Welcome!

We know not everyone who is part of Westwood Church is able to be in church on Sunday morning however, we thought it would be good to offer some excerpts from the Sunday morning service. Where we can, we offer parts of the service in text and audio, whichever works best for you. If you want to plug in headphones to your computer, tablet or mobile phone now is a good time to do it ! If you want to offer some comment or feedback just use the comment box at the end of this post.

Your Weekly Church Notices

Scripture

1 Timothy 2: 1 – 7

Luke 16: 1 – 13

Praise – Be thou my vision

Prayers

Gracious God, Lord of all, we thank you that we can come to you in our prayers, that for all your greatness, and wonder, and holiness, we can still speak to you as a friend.

We thank you that we can open our hearts to you, that we can pour out our innermost souls and share our deepest thoughts, in the knowledge that you are there, always ready to listen and understand.

So now once more we lay our lives before you, open to your gaze

The bad as well as the good,

The doubts as well as the faith

The sorrow as well as the joy

The despair as well as the hope.

We bring the anger as well as the peace,

The hatred as well as the love

The confusion as well as the certainty

The fear as well as the trust

Gracious God, we bring these not with pride or any sense of arrogance but honestly, recognising that you know us through and through.

Help us through our times of worship to be truthful to ourselves and truthful to you, and so may we discover the renewing love which only you can offer – a love that frees us to live as you would have us live, and allows us to be the people you would have us be.

Hear us as we join in the words of the Lord’s Prayer saying…

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 forever.  Amen.

Address

The Church of Scotland has for a long time had an unfortunate relationship with alcohol!! And I understand why.  Alcohol misuse and addictions are a blight upon the life of the individual, upon family life and society in general. For that reason, no Church of Scotland will never have a bar facility in the church hall or be permitted to hold a licence for the sale of alcohol or purchase alcohol with congregational funds.  The Church does not promote total abstinence but does encourage us “not to promote the habit of drinking”.  But should we choose to have a social event where an individual holds a licence and donates proceeds from the sale of alcohol to the church, we will smile and say “Thank you!” Is that just being shrewd?

The same can be said of gambling.  Again, gambling can be an absolute blight on the life of the individual, the family and society which is why as a Church we would not indulge in any gambling related activity but we are happy to receive in our offering plate the money you won on the horses. Is that just being shrewd?

It is for these same reasons that congregations seeking to raise large sums of money to refurbish their buildings typically set up a separate “Friends of”  charity as a fundraising body.  And their new charity, which is not subject to church practice, will happily embrace organised gambling and sell alcohol.  It is just about the only way to raise appreciable sums of money.  Is that just being shrewd?  Just finding ways of sidestepping the regulations?

Jesus tells a story of a shrewd manager.  Actually, he is accused of being dishonest because he has allowed people to accrue sizeable debts to his master.  Yes, he was being wasteful of his master’s property by simply not making sure that debts were paid and accounts were up to date.  And yet he uses his dishonesty to his advantage by reducing the level of debt on a number of accounts thereby creating friends in the right places.  This manager knows the system, he knows it inside out and he knows how to work it to his best advantage and the master rather admires the manager for that.  If only the manager would apply those skills in favour of his master!

It does feel out of place that Jesus says to make friends with worldly wealth. Cosying up to the rich and powerful seems to be at odds with the concepts of poverty and sacrifice we tend to highlight in the Christian faith, the ideals of justice and defending the poor against the greed of the wealthy, the concept of the church being the prophet that speaks to society calling out its short comings and failures and injustices.  How can we do that if we have sidled up to the rich and powerful, made friends with worldly wealth?

Yet Jesus is telling us that those who are faithful in small matters will be faithful in larger and more important matters.  If we are faithful in the small matter of handling worldly wealth, in a shrewd way then, we’ll be faithful in the handling of true wealth; which must surely be the treasures that await us in Heaven.

Assuming that all proceeds well between now and 1^st January 2026. The new congregation of Westhills will be in a  very different position in terms of property, income and investments.  We will have to manage those assets carefully and wisely, because they exist really for one purpose only, that the Gospel may be preached and the Kingdom of God advanced.  The reality of the parable of the Shrewd Manager may soon be upon us; it will be a test of our faith, our wisdom and our determination to move forward to the Glory of God.

