No Matter Where, No Matter When Welcome to Stow Brae's
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Welcome: No matter where, no matter when welcome to Stow Brae’s service of worship for Sunday 7th March. Intimations: next Sunday we will celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion. This will be by telephone. If you do not receive the details of this then please contact your elder or myself. As you know we are working towards the Union between Stow Brae and Glenburn to form Paisley St George’s. Presbytery has now set a date for this service: it will be held in Glenburn Parish Church at 7 pm on Thursday 15th April. A lot of work is going on in the background to ensure that this union happens as smoothly as possible. It is much more challenging because of the many restrictions due to Covid. I would ask that we all hold the two congregations and their office bearers in our prayers.. Call to worship This morning’s call to worship is responsive; the first four responses are You love us Lord, the fifth and final response is we love you Lord. Each response is made after a single phrase Through the creation of the universe You love us, Lord Through guidance, call and commandment You love us, Lord Through the gift of Your son, Jesus You love us, Lord Through our worship and our response to Your word We love You, Lord. Let us worship God in Hymn 489 Dear Lord and Father of mankind, forgive our foolish ways; reclothe us in our rightful mind; in purer lives thy service find, in deeper reverence, praise. in deeper reverence, praise. In simple trust like theirs who heard, beside the Syrian sea, the gracious calling of the Lord, let us, like them, without a word rise up and follow thee. rise up and follow thee. O Sabbath rest by Galilee! O calm of hills above, where Jesus knelt to share with thee the silence of eternity, interpreted by love! interpreted by love! With that deep hush subduing all our words and works that drown the tender whisper of thy call, as noiseless let thy blessing fall as fell thy manna down. as fell thy manna down. Drop thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease; take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace. the beauty of thy peace. Breathe through the heats of our desire thy coolness and thy balm; let sense be dumb, let flesh retire; speak through the earthquake, wind and fire, O still small voice of calm! O still small voice of calm! Prayer Loving God, We take time out of our busy lives to come before You this day and to offer You praise and thanks. We thank You for this day and all the days of our lives. We thank You for the world in which we live and which we do not always fully appreciate or care for properly. We thank You for the ability to gather physically or digitally to praise You and learn from Your word. Lord, You love us so much. You do not leave us to wander this world aimlessly and without boundaries. We thank You that You love us so much that You gave Your people commandments in the name of love, harmony and respect, commandments that have stood the test of time and remain as valuable today as they did when given at Sinai. Lord, You love us so much that You sent Your son, Jesus to teach us how to live and to love. Not only that, You demonstrated that generous love through His death and resurrection. Thank You, Lord. Good and gracious God, There are times when we choose not to follow the rules, there are times when we stray off course, there are times when we choose the path of sin. In a time of quiet, we bring before You those times when we have failed to keep Your commandments, when we have decided that we know better. Silence The Psalmist writes: “Clear me from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from the insolent; do not let them have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” Forgiven, loved and free we enter this time of worship with gratitude. Open our ears to hear, our mouths to speak truth and justice and our hearts to love and care for Your people. Hear us now as we pray together in Jesus words, 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 Reading: Exodus 20: 1 - 17 read from The Message God spoke all these words: I am God, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a life of slavery. No other gods, only me. No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I’m unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments. No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name. Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day. Honour your father and mother so that you’ll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you. No murder. No adultery. No stealing. No lies about your neighbour. No lusting after your neighbour’s house—or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don’t set your heart on anything that is your neighbour’s. The ten commandments - a set of tules we think we know. Listen as Steven and I share with you the ten amendments The ten amendments Voice 1 And God spoke all these words saying: Voice 2 I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other Gods before me. Voice 1 For one hour exactly each week. Voice 2 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below… Voice 1 with the exception of your favourite football team, TV programme and, of course, good old money. Voice 2 You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain… Voice 1 except when you encounter another idiot road-user who got their driving licence free with a packet of cornflakes and thinks that their indicators are for decoration. Voice 2 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy… Voice 1 wholly free from anything thing in the diary, other than church, of course, (unfortunately) – unless you need to earn a little extra for that new outfit you were thinking of for the summer. Voice 2 Honour your father and your mother… Voice 1 at least until you are certain that their wills are drawn up in your favour, securely deposited in the solicitors' safe, and they are safely deposited in a nursing home. Voice 2 Do not kill… Voice 1 unless you've got a really good reason, a water-tight alibi and a decent lawyer. Voice 2 Do not commit adultery… Voice 1 unless your husband or wife doesn't understand you and it really IS true love this time. Voice 2 Do not steal … Voice 1 I know exactly someone who can get you anything you want cheap off the back of a lorry. Voice 2 Do not lie… Voice 1 being economical with the actuality is much more acceptable. Voice 2 Do not covet… Voice 1 but that only applies to your neighbour's ass. It has nothing to do with wanting to get your hands on her S class Mercedes. Voice 2 You must love the Lord your God and keep his commandments... Voice 1 Well, four out of ten would be good. Let’s take a a few moments to think about commandments and amendments as Alan plays. Musical reflection Reading: John 2: 13 - 22 from The Message When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.