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“God is light; In him there is no darkness...”  

[1 John 1:5]

Dull and Weem Parish, Church of Scotland

Sunday Service 9 30 am.

Minister : Rev. Neil M Glover

Senior Elder : Mr C. Thom

Roll Keeper : Mr T. Pringle

Session Clerk : Mr P. Hobbs

Treasurer : Mr R. Chadburn

Youth Worker : Jamie Pringle

Mobile 07399 589422   e mail

PA to Rev Neil Glover : Judy Ewer

Mobile 07836 565528  e mail

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Link to Church of Scotland congregations of the Upper Tay, and of Tenandry Sunday Service 9th August 2020.

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Morning Worship 9 th August Church of Scotlands – Upper Tay and Tenandry

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Welcome Good morning and welcome to our worship this morning. Let us attend to our souls And still our minds And open our hearts As we sing our first hymn, the 100th Psalm, All people that on earth do dwell

1 All people that on earth do dwell, sing to the Lord with cheerful voice: serve him with joy, his praises tell, come now before him and rejoice!

2 Know that the Lord is God indeed, he formed us all without our aid; we are the flock he loves to feed, the sheep who by his hand are made.

3 O enter then his gates with praise, and in his courts his love proclaim; give thanks and bless him all your days: let every tongue confess his name.

4 For God, our mighty Lord is good, his mercy is for ever sure; his truth at all times firmly stood, and shall from age to age endure.

5 Praise God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit evermore; all praise to God the Three - in - One, let heaven rejoice and earth adore!

Opening Prayer Dear God, To you all desires are known All hearts are open We do not hide ourselves from you this morning Forgive us our pretence Our self-deception Our fear to go near the parts of ourselves the live in shadow And by your Spirit, this morning, may we be open to you So we give to you, in faith, in trust, in hope Every desire that stirs us Every thought that echoes around our mind Every complaint which we wish we could let go Every conflict we wish we could win Every question that does not yet have an answer Every ambition cherished Every person dear Every prayer we mouth All of us Every blessed thing That if all of us is open to you Then all of us may be transformed And offered back to you. Help us this morning to see Jesus The Christ who created, redeems and is present in the world Help us to see him walking on the waters Enticing us to walk with him. Forgive us our sins, Our hatred of the light Our petty enmities Our shallow faith Our carefully calculated superiorities Our deceit And our fear Forgive us all our sins, And in Jesus Christ remake us we pray, And now hear us in the prayer that Jesus taught us

Our Father in heaven Hallowed be your name Your kingdom come Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give us today our daily bread And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil For yours is the kingdom The power and the glory forever, AMEN

Reading - Jesus Walks on the Water

Our gospel reading this morning comes from the Matthew 14:22-33 22

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way[a] from the land,[b]beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 28And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind,[c] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Reflection Our story today happens after the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus does a very striking thing. The moment that the disciples have gathered up all the leftovers Before he has dismissed the crowds He compels the disciples to get into a boat, ahead of him And get to the other side. This would have been a moment to bask in an incredible catering operation In participation in one of the most famous miracles in all human history Had just happened But Jesus is immediate. Get into the boat. Go, Go, Go, You’ve got to get into the boat now, You’ve got to get aboard. Jesus wants his disciples out there, on the sea And if he has foresight into what is going to happen He knows that he is sending them into an encounter with a storm At 3-6am, the last watch of the night. He wants them out there. The Greek says that Jesus compelled the disciples to get into that boat. The word for compulsion, is only used in only one other story in the gospels, the story of the Great Feast where you remember the host of the feast, having been snubbed by his wealthy friends, demands that the poorest, those with disability, those without a home, are welcomed into his feast. It seems that the two times that God compels the most Is to the marginalised to be accommodated in the kingdom of heaven And for disciples to be scared witless miles from dry land. This is an interesting insight into God’s priorities God’s compulsion to welcome the marginalised Is matched by God’s compulsion to send disciples into danger. God it seems, is supremely uninterested in our tranquility In fact he is passionate about disturbing it. God is not what is sometimes called a “helicopter parent”. This week our oldest son – Sam, these days built like middle weight boxer, has been visiting his grandfather down in Sussex, not far from Brighton. On the first day he was down there, Papie – as Grandfather is called, managed to slice part of his finger whilst peeling potatoes. So with blood coming out of this finger, I think prevented going too far by a marigold glove, Papie and Sam drove to the nearest hospital four miles away. Because of Covid though, Sam was not allowed into the hospital, and had to either wait outside or walk the four miles home. When he phoned us, we were like “he can’t walk four miles – he doesn’t know where he is, it’s the middle of rural Sussex, that place is a hotbed of roadside crime, quick Anna, phone someone, anyone, get him to give him a lift.” So we start phoning Sam, Sam you need to get a lift, you can’t possibly survive out there. It’s safe to say that the God who sends his disciples into a boat, onto a big lake, into the night, into a storm, Would not be worrying about a well built 15 year old walking a pavement of the English home counties in Broad daylight. God is quite the opposite, Into the boat, into the night, into the storm, he compels them; And so it is that during the fourth watch of the night – 3-6am They are miles from land The waves are breaking upon the boat The wind is against them And to add to their terror They look at see a figure walking on top of the water And they think it is a ghost As well as being terrified by the natural world They are now being terrified by the supernatural world And who is it that has caused them to be here Jesus Why, because God knows that we must meet him in extremity God knows if we only meet God in places which are safe, we will come to believe in a God who is tame God knows that if we only meet God in places where we are in control, then we will believe in a god who is under our control. If we meet God within the limits, then our image of God is one who stays within neat lines But if we meet God when we have come to the end of human limits, then God is no longer a human invention, we meet the God who is real. The burning bush God, The God of the wind The God who loves to walk on top of the waves. The God who loves to surf. If the first part of the story is this God sends his people into extremity So that we can meet God. So if your life at the moment feels that it has extremity in it, If it has wind against you Waves battering you Ghosts terrifying you Then be glad because this is the place where you meet the true God