Praise – I’d rather have Jesus

Prayers for Others

Gaza Genocide

Lord, we return to you in prayers for Gaza and the Palestinian people.  How often have we brought them to you in prayer simply because we see their suffering.  And now the United Nations release their report highlighting signs that a genocide is taking place.  Heavenly Father, in our hearts we knew that anyway.  Yet what do we do?  Are we not simply powerless to stop this?  Will our own nation be complicit in genocide because we continue to be an ally to Israel.  Heavenly Father, we see the actions of the aggressors in this world, we see the suffering they create, when will we speak up for those whose voices are silenced?  When will we take action to defend the innocent civilian?  If it were us, would we not want someone to come to our aid, to stand beside us?  Lord hear our prayers…

A State visit behind closed doors

A divisive President.  An unprecedented second State visit.  Pomp and protest.  Maybe we wonder which side you would have been on Lord?  Would you have dined with the powerful or taken a stand with the protestors?  Are we called to take sides?  Or is it okay to take a middle ground; sit on the fence, be silent, not have an opinion?  In what way Lord Jesus do you speak to us, speak through us, act through us?  If we believe something to be wrong give us the strength to challenge it.  Let us not be complicit by our silence.  Lord hear our prayers…

Being Shrewd

Lord Jesus, you told a story about a shrewd manager.  Are you asking us to be shrewd as well? Because if that manager was clever enough to make himself some new friends, he also revealed his dishonesty to them! How can you be asking us to be so dishonest?  Are you not Lord, asking us to be faithful even in our worldly dealings, to show our honesty and truthfulness in the small things of life and so prove our worthiness to receive the spiritual and eternal gifts you give? Then show us how to be people of the light who stand apart from the shrewd and dishonest.  Help us to be the people you need us to be.  Lord hear our prayers…

Praise – My life flows on

The Grace

And now… May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, now and for evermore. AMEN.

Welcome!

We know not everyone who is part of Westwood Church is able to be in church on Sunday morning however, we thought it would be good to offer some excerpts from the Sunday morning service. Where we can, we offer parts of the service in text and audio, whichever works best for you. If you want to plug in headphones to your computer, tablet or mobile phone now is a good time to do it ! If you want to offer some comment or feedback just use the comment box at the end of this post.

Your Weekly Church Notices

Scripture

1 Timothy 1: 12 – 17 

Luke 15: 1 – 10 

Praise – The Lord’s my shepherd

Prayers

God of our ancestors, God of ages past, ever since the dawn of humanity You have wanted to be in a loving relationship with your people.  You have reached out in love right from the beginning of our existence.

You are glad to be known as the God of Abraham, and as our God. You want us to know ourselves as Your children, Your people.  You are the Ancient of Days and as fresh as the summer rain. Steadfast and spontaneous God, we bow in wonder before you.  That You make Yourself known, and call us to You, is a gift beyond price.

If you Lord, are a mystery, then we are too.  What a puzzle we are to ourselves when we are offered such a priceless gift yet do all in our power to resist the work of the Holy Spirit within us.  When we become disconnected from You

and do not even notice that our lives have become impoverished – Forgive us. 

Forgive us when we hurt others because we are hurting.

Forgive us when we sit too long in the certainty we are beyond repair.

Holy Spirit, why is it that we no longer yearn for your fire to burn within us, no longer seek the adventure of faith, no longer desire the journey into unknown lands of promise? 

As we reach out to receive Your priceless gift to us, so we offer our gifts to you.  To us these gifts may seem simple and their value limited, but in your sight our gifts are priceless because you can see they are offered in love, offered in a desire to see your Church, the Body of Christ, sustained, offered in love for you and all your people.  Father God, receive our gifts to the Glory of Your name.

Hear us as we join in the words of the Lord’s Prayer saying…

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 forever.  Amen.

Address

On my study wall, to my left hand side as I sit at my computer, hangs two framed certificates.  They are both now quite old and the once bright red ink has faded almost to the point of being illegible. One says, Bachelor of Divinity and the other, Diploma in Pastoral Studies and Applied Theology.  They are the certificates presented to me at my graduation from Aberdeen University more than 30 years ago.  It’s a shame to see them so faded and unloved.

Not to worry though because I have been able to add to my collection of certificates over the years.  And it might be anything from the Institute of Advanced Motorists to being a competent pilot of a model aircraft or my Anti-Terrorism certificate that hangs on a church notice board or recognition of my competency from the lovely people at the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland.  Health Institute I hear you say… Perhaps I was on some medical course, First Aid for when a blushing bride faints on her wedding day.  No sorry.  Nothing like that.  Maybe you didn’t hear the bit about Environmental Health.  Environmental Health, like emptying the wheelie bins and cleaning flats after the squatters move out?  Well, no, not quite that either.

