Sunday 23rd August 2020 – Pentecost 12 (Off- Lectionary)

Call to Worship

Praise the Lord,

Praise God in the sanctuary, sitting room, bedroom and kitchen;

  God is praised in the heights of heaven.
Praise God for life changing moments,

praise God who has made all things.

Praise God with sound of trumpets,

with the organ and our voices;

Praise God with the drumming of the noises of our world,

found in traffic, siren, and shouts of children.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord

Based on Psalm 150

Opening Prayer

Creator of our world,

our lives,

we praise You.

We praise You with the sound of our voices,

with the stories of our lives,

with the tears of solitude,

in the company of others,

and when we are alone.

You are the presence of heaven

that dances in the wind

and refreshes with the rain,

delighting in all that has been made

and encouraging growth

of colour and imagination,

that Your creation may sing of Your activity.

Through Christ’s story Your praise is sung,

as encounters of healing

and challenging conversations

reveal Your continuing interest

in individuals and communities.

You inspire hope

where darkness has blocked out the light.

Our praises are dulled by our own actions,

when words become hollow and empty

because our tongues and deeds

have represented the worst part of our nature.

We seek vengeance,

rather than offering the other cheek.

We punish,

when kindness may encourage a new beginning.

As would be saints,

we are uncomfortable with offering praise

and even the receipt.

Silence

Breath of God,

You dispel our anxious and pondering thoughts,

blowing a fresh breeze through our lives.

May these be winds of change,

calling us to live Christ’s calling 

in our ordinary tasks.

Amen

Sunday 16th August – Pentecost 11 (Off-lectionary)

Call to Worship

It is good to give thanks to God,

to sing praises with the highest heavens;

  to declare God’s steadfast love in the morning,
and God’s faithfulness by night,

to the music of the organ,
to the melody of the hymns.

For God’s creative work is a feast for our senses,
calling from us shouts of joy and songs of praise.

Based on Psalm 92: 1-4

Prayers of the People

God in Your mercy

hear our prayer

With gratitude on our lip and in our hearts,

Creator God,

we are reminded of Your presence in every part of our lives,

and so we turn to You

with our prayers 

for the world in which we live.

We pray for markings of time:

for those who have celebrated birthdays and anniversaries;

on this day after the marking of the 75th Anniversary of VJ Day,

we pause to remember those who were still waiting

for their war to end,

the families who did not see loved ones return home,

those who did return home, scarred by their experiences,

for the continual longing for peace in our time,

and the hope that nations will speak to nations,

and negotiate better understandings of each other.

God in Your mercy,

hear our prayer.

We are thankful for the small returns to a normal way of life,

and we remember all the school staff and young people

who have been and will be returning to school.

We prayer for good health and good sense,

for understanding and compassion,

as all negotiate how to work and learn in familiar spaces

in unusual times.

God in Your mercy,

hear our prayer.

Our prayers are for all those

who are wearing the garments of mourning.

For those whose homes have been affected by the storms

of this week;

for those who have lost loved ones;

and for those whose working life is changing.

God in Your mercy,

hear our prayer.

Source of our strength,

You shower the roots of our prayers

with the presence of Christ,

allowing living faith to flourish.

Amen.

Sunday 2nd August 2020 – Pentecost 9 (Off-lectionary) (3)

Prayers of the People

God of the waking morning and the setting sun,

God of rain, wind, storm, and the clearest of days,

God of the growing fields and the barren land,

we thank You for the gifts of the earth:

gifts that nourish and feed,

that ease the troubled mind,

that offer space for adventure and growth.

We thank You for the gifts of those

who share the passage of our lives.

The close family members

who know our flaws as well as our talents;

the friends who share our humour

or moments to whimsy;

those we struggle with

just as they struggle with us,

for they reveal where we are still to grow

as we learn to live with others.

God of justice,

we pray for those who have been given the opportunity

to provide leadership

to nations,

communities,

and the groups and organisations that we value.

In these different days,

we recognise that there are choices to be made

between the health of communities, individuals

and economies.

We pray for the governments of our world,

and their leaders,

who must choose between the health of those they govern

and the wealth of their nation.

May they listen to the wisdom of others,

and may we be willing to challenge 

where we believe in justice is being done,

but also willing to recognise the care of the wider community.

We pray for our local councils,

as they continue to respond to local needs.

As lockdown continues to ease,

and the changes of the finances begin

to mean that choices are to be made

about how to offer the best services to cities, towns and villages,

may we continue to recognise our own role

in supporting the wider community.

May we value the corporate spirit

that these months have brought,

and use this knowledge in our planning for the future.

We pray for churches across Scotland and particularly around Dunfermline.

Kirk Sessions, Church Vestries, Ministers, Priests and Rectors

are planning risk assessments and route maps

that may open doors a little 

for some to find spaces for prayer.

In the discussions that take place,

may their be sensitivity to the expectations

placed upon those who may open doors,

or clean chairs,

or offer welcome and advice.

