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ST COLUMBA’S, PONT STREET
BAPTISMS, SUNDAY SCHOOL & HOLY COMMUNION FOR TRINITY SUNDAY
FOR ST COLUMBA’S DAY, SUNDAY 7TH JUNE 2026, 11AM
Welcome
Call to Worship
Hymn 39 God the Lord, the king almighty (Hyfrydol) Psalm 50
1 God the Lord, the King almighty,
calls the earth from east to west:
shining out from Zion’s splendour,
city loveliest and best,
comes our God! He breaks the silence,
robed in burning majesty:
‘Gather all my covenant people,
bound by sacrifice to me’.
2 ‘Hear me testify against you:
listen, Israel, as I speak:
I do not require your offerings,
sacrifice I do not seek.
Mountain birds and meadow creatures,
Cattle on a thousand hills,
all the beasts are my possession,
moving as their maker wills.’
3 God who owns the whole creation
needs no gift, no food, no house:
bring to him your hearts’ thanksgiving:
God most high will hear your vows.
Trust him in the day of trouble,
call to him who will redeem:
God will be your strong deliverer,
his renown your daily theme.
4 Lies increase and evil prospers;
God is silent, while men say,
‘He has gone; let us forget him!’
thinking he is false as they.
But his word will judge or save us;
let us come before his throne
giving thanks, receiving mercy:
God’s salvation now made known.
Prayers of Approach
Sacrament of Baptism: Albert Achilles Guimaro-Tester & Hamish Lachlan
Tester
Blessing {Sung by congregation} CH4 796
The Lord bless you, and keep you:
The Lord make his face
to shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace. Amen
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,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen
Hymn 632 Our children, Lord, in faith and prayer (Belmont)
{Our young people are invited to leave for Sunday School after the
singing of the hymn. Visiting children very welcome.}
1 Our children, Lord, in faith and prayer,
we now devote to you;
let them your covenant mercies share,
and your salvation true.
2 Such children you did once embrace,
while dwelling here below;
to us and ours, O God of grace,
the same compassion show.
3 Dear Lord, your infant feet were found
within your Father’s shrine;
your years, with changeless virtue crowned,
were all alike divine.
4 Dependent on your bounteous breath,
we seek your grace alone,
in every stage of life and death,
to keep us still your own.
Gospel Reading: Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the
tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed
him.
And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax-collectors and sinners
came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees
saw this, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax-
collectors and sinners?’ But when he heard this, he said, ‘Those who are
well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn
what this means, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” For I have come to call
not the righteous but sinners.’
Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, ‘Why do we and the
Pharisees fast often, but your disciples do not fast?’ And Jesus said to
them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is
with them, can they? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken
away from them, and then they will fast. No one sews a piece of
unshrunk cloth on an old cloak, for the patch pulls away from the cloak,
and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wineskins;
otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are
destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are
preserved.’
While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the
synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, ‘My daughter has just
died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.’ And Jesus
got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who
had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years came up behind
him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, ‘If I only
touch his cloak, I will be made well.’ Jesus turned, and seeing her he
said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And instantly
the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and
saw the flute-players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, ‘Go
away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. But
when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the
hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that
district.
Anthem: Let thy merciful ears Mudd (c 1619-1667)
Let thy merciful ears, O Lord, be open unto the prayers of thy humble
servants; and that they may obtain their petitions make them to ask such
things as shall please thee; thorough Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Sermon
Dedication of our Offerings
{If able, please stand as the offering is brought forward and the
congregation sings}
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
praise him, all creatures here below;
praise him above, ye heavenly host;
praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (CH4 807, Old 100th)
Prayer of Dedication:
Minister: Father, Son, and Spirit Holy,
we give you thanks and praise:
Congregation: We dedicate to you
our thoughts, our words, our gifts, our deeds,
the working of our hands,
the thinking of our minds,
the loving of our hearts. Amen.
Hymn From Erin’s shores Columba came
(Tune, St Columba, CH4 598)
From Erin’s shores Columba came
To preach and teach and heal,
And found a church which showed the world
How God on earth was real.
In greening grass and reckless wave,
In cloud and ripening corn,
The Celtic Christians traced the course
Of grace through nature borne.
In hosting strangers, healing pain,
In tireless work for peace,
They served the servant Christ their Lord
And found their faith increase.
In simple prayer and alien land,
As summoned by the Son,
They celebrated how God’s call
Made work and worship one.
God grant that what Columba sowed
May harvest yet more seed,
As we engage both flesh and faith
To marry word and deed.
(Wild Goose Resource Group, John Bell)
Followed immediately by
Hymn 19 Ye gates lift up your heads on high
(St George’s, Edinburgh) Psalm 24
Ye gates, lift up your heads on high;
ye doors that last for aye,
be lifted up, that so the King
of glory enter may.
But who of glory is the King?
The mighty Lord is this;
even that same Lord that great in might
and strong in battle is.
Ye gates, lift up your heads; ye doors,
doors that do last for aye,
be lifted up, that so the King
of glory enter may.
But who is he that is the King,
the King of glory? who is this?
The Lord of hosts, and none but he,
the King of glory is.
Coda:
Alleluia! alleluia!
alleluia! alleluia! alleluia!
Amen, amen, amen.
Celebration of Holy Communion
{Communion is served to the congregation in the pews. For pastoral
reasons the wine is non-alcoholic. If you wish to receive wine from the
chalice, or to receive gluten free bread, please indicate to a serving
elder}
After the Elements of Bread and Wine have been set apart:
Minister: The Lord be with you;
Congregation: And also with you.
Minister: Lift up your hearts;
Congregation: We lift them to God
Minister: Let us give thanks to God our maker;
Congregation: It is right to give God thanks and praise
During the prayers that follow:
Minister: And as one with your people on earth, north
and south, east and west, we join our praise,
singing the song of your eternal greatness.
Congregation: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord
God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory,
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he, who comes in the name
of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
After the breaking of the Bread and the lifting of the Cup:
Minister: Jesus, Lamb of God
Congregation: Have mercy upon us.
Minister: Jesus, bearer of our sins
Congregation: Have mercy upon us.
Minister: Jesus, redeemer of the world
Congregation: Grant us peace.
Anthem: Give unto the Lord (Psalm 29)
Elgar (1857-1934)
Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters;
The God of glory thundereth;
It is the Lord that ruleth the sea.
The voice of the Lord is mighty in operation;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty;
The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars,
Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire,
The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness
And strippeth the forests bare.
In His temple doth every one speak of His glory.
The Lord sitteth above the water-flood;
And the Lord remaineth a King for ever.
The Lord shall give strength unto His people;
The Lord shall give His people the blessing of peace.
Intimations
Hymn 742 Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days!
(Laudate Dominum)
1 Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days!
A world without saints forgets how to praise.
Their faith in acquiring the habit of prayer,
their depth of adoring, Lord, help us to share.
2 Some march with events to turn them God’s way;
some need to withdraw, the better to pray;
some carry the gospel through fire and through flood:
our world is their parish: their purpose is God.
3 Rejoice in those saints, unpraised and unknown,
who bear someone’s cross, or shoulder their own:
they share our complaining, our comforts, our cares:
what patience in caring, what courage, is theirs!
4 Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days!
A world without saints forgets how to praise.
In loving, in living, they prove it is true:
the way of self-giving, Lord, leads us to you.
Benediction & Choral Amen
Organ Postlude: Chorale Prelude on ‘Dundee’ Parry
Retiring Offering
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