My certificate from the REHIS is in Risk Assessment. And it tells me that I have completed a practical course on risk assessment and achieved a satisfactory degree of competence in the assessment exercise.  My Risk Assessment skills blend nicely with my Anti-Terrorism skills.

Risk assessment is something we all very naturally do as human beings.  Whenever we see a hazard like a busy main road, we assess the situation so as to reduce the risk of getting knocked down.  Every time you cross the road you are doing your own Risk Assessment.  How busy is the road? How fast is the traffic moving?  Where is the next gap in the traffic?  Is the gap big enough for me to get across?  Will I have to go fast or will I have plenty time to saunter on over?  By subconsciously asking questions about what is going on around us we protect ourselves from unnecessary harm, we reduce the risk.

Nowadays, many would argue that we live in a risk averse society.  Our kids are wrapped up in cotton wool, given a lift to school and home again so that no harm might come to them should the wind blow or the rain fall.  They cannot play games where they might scrape their knee or otherwise experience physical pain.  Not like it was even in my youth when I trudged through feet of snow to get to school, played with matches and burnt my fingers, used a hammer and bashed my fingers and generally speaking learned from hard experience.  

I wish someone had told Jesus about Risk Assessment.  If he knew anything at all about Risk he would never have told the parable of the Lost Sheep.  It’s bad enough that this shepherd should lose one of the sheep but I cannot fathom what possessed him to leave the 99 unattended, even abandoned, while he went looking for the one.  Didn’t he think for a moment that he was leaving the flock vulnerable to predatory wolves?  Didn’t he think for a moment that they all might just wander off in different directions and become lost.  Didn’t he realise that he was risking everything for the sake of the one that was lost?

Of course, that just might be the point of the story that sometimes you have to risk everything.  And if you do risk everything and succeed then naturally there is great cause for celebration.  The parable of the Lost Sheep speaks volumes about the risks God will take for you.  To him you are worth risking everything.  And he did exactly that when he sent His son into this world, to live and die and rise, not just for all humanity, but for you.

Praise – This is my body

Prayers for Others

Charlie Kirk

Father in Heaven, we understand the tragedy of a life taken.  However outspoken Charlie Kirk may have been, however much we may or may not agree with his point of view, taking his life away only brings sadness, darkness and bitterness into the lives of family and bystanders.  And yet, this is America and it no longer surprises us when someone is shot, assassinated; to us it appears to be the norm in society as if assassination is the go to, cure all response.  Charlie Kirk’s assassination tell us of deep divides, rising intolerance and the increasing risk of civil unrest, battle lines are being drawn.  Lord, we pray not only for a grieving family, but for a nation divided…

Israel attack on Doha, Qatar.

A desire to eliminate Hamas that knows no bounds.  An airstrike on Doha, Qatar, an allies home land, targeting Hamas negotiators.  And the rumours abound and suspicion is created that allies are not so trust worthy.  Just more reckless actions that destabilise relations in the Middle East.  It just gets worse.  Little by little it just gets worse.  And we see the suffering. And we hear of genocide and war crimes but it doesn’t stop.  Israel is not listening.  Blinded by anger and hatred Israel fails to see the pain it is inflicting on others and on itself.  Victory will be hollow; celebrations will be short lived.  What does it take Lord, for the insanity to stop and humanity to be restored?  We offer our prayers Lord as people lost for words, lost for answers yet not devoid of hope.  Hear our prayers…

Seeing the Individual

Lord Jesus, by story and by parable, you tell us of the risk you are prepared to take for each and every one of us; to show us the extent of your love, to prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that we matter to You as individuals.  Each of us created by your hand, each of us filled with the breath of God.  Then help us Lord to see the individual you have made and not to merge your children into faceless groups of lesser importance, second class citizens, people who don’t belong.  You made us equal in your sight.  Help us to accept the risk of loving the individual…

Praise – When I survey

The Grace

And now… May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, now and for evermore. AMEN.

Welcome!

We know not everyone who is part of Westwood Church is able to be in church on Sunday morning however, we thought it would be good to offer some excerpts from the Sunday morning service. Where we can, we offer parts of the service in text and audio, whichever works best for you. If you want to plug in headphones to your computer, tablet or mobile phone now is a good time to do it ! If you want to offer some comment or feedback just use the comment box at the end of this post.

