Online worship: Sunday 3 May 2020

Online worship: Sunday 3 May 2020

 

Welcome! Please click on the play button (the triangle) in the sound file above to listen to Sunday worship from St Andrew’s and St George’s West, Edinburgh.
You can download a PDF of the Order of Service here or just follow it below:

 

Fourth Sunday of Easter, Good Shepherd Sunday

Welcome

 

Call to Worship

Holy God,
as your Son is the one who calls us into the fold,
welcome us,
receive our stumbling and our fears,
receive our responses and our worship.

 

Opening Hymn:  Morning has Broken

 

Morning has broken like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,
Praise for them, springing fresh from the word!

Sweet the rain’s new fall sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dewfall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight; mine is the morning,
Born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s re-creation of the new day!

Words: Eleanor Farjeon (1881-1965)
Tune: Bunessan

 

Opening Prayer and the Lord’s Prayer             (Spill the Beans)

Doors,
gates,
windows:
all designed to keep the outside outside
and the inside inside,
to keep us safe from harm.

Lord Jesus,
you too want to keep us safe,
to shepherd us into your family.
Help us let people know
when we are scared
or upset.
Help us to accept the help
of those who love us:
our families, our friends,
our church family.
Help us to let them protect us.

Lord Jesus,
we know that you are the shepherd
of our lives,
always looking out for us,
offering protection from a world
that can be a scary place.

Thank you for never giving up
on your restless flock.
Shepherd of our lives,
hear our prayer and hear us now as we pray together
the prayer that Jesus taught saying:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us in the time of trial and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
now and forever. Amen

 

Choir:  Little David Play on your Harp

Little David, play on your harp, Hallelu!
Little David was a shepherd boy, he killed Goliath and shouted for joy.

Words: Traditional
Music: Spiritual, arranged by Stuart Murray Mitchell

 

Old Testament Reading:  Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff –
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.

 

New Testament Reading:  John 10:1-10 (NRSV)

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.
I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

 

Meditation

 

Hymn:   The Lord’s My Shepherd

 

The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want.
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green: he leadeth me
The quiet waters by.

My soul he doth restore again:
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
Ev’n for his own name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk in death’s dark vale,
Yet will I fear none ill:
For thou art with me; and thy rod
And staff me comfort still.

My table thou hast furnished
In presence of my foes;
My head thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.

Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me:
And in God’s house for evermore
My dwelling-place shall be.

Words: Psalm 23, The Scottish Psalter, 1929
Tune: Brother James’s Air

 

Prayers of Intercession             (Rt Rev Colin Sinclair)

Lord, we are those who journey.
And who find that journey hard today.
We are those who journey.
And long to find our hope renewed.
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord, whether in our own company or with companions beside us,
We journey on.
Whether sure, or unsure, as to our journey’s end,
Come beside us through the risen Lord.
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord, we pray for others;
For carers of the living and of the dying;
For the bereaved and for the anxious;
For those fearing loss of work and of business.
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord, we pray for scientists and researchers;
For those seeking to understand the challenge we face;
For those creating potential vaccines;
For those advising decision-makers.
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord, we pray for those who shape our common life:
In local Councils and in Scottish Government.
And in the Government of the United Kingdom.
Grant to them wisdom, compassion and understanding.
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.

Lord, we pray for your Kingdom to come.
And for your will to be done,
On earth.
As it is in heaven.
Lord in your mercy,
Hear our prayer. Amen.

 

Music:  Leaving of Lismore

 

Benediction

May the promises of God live through you.
May Jesus Christ be the shepherd of your life.
and may the Holy Spirit abide in you
and tend you with love and mercy all the days of your life.

 

Sung Blessing:   The Lord bless you and keep you

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.

 

 

Minister: Rosie Magee
Director of Music: Brigitte Harris
Opening Prayer: Philippa Burgess
Readers: Adrienne Burgess, George Burgess, Dunni Smith

The Choir of St Andrew’s and St George’s West
Harp: Erica Sinclair
Vocal ensemble: Eleanor Cozens Eleanor Wilson, Caitlin McGillivray, Tim Cooper,
Drew Crichton, Andrew Carvel

Service edited by Andrew Carvel

Communications: Alison Bruce and Susan McLarty

 

Hymns used under licence from CCLI

St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church of Scotland Edinburgh. Charity SC008990
www.edinburghnewtownchurch.org.uk

Susan
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