Not the small god you can no longer believe in But the big God who believes in you. And do not be afraid of this place, You are where God has intended This is the place where he will meet with you This is the place where he will summon you out of the boat This is the place where you will walk on water. So ask him now, “Jesus, where are you” And ask him now, “Jesus, if it is you, command me to come out of the boat, and to walk with you upon the waters.” May God bless you, AMEN

Prayer for Others Let us say our prayer for others: Oh God, It is you who summons is into the boat, Into the storm Into the dark Into the place of the waves So where we are stormbound Darkened Battered and weary Come and be present to us To those we love It is you who summons us out of the boat Onto the water Onto the impossible Closest to our fears So give us courage to discern where your voice calls And give us courage to walk And where we sink hold us by the hand. We pray for those we love who need you now…. We pray for those dealing with poverty, with debt, with financial fear… We pray for those who we do not know, but need our prayers… Especially we pray for the people of Beirut as the come to terms with this week’s explosion And we pray for our young people after this week’s exam results We pray that they will get the grades which reflect their work And to walk with confidence into the future to which they are called, This we ask in the name of Jesus, AMEN

And now let us sing our closing hymn, “For my sake and the Gospel’s Go” " For my sake, and the gospel's, go and tell redemption's story"; his heralds answer, "Be it so, and thine, Lord, all the glory!" They preach his birth, his life, his cross, the love of his atonement, for whom they count the world but loss, his Easter, his enthronement. Hark, hark, the trump of jubilee proclaims to every nation, from pole to pole, by land and sea, glad tidings of salvation; as nearer draws the day of doom, while still the battle rages, the heav'nly Dayspring through the gloom breaks on the night of ages. Still on and on the anthems spread of alleluia voices, in concert with the holy dead the warrior church rejoices; their snow white robes are washed in blood, their golden harps are ringing; earth and the paradise of God one triumph song are singing. He comes, whose advent trumpet drowns the last of time's evangels, Emmanuel crowned with many crowns, the Lord of saints and angels; O Life, Light, Love, the great I AM, triune, who changest never, the throne of God and of the Lamb is thine, and thine forever.

Blessing May you not be blessed with shallow ease, but with a life of glorious adventure May you not be blessed with lazy comfort, but with the presence of Jesus May you not wish for paltry crumbs, but dream of the best of the kingdom In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit May you be blessed, From this day And forevermore, AMEN

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Dear friends,

I hope this finds you well.

This week it's Neil rather than Judy (on a much deserved holiday) sending this, so please forgive any technical hiccups that may occur.

This week's services are as follows:

Traditional Youtube

Coming soon (hopefully)

On the usual channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Contemporary Youtube

Also on the usual channell

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial - In

Really sorry, with Jamie being off, this is not going to be a possibility.

If you are someone who uses this, my sincerely apologies.  Next week we'll be back.

Contemporary Zoom

10:30am Sunday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276 

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

Post service chat

11:30am Sunday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276 

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

Service sheet

About to follow this morning

Thank you for your forbearance this week, with Jamie and Judy both being off, and look forward to seeing you at some point over the next few days

With warmest wishes,

Neil

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Monthly Information

Dull and Weem Parish Church is be found on the west side of the river Tay in Highland Perthshire.

Follow the road, from Aberfeldy, Crossing the historic Wade's Bridge, and continue down the avenue towards Weem.

As you enter the village of Weem, you will find the church on the right-hand side of the road. 

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” 

[Hebrews 4:16]

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