Live Stream
Order of Service
MORNING WORSHIP
ST COLUMBA’S, PONT STREET
SUNDAY 13th JUNE 2021, 11.00am, (3rd SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST)
Welcome & Lighting of Candles
Call to Worship
Hymn 56 How good it is to thank you, Lord (St Fulbert)
Prayers of Approach & Lord’s Prayer
Children’s Talk
Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 17:22-24
New Testament Reading: II Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17
Anthem: Adoramus te, Christe (Orlando de Lassus)
Gospel Reading: Mark 4:26-34
Hymn 229 We plough the fields and scatter (Wir Pflugen)
Sermon
Musical Interlude
Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession
Intimations
Hymn 198 Let us build a house where love can dwell (Two Oaks)
Benediction
Organ Postlude: Scherzo (Martin Setchell)
Hymn 56 How good it is to thank you Lord (St Fulbert)
1 How good it is to thank you, Lord,
proclaim your name, most High;
to praise your faithfulness at dawn,
your love when night is nigh;
2 And on a ten-stringed instrument,
and with a harp’s sweet sound,
and with the music of the lute
to make your praise abound.
3 For all your actions make me glad,
your works inspire my praise:
I sing for joy with my whole heart
today, and all my days.
Hymn 229 We plough the fields and scatter (Wir Pflugen)
1 We plough the fields and scatter
the good seed on the land,
but it is fed and watered
by God’s almighty hand;
he sends the snow in winter,
the warmth to swell the grain,
the breezes and the sunshine
and soft refreshing rain.
All good gifts around us
are sent from heaven above;
then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
for all his love.
2 He only is the Maker
of all things near and far;
he paints the wayside flower,
he lights the evening star;
the winds and waves obey him,
by him the birds are fed;
much more to us, his children,
he gives our daily bread.
3 We thank you then, O Father,
for all things bright and good,
the seed-time and the harvest,
our life, our health, our food.
Accept the gifts we offer
for all your love imparts,
with what we know you long for:
our humble, thankful hearts.
Hymn 198 Let us build a house where love can dwell (Two Oaks)
1 Let us build a house where love can dwell
and all can safely live,
a place where saints and children tell
how hearts learn to forgive;
built of hopes and dreams and visions,
rock of faith and vault of grace;
here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome,
all are welcome,
all are welcome in this place.
2 Let us build a house where prophets speak,
and words are strong and true,
where all God’s children dare to seek
to dream God’s reign anew.
Here the cross shall stand as witness
and as symbol of God’s grace;
here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
3 Let us build a house where love is found
in water, wine and wheat:
a banquet hall on holy ground,
where peace and justice meet.
Here the love of God, through Jesus,
is revealed in time and space,
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us:
4 Let us build a house where hands will reach
beyond the wood and stone
to heal and strengthen, serve and teach,
and live the Word they’ve known.
Here the outcast and the stranger
bear the image of God’s face;
let us bring an end to fear and danger:
5 Let us build a house where all are named,
their songs and visions heard
and loved and treasured, taught and claimed
as words within the Word.
Built of tears and cries and laughter,
prayers of faith and songs of grace,
let this house proclaim from floor to rafter:
Old Testament Reading: Ezekiel 17:22-24
22 Thus says the Lord God:
I myself will take a sprig
from the lofty top of a cedar;
I will set it out.
I will break off a tender one
from the topmost of its young twigs;
I myself will plant it
on a high and lofty mountain.
23 On the mountain height of Israel
I will plant it,
in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit,
and become a noble cedar.
Under it every kind of bird will live;
in the shade of its branches will nest
winged creatures of every kind.
24 All the trees of the field shall know
that I am the Lord.
I bring low the high tree,
I make high the low tree;
I dry up the green tree
and make the dry tree flourish.
I the Lord have spoken;
I will accomplish it.
New Testament Reading: II Corinthians 5:6-10, 14-17
6 So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— 7for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For all of us must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.
