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ST COLUMBA’S, PONT STREET
MORNING WORSHIP AND SUNDAY SCHOOL
SUNDAY 17TH MAY 2026, 11AM
Welcome
Call to Worship
Hymn 46 Most glorious Lord, you have gone up (Psalm 68) (Sheffield)
Most glorious Lord, you have gone up
to take your place on high;
as victor, you in triumph led
captive captivity.
Blest be the Lord who carries us
and keeps us day by day;
in God and God alone we find
salvation’s surest way.
God is the God who freely gives
his people life and breath;
God saves and shelters, rescues us
from danger and from death.
Prayers of Approach and Lords Prayer
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
Theme for the day
Hymn 443 He is Lord (He is Lord)
He is Lord, he is Lord;
he is risen from the dead, and he is Lord;
every knee shall bow, every tongue confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord.
He is love, he is love;
he has shown us by his life that he is love;
all his people sing with one voice of joy
that Jesus Christ is love.
He is life, he is life;
he has died to set us free and he is life;
and he calls us all to live evermore
for Jesus Christ is life.
He is King, he is King;
he will draw all nations to him, he is King:
and the time shall be when the world shall sing
that Jesus Christ is King.
New Testament Reading: Acts 1: 6-14
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying: Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of[a] James. 14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
Epistle Reading: 1 Peter 4: 12-14, 5: 6-11
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.
Anthem: O clap your hands (Psalm 47) Gibbons (1583-1625)
O clap your hands together, all ye people; O sing unto God with the voice of melody. For the Lord is high and to be fearèd; he is the great King of all the earth.
He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet.
He shall choose out an heritage for us, even the worship of Jacob, whom he lovèd.
God is gone up with a merry noise, and the Lord with the sound of the trumpet.
O sing praises, sing praises unto our God: O sing praises unto the Lord our King.
For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with the
understanding.
God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon his holy seat.
For God, which is highly exalted, doth defend the earth, as it were with a shield.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Gospel Testament Reading: John 17: 1-11
17 After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.
6 “I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me is from you, 8 for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I have been glorified in them. 11 And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.
Hymn 272 Father of peace, and God of love! (Paraphrase 60) (St. Paul (Aberdeen))
Father of peace, and God of love!
we own your power to save,
that power by which our Shepherd rose
victorious o’er the grave.
Him from the dead you brought again,
when, by his sacred blood,
confirmed and sealed for evermore
the eternal covenant stood.
O may your Spirit seal our souls,
and mould them to your will,
that our weak hearts no more may stray,
but keep your precepts still;
That to perfection’s sacred height
we nearer still may rise,
and all we think, and all we do,
be pleasing in your eyes.
Sermon
Anthem: O God, the King of Glory Purcell (1659-95)
O God, the King of glory,
who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ
with great triumph into heaven:
We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless;
but send to us thine Holy Ghost to comfort us,
and exalt us unto the same place
where our Saviour Christ is gone before us. Amen.
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.
Prayers of Thanksgiving & Intercession
Intimations
Hymn 445 Alleluia, sing to Jesus (Hyfrydol)
Alleluia, sing to Jesus!
his the sceptre, his the throne;
alleluia, his the triumph,
his the victory alone.
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion
thunder like a mighty flood:
‘Jesus, out of every nation,
hath redeemed us by his blood.’
Alleluia, not as orphans
are we left in sorrow now;
alleluia, he is near us,
faith believes, nor questions how.
Though the cloud from sight received him
when the forty days were o’er,
shall our hearts forget his promise,
‘I am with you evermore’?
Alleluia, bread of angels,
here on earth our food, our stay;
alleluia, here the sinful
flee to you from day to day.
Intercessor, friend of sinners,
earth’s redeemer, plead for me,
where the songs of all the sinless
sweep across the crystal sea.
Alleluia, King eternal,
Lord omnipotent we own;
alleluia, born of Mary,
earth your footstool, heaven your throne.
As within the veil you entered,
robed in flesh, our great high priest,
here on earth both priest and victim
in the eucharistic feast.
Alleluia, sing to Jesus!
his the sceptre, his the throne;
alleluia, his the triumph,
his the victory alone.
Hark! the songs of peaceful Zion
thunder like a mighty flood:
‘Jesus, out of every nation,
hath redeemed us by his blood.’
Benediction & Choral Amen
Postlude: Widor’s Toccata from Symphonie V
Retiring Offering
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