Your Weekly Church Notices

Scripture

Philemon 1: 15 – 22

Luke 14: 25 – 33

Praise – I want Jesus to walk with me

Prayers

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you that you dared to enter this world and make your voice heard.  You spoke with words of love and compassion,  you spoke words of forgiveness, you spoke words of judgement.  But more than anything you spoke of the Kingdom of God and called us to be disciples of your Kingdom.  We thank you that your call has come to us to be disciples, to offer a life of service, to share in the work of your Kingdom.

We thank you that you call us as we are – with all our faults, all our doubts and all our sinfulness.

We thank you that you chose us not through our own deserving but through your grace, your love, and your mercy.

We thank you that as you chose your people Israel, your twelve disciples, and your Church, so also you have chosen us.

And we thank you that though we fail you repeatedly, though we disobey your will, and turn away from you, yet your purpose for us continues and your love endures.

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for calling us, and we ask very simply, but also sincerely – help us to respond in the name of Christ.  

May this offering we place before you be part of our response to you in discipleship, giving from an open and generous heart, loving God, loving our sister and brother, loving our neighbour.  And where discipleship becomes costly, demanding and difficult show us how to offer our all for the sake of Christ our Lord.

Hear us as we join in the words of the Lord’s Prayer saying…

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 forever.  Amen.

Address

Let me this morning tell you about Nambu.  Nambu and his wife come from South India.  They have two children but when I first met Nambu they had just one child.

I got to know Nambu because he was attending church as regularly as he could.  Sometimes he arrived late to church or had to leave early depending on when his shift at work started.  He so obviously wanted to be part of the church community, he wanted to be involved.  Nambu was happy to lend a hand anywhere and as a fit, strong young man amongst a gathering of elderly and not so fit people he gladly moved tables and chairs and was generally really helpful.  But that’s not the involvement he was really looking for.  Nambu wanted to read the scriptures on a Sunday morning.  So, he was put on the Readers Rota and his turn came around.  Understandably, english was not his first language so reading the scripture passage aloud was something he had to rehearse and even be coached on to get it right.  When he finished reading the scriptures passages that morning, he received a spontaneous round of applause from the congregation!  They could all see just how much it meant to him to be part of a Christian congregation.

About a year later, I had the privilege of baptising Nambu into the Christian faith and then he became a communicant member of the church.  His wife was baptised into the Christian faith a few months later.

About a year after that I received a phone call from Nambu.  He was panicked and clearly looking for help.  Working out just what was wrong was a bit of a challenge but eventually I got to the bottom of it.  Nambu’s Visa, which allowed him to live and work here was coming to an end.  He didn’t know if his employer was seeking to renew the Visa.  Nambu was having nightmares about being deported to Rwanda, which to him meant living in mud huts, or even worse having to go back home.  

Now that Nambu and his wife had been baptised into the Christian faith going back home to family in South India was just not possible.  His family are Sheik; they would look on his Christian faith as a betrayal.  Nambu and his wife would be disowned, they would be homeless, have no inheritance of land or wealth.  He would not be employed by anyone and there would be a high probability that his life would be in danger.  The cost of discipleship, the consequences of following the Christian faith, was for him and his family so very, very real.  Glad to say it all worked out in the end.  Nambu’s Visa was renewed and he and his wife and two children continue to be valued members of church and community.

We are incredibly fortunate to live in a country where Religious Freedoms are enshrined in law and division in society along religious lines, although they exist, are not as severe as in some parts of the world. The lines are softer here, blurred even.   For Nambu, where he comes from in South India, faith is an utterly defining characteristic of who you are.  Faith will determine where you live, who you can marry, what kind of work you will do, it will determine the daily patterns of life around worship, prayer, devotions, service to others. Faith holds together all of the elements of life.  Without that faith life disintegrates.

It’s a pretty stark message that comes from Jesus in Luke’s gospel.  If you want to follow Him then it’s wise to know what you are getting into.  Following Christ might be a costly business; costly in terms of relationships, home, family, work.  

Don’t start something you are not prepared to finish.