14For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. 15And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.
16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!
Gospel Reading: Mark 4:26-34
26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’
30 He also said, ‘With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.’
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.
Reflection and Prayers for Sunday, June 13th, 2021,
Third Sunday after Pentecost.
Prepared by the Congregational Prayer Group.
Psalm 51:10-11. Create in me a pure heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence,
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
The Holy Spirit: Jesus’ wondrous gift to his disciples - and for us to receive.
The promise of the Holy Spirit: John 14:15-17
The task of the Holy Spirit: John 16:7
The fruit of the Holy Spirit: Galatians 5:22-23a
The armour of God put on by the Holy Spirit: Ephesians 6:13-19a
Almighty and everlasting God,
Creator and Sustainer of the World, may we treasure and value your creation. Our screens bring us amazing pictures from the ocean depths with its exotic creatures, and the light from millions of years ago shining through the universe. May we stand in awe of your majesty in creation and worship you.
We pray for the success of the COP-26 meeting in Glasgow and courage and persistence in fulfilling its recommendations.
Lord Jesus Christ,
Saviour of the World and Word of Life, may we value your truth. In a world dominated by social media, may we see and work for its potential for good and against its spreading of hate and division. May internet connections open your Church to a worldwide welcome without walls.
Holy Spirit,
Sanctifier of the people of God, we live in a world of extraordinary power and wealth. Help us to hold in mind the early Christians who remained committed to living out their faith despite the power and wealth of the Roman Empire in which they lived and where the Emperor had to be worshipped as God. They held fast to the amazing truth of Jesus, the Christ, risen from the dead and still with them by your presence. Give us grace to do as they did.
Reflection: On small beginnings
The Bible Society is now a global charity, providing reduced-price Bibles, translated into local languages, in over 200 countries. But it all began in 1800 with a 15-year-old Welsh girl named Mary Jones who trekked 26 long miles through the rugged terrain of north Wales to buy a Welsh Bible. Mary was so determined to have a Bible of her own, in her own language, that she had saved up for six long years before her walk to Bala. Arriving in Bala, the Minister was so impressed by Mary that he sold her three Bibles for the price of one.
Then another Welsh pastor, Revd Joseph Hughes, inspired by Mary’s story and the need for reduced-price Bibles for Welsh speakers, asked other church leaders: “If for Wales, why not for the kingdom? And if for the kingdom, why not for the world? “
This vision was picked up by William Wilberforce and, to implement it, in
March 1804 at the London Tavern in Bishopsgate, he and his colleagues formed the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 1800 how could a 15 year old Mary have imagined where her determination to own a Bible in her own language would lead over 200 years later?
Thanksgiving: Gracious Father, thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit and we give thanks for all those who have the courage to trust in your leading.
May your Holy Spirit grant our Church leaders vision for the changes needed to bring your Kingdom ways into our national life.
Pray: For your blessing on all those who serve our congregation:
* For our Minister and the arrival of our new Associate Minister;
* For Charlotte and all members of the Kirk Session; grant them wisdom
in the decisions they make as we move out of lockdown;
* For Lucy, Michael and all the office team who maintain the building,
organise coffee mornings and YouTube services; * Lucy’s children, who remind us of the joy of jumping in puddles. * For Ben and his team and the music they offer each Sunday,
* And for all the many willing volunteers.
We pray that the fruit of the Holy Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, kindness and self-control - may ripen in all our lives, so that more and more we may please you, and that we may bring comfort to the sick and lonely; faith to those living in fear and anxiety; joy to children throughout the holiday season.
May we continue in prayer for all those who live in areas of war and famine.
From a prayer sheet in St. Melangell’s Church in North Wales:
“Lord, thank you for your presence here. For the opportunity to pray; for the promise of peace, for the beauty of the world, for the kindness of people,
and for the Cross of Christ and the power of the Spirit. Help us to show our gratitude in deeds as well as words.”
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.