sows it in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it grows up, it is the biggest of all plants. It becomes a tree, so that birds come and make their nests in its branches.”

Jesus told them still another parable: “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A woman takes some yeast and mixes it with forty litres of flour until the whole batch of dough rises.”


Hymn 497

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1 Almighty Father of all things that be,
our life, our work we consecrate to thee,
whose heavens declare thy glory from above,
whose earth below is witness to thy love.

2 For well we know this weary, fallen earth
is yet thine own by right of its new birth,
since that great cross upreared on Calvary
redeemed it from its fault and shame to thee.

3 Thine still the changeful beauty of the hills,
the purple valleys flecked with silver rills,
the ocean glistening ‘neath the golden rays:
they all are thine, and voiceless speak thy praise.

4 Thou dost the strength to worker’s arms impart;
from thee the skilled musician’s reasoned art,
the grace of poet’s pen or painter’s hand
to teach the loveliness of sea and land.

5 Then grant us, Lord, in all things thee to own,
to dwell within the shadow of thy throne,
to speak and work, to think and live, and move,
reflecting thine own nature, which is love:

6 That so, by Christ redeemed from sin and shame,
and hallowed by thy Spirit’s cleansing flame,
ourselves, our work, and all our powers may be
a sacrifice acceptable to thee.


Reflection

Jesus’ mum is chatting with Martha (she of the ‘kitchen incident’)

“Interesting to hear him talk about a woman making bread, especially on of those large batches of baking. Somehow it sounds awfully familiar. I used to think he wandered into the kitchen because he was hungry and wanted to know when he could get something to eat. Now I suspect he was taking in everything that was going on, and thinking about it. When you listen to him, you realise that wherever he is, he is observing what is happening. Things that other people would not notice or think about, he notices, and stores away for later. You can’t hide anything from him.

“It’s funny stuff yeast. You only need a little bit of it to make a batch of bread. I don’t understand how it works, only that if I make up the dough, leave it in a warm place, in a little while it will have grown amazingly.

“I’d never have thought that you could liken the effects of an act of kindness to being like dough at the proving stage, or the impact of God’s message in the world being like bread in the making. If one small act of kindness, or the act of one individual, can have such an impact, what difference could we make if we work together to bring about change?

“Martha, what do you think that could mean for relations between you and your sister?”


Prayers for others

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Heavenly Father

There is something wonderful

 about the smell and taste

 of newly baked bread or cakes

Thank you for those who do the baking for us

 whether it is Granny in the kitchen

 or workers in a factory

 thank you for those who share baking with others

We remember those who are involved in preparing food for us

 and pray that they will be safe and receive a fair reward for their work

 we pray too for those who do not have enough to eat

 for all who staff, stock and use foodbanks

 and pray that we may be able to do away with the need for them

We pray for all who are ill,

 those who look after them

 and those who worry about them

those waiting for or receiving treatment

 and those for whom there is no treatment

those who are lonely, feeling down, or grieving a friend or loved one

those who are worried about home, work or money

 a friend or a relative

those who are living with the after-effects of natural disasters

those who do not have enough to eat, or somewhere to call home

those who long to live in peace and safety

those who have fled from their homes seeking safety

We pray for the Queen, the Government

 all in positions of leadership in this and every land

We pray for your church

 our own congregation

 the wider church in Dumbarton

 the world-wide church

We bring to you our prayers for people and situations of special concern to us

And we sum up our prayers in the words of the prayer Jesus gave us

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


Hymn 471

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1 To the name of our salvation
laud and honour let us pay,
which for many a generation
hid in God’s foreknowledge lay,
but with holy exultation
we may sing aloud today.

2 Jesus is the name we treasure,
name beyond what words can tell,
name of gladness, name of pleasure,
ear and heart delighting well;
name of power beyond all measure,
saving us from sin and hell.

3 Jesus is the name exalted
over every other name;
in this name, whene’er assaulted
we can put our foes to shame:
strength to those who would have halted,
eyes to blind, and feet to lame.

4 Therefore we in love adoring
this most blessèd name revere,
Holy Jesus, thee imploring
so to write it in us here,
that hereafter, heavenward soaring,
we may sing with angels there.


Blessing

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God the Father sends you out

 to be his witnesses wherever you go

 to work to bring healing and wholeness in all you do

and the blessing of God Almighty

 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

 rest and remain with you,  today, and every day, and for ever. Amen

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