Praise – Just as I am

Prayers for Others

Posturing of the Super Powers

Is it possible Father, that we are facing a changing world order?  China hosts Vladimir Putin and Kim Yong Un and other leaders during a breath taking show of military might.  It’s not just that the East wants to subsume the global role, until now, acted out by the West; it is the very different political backgrounds of democracy and communism that creates such different outlooks, solutions, intentions.  Across the millennia of human history empires have risen and fallen; nothing remains forever, everything changes and change creates anxiety, fear, sometimes conflict.  Father God, we cannot tell where this ends but we can be sure we are seeing the beginning of a change that we cannot stop. Today, Lord, we truly are praying for our world that as a new global political era dawns it may not bring us to the brink of World War.  Lord hear our prayers…

Lisbon (Portugal) Gloria Funicular Crash

Residents and tourists negotiating the steep hills of Lisbon on the historic and popular funicular cable railway when it all goes disastrously wrong.  At least 16 have died and many are injured.  Investigations will determine the cause of the failure but that will not bring healing to their grief, it will not bring strength to cope with life changing injury.  Lord, we pray with sadness in our hearts for families whose loved ones have been snatched away in the twinkling of an eye.  May faith be their strength and the love of God, shown through friend and stranger, bring healing to their spirits.  Lord hear us in our prayers for grieving families…

The Cost of Discipleship

Lord Jesus, we live in a world where faith is not valued as once it was.  Sometimes, following religion is discredited because of the very human flaws and failings that tarnish its image.  Sometimes we have softened the demands of discipleship as not to set ourselves at variance with the world.  When discipleship can be costly forgive us for seeking to avoid the cost.  We pray for those who bravely face the cost of following you, those who have lost family and homes, land and inheritance, those who experience persecution, hatred, violence for the sake of their faith.  We remember and pray for our sisters and brothers in Christ who bear the cost of discipleship.  Hear our prayers…

Praise – Lord Jesus Christ

The Grace

And now… May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, now and for evermore. AMEN.

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Welcome!

We know not everyone who is part of Westwood Church is able to be in church on Sunday morning however, we thought it would be good to offer some excerpts from the Sunday morning service. Where we can, we offer parts of the service in text and audio, whichever works best for you. If you want to plug in headphones to your computer, tablet or mobile phone now is a good time to do it ! If you want to offer some comment or feedback just use the comment box at the end of this post.

Your Weekly Church Notices

Scripture

Hebrews 12: 1 – 4

Luke 4: 14 – 24

Praise – Longing for light

Prayers

Lord Jesus Christ come as those who are blessed and broken, seeking The Word that sets captives free.  Open our hearts to Your presence among us, not just in this sanctuary, but in our streets, in places where people rejoice and where they suffer in silence.  Make this time of worship a place where faith is fanned into flame, where we are moved to show mercy, and love is unleashed.

For you are the God of the full and the famished, God of the hopeful and the hurting.  We come as people who long to walk the pathway of service but confess how easily we grow weary and wander.

We acknowledge that we have spoken of justice more than we have worked for it. We have prayed for the poor while clinging to comfort, and listened to the cries of the oppressed with selective ears.  Forgive us for the moments we have worshipped You with words only; compassion withheld by our inaction.

Break the chains of apathy that grip so tightly our hand and hearts.  Shape us again in the image of Christ: a suffering servant, a friend to the marginalised,

a King who welcomed the leper, ate with the sinner and loved the unlovable.

Lord Jesus, it is in knowing you that we bring our offering.  We are drawn to your words, drawn to your person desiring to know you better and to live a life that honours your teachings.  We offer of our resources; we offer our hearts in loving service and our voices in songs of praise.  We offer ourselves with all our imperfections knowing that you can and will use us to accomplish your will.

Hear us as we join in the words of the Lord’s Prayer saying…

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 forever.  Amen.

Address

Reading: Luke 4: 14 – 24

Just last week, or maybe it was the week before, Gerry Briody asked me if I rehearse the scripture readings before I read them in church.  Well, yes, I do.  Even taking a few minutes to understand the flow of a passage helps enormously; to take note of the punctuation so I can grasp the sentence structure, how ideas are linked together, where emphasis lies; it all helps.

And then, when it comes to reading it out loud, the only tool we have to convey that understanding is the voice.  How we use the pause, the pace of the words, the intonation of the voice, a quiet voice in gentle touching moments, a raised voice in anger and protest that adds drama to the story.  Wonderful!

If only it was as simple as that.  We’ve had versions of the Bible in English for centuries now, but if we were to go back to the very beginning, to the time when the Gospels existed only in Greek we’d have a much more complicated task.  There would be no chapters numbers to divide up the text, no verse numbers either to help us find our favourite stories.  There would be no headings in bold print. There would be no paragraphs, no capital letters.  There would be no punctuation, not even spaces between the words.  Each letter character follows on from the one before in endless succession.  So, when we open our Bibles to read, we are looking at something that has already been interpreted by someone.  Someone has decided where a sentence begins and ends, where the coma, or the apostrophe or the question mark belongs.  And that makes a difference to how we understand a passage.