May we hear the unsaid concerns and fears

of those who want to step forward,

and yet choose to live cautiously.

God of the marvellous deed,

may our lives speak of Your wonder,

and Your presence fill our world.

Amen.

Sunday 2nd August 2020 – Pentecost 9 (Off-lectionary) (2)

A Place for Lament      

Last week the service looked at Lament. My feeling was you can’t suggest that Lament has a place in worship and then not include it. We will be using Hymn “For the world and all its people”  as a sung response during the Lament.

Guide of our lives,

Shaper of our faith,

we long for You to hear us as we wrestle with these days of separation.

We miss the sharing of stories that tumble across our worship spaces,

and of time in our smaller gatherings that offer friendship and support.

We long to hear the familiar laughter and the heartful comfort 

shared between chair and pew;

to listen for Your direction in the calling of our community.

Response

Your care of us is unfailing.

You are a creative God, who makes us in Your image

 and are steadfast in Your love.

Our memories of our communities are coloured by Your presence

 spilling into song and prayer.

Our hopes are for the health of the places we live, and the people we love.

 Response

 In the days that lie ahead, keep us faithful in Your purpose for use.

Guide the plans we make, as the pattern of life draws us slowly back 

into the company of others.

           

Response

Each day of waiting heightens our anticipation of worship and service shared in the presence of others.

The unusual ways of being together while apart create deeper longings.

We grow frustrated at a virus that brings so much of our life and our world

to a standstill, 

and as the seasons change our anger simmers 

at the potential of more illness, more loss.

Response

Eternal Presence, You bring light into the darkness of our days.

 You will brighten our path, and lead us to fresh moments of promise.

In our homes we will sing our praise to You;

should we gather, even silence will not hold back the joy we find in Your 

presence;

for You bring hope to our world and time.

 

Response

Sunday 2nd August 2020 – Pentecost 9 (Off-lectionary)

Some of this is a wee bit earlier in the week that usually. This week on our exploration of Biblical Songs looks at Royal Psalms, using Psalm 72

Call to Worship

As sure as the sun rises,

and the rain falls,
the God of all creation will care for the earth.

From the depths of the sea and land near and far, 
gifts offered to God

are shared from God’s hand for the care of all.

God listens for the cry of the poor and the needy.
God gives strength to those who are weak and precious in God’s sight.

Let us offer our prayers and hopes.
Long may God bless us with a faith that endures all things.

Based on Psalm 72

Sunday 19th July 2020 – Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

As often happens during the summer months, I will not be using the lectionary for a few weeks. This summer my theme is Songs of the Summer, which has a focus on the Psalms but I suspect that at the Summer progresses other Songs may sneak their way in too.

This week my focus is Psalm 1 and Acts 16: 25-28, as we think about how music evokes our memories to shape our future. We are welcoming a new student for 6 weeks so they will be contributing the first prayer. So here are a Call to Worship and a Prayer of the People.

Call to Worship

In sitting rooms and dining rooms,

bedrooms and studies;

from the comfort of a sofa,

or the practicality of an upright chair,

God is with us,

inviting us to share in the community of worship.

In whispered voices,

because we don’t want to wake the neighbours;

with loud expression,

because our lungs are waiting to be opened,

we bring our solitary voices

to join the chorus of heaven.

God calls us from our separation

to remind us we are one in God.

As we worship together

let us be shaped by the Holy Spirit.

May the sharing of Christ’s presence spill into every day.

Prayer of the People

Composer of life’s music,

we lift our voices in praise to You

for the melodies and harmony

that have spilt into the conversations and activities of our lives.

We give thanks for the music

that has shaped our days – 

music that is evokes memories

and yet urges us to embrace all that You have inshore

for today and tomorrow;

music that allows our emotions and thoughts

to be heard and resolved.

Hear us as we sing of the ordinary tasks of our lives,

songs which tell of the love and friendship

we share with those around about;

that celebrate the small moments

of seeing those we have missed after many weeks apart;

that tell of the task we do each day

in our work and activities,

and share the burdens and worries of who we are,

what we do,

and what is expected of us.

Hear us as we sing our songs of justice – 

songs that rail against the injustice of governments

and their policies;

songs that notice

those who will be struggling to find work,

or who are not sure where their next meal is coming from,

or want the security of the off a homes of their own.

Use the discord we create

to challenge leadership

to create a world where all are treated with kindness

and assured of their worth.

Hear us as we sing our songs of sorrow – 

the words that recognise the loss and loneliness of others,

the melodies that capture the pain and hurt of those who are grieving.

Help us to recognise 

that this music is a valuable part of our humanity

for it allows us to grow

and place our trust in You,

that we might better offer support and comfort

to the bereft of our world.

Composer of life’s music,

You are the song we long to sing – 

a song that allows Christ’s love for the world

to bring harmony and unity

to the places we live and the people we meet.

Amen.