They said, “Isn’t he the son of Joseph?” Question mark.  And so, we are left to believe that this is the turning point.  The men who gathered in the synagogue in Nazareth realise the nature of Jesus humble background and are already looking down their noses at him.  In the twinkling of an eye those men go from being ‘well impressed at his eloquent words’ to rejecting him because he is the carpenters boy.  “Isn’t he the son of Joseph?” are words we read with a note of disdain just because there is a question mark.  Change it for an exclamation mark and think again about the sense of those words.

Now we cannot ignore the fact that this episode in Nazareth ends with the people in the synagogue rising up in anger, dragging Jesus out of the town to throw him over a cliff.  If that’s not rejection, what is?  But their anger, their rejection of him, is in response to what Jesus said to them.

Jesus had been travelling through Galilee teaching in the local synagogues.  And he was praised by everyone for his teaching and eloquent words.  The people of Nazareth were filled with anticipation and expectation at hearing a wonderful teacher and preacher and hopeful too that ‘the things that happened in Capernaum’ would happen for them too.  Jesus response to all those hopes and expectations was a very adamant “NO”. No, I’m not doing that for you; it won’t be happening here.  He rejected them.  Feeling disappointed and insulted the people of Nazareth rise up in anger against him.

It might be a sobering lesson for us to ponder that the way we understand Jesus Christ and his ministry comes down, at times, to the colour we put on individual words or whether it is a question mark or an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence.  But maybe even more sobering for us to ponder that our hopes and dreams and visions just might meet with disappointment; ‘No, I’m not doing that for you; it won’t be happening here.’

Is it okay to respond to God in anger?

Praise – Will you come and follow me

Prayers for Others

Prayers for the oppressed

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, we pray for those denied their freedom – freedom to worship, freedom to express their opinions, to vote, to determine their own affairs.  Help them to make their voice heard and to secure the justice they seek.  Set at liberty those held captive and may the oppressed go free.  We pray for those whose spirits are held captive, poisoned by greed, envy, pride and selfishness, trapped in a vicious circle of hatred and bitterness.  May they find in Jesus Christ the one who is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  Lord set at liberty those who are held captive and may the oppressed go free.  Lord hear our prayers…

Those enduring domestic abuse

Lord Jesus, we come to pray for those who are subjected to abuse at home.  Where relationships are meant to be kind and loving and supportive it is tragic to know that too many relationships are marked by jealousy, or the need to be controlling, that some are dominated and coerced by their partners.

Lord, we know that you came to set the oppressed free, help us to understand that sometimes those who are oppressed are living next door to us.  Lord hear us in our prayers for those who endure domestic abuse whether physical or mental or emotional that they might be set free from their captivity…

Those struggling with their mental health

Lord Jesus, in our prayers we remember those who do not enjoy good mental health.  Often fragile and vulnerable help is hard to come by when access to health professionals is so limited and waiting lists are long.  All too often they are confronted with prejudice and apprehension and simple lack of understanding.  Caught within the prison of their fears and anxieties and darkness we pray for those struggling with their mental health to find support and care and freedom to live life to the full.   We pray for ourselves that we might be able to open our hearts to their needs and offer a listening ear, care and support even here in our church and within our community of faith.  Lord, hear our prayers…

Praise – How deep the Father’s love

The Grace

And now… May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and all whom you love, now and for evermore. AMEN.

The relevant Church of Scotland webpage can be found here

The Webinar Video and be viewed below

The General Assembly Livestream

Read the article here

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Here’s one from Rev David Cameron of the Assembly Trustees.

Church Reduces Costs to ensure Sustainability in Mission

Amongst the proposals from the Assembly Trustees is the readjustment of congregations which fail to meet their Giving to Grow allocation. This may also involve the severing of a pastoral tie (essentially making a minister redundant) so the congregation can be readjusted e.g. uniting with a neighbouring congregation, or perhaps dissolution.

This does come across as a pretty brutal approach and may portray the painful financial situation the Church of Scotland is in. There is no slack in the system to compensate for congregations who do not or cannot meet their financial targets. Let’s be clear it requires a congregational income of around £100,000 p.a. to pay for full time ministry and maintain, insure, heat and light the church building.

As one who wears a Dog Collar, I now know what it feels like to be a Football Manager!

The General Assembly opens on 17 May under the theme ‘Extravagant Love”. Yes, you read that correctly.

For the brave you can download the Volume of Reports to the General Assembly 2025 or read them online below