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Our services are being held in the Church on Sunday mornings at 11am and booking is no longer required. Recordings of services will be distributed on CD to those who request it.
Everyone is strongly encouraged to take a Lateral Flow Test prior to attending a service.
We are livestreaming our services on YouTube and this Sunday's service is available from here and can also be watched later.
Order of Service
Sunday 2nd October 2022
On Your Marks (3): Compassion
‘To respond to human need by loving service’
Welcome to worship! Please stay for tea and coffee afterwards.
The Oasis Group will be on this Tuesday at 10.30am in the Hall when the theme will be The History of Stirling Cinemas.
The Church is Open for Prayer this Wednesday from 10am-12noon.
Knit and Natter is on this Thursday from 10am-12noon in the Church Hall.
The final evening of Forth Valley Keswick is today at 7.45pm at Olivet Evangelical Church, Falkirk. Jim Turret, Senior Pastor at Central Baptist Church, Dundee, will speak on John 2.
Next Sunday is our Harvest Thanksgiving service. We will worship God and hear the call to ‘Justice’. We will be receiving donations of food and other items for Start Up Stirling. There will be a special offering to support Keith and Ida Waddell’s ministry by buying essential medicine for Mwandi Hospital pharmacy.
The service of ordination and induction of Josh Milton as minister to Kirkcaldy: Templehall and Torbain United Parish Church will be held on Thursday 27th October. More details will follow when we have them.
Blythswood Shoebox Appeal Information leaflets are available today or from the box on the Church railing. Please bring shoeboxes to church by Sunday 6th November.
Rev. Graham Nash: 01786 442068 or gpnash@churchofscotland.org.uk
Angela Samson, our Wellbeing Coordinator: 07977 342022 or
wellbeingangela@gmail.com
Kathleen Davidson, Pastoral Group leader: 01786 471168
Graeme Fotheringham, our Wellbeing elder: 07887 824055
Welcome and notices
Call to worship Psalm 145.8-13
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all He has made.
All You have made will praise You, O Lord; Your saints will extol you.
They tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might,
So that all people may know of Your mighty acts
And the glorious splendour of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And your dominion endures through all generations.
Loved from before He made this awesome world;
Loved as He formed you in your mother’s womb;
Loved as He guides you through each phase of life –
Loved far more than you could ever know!
Loved despite the sins that you would hide;
Loved and forgiven at the cross of Christ;
Loved and adopted as a child of God –
Loved and called to live a life of love!
Love the Lord with all your heart and soul;
Love the Lord with all your mind and strength;
Love the God who gave His Son for you –
Love is the way to thank Him for His grace!
Love your neighbour as you love yourself;
Love each stranger as you love your friends;
Love one another just as Christ loves you –
Love is the way of life our Lord commands!
Prayer of approach to God
Together Time Jesus’ Compassion
Video Mark 6.30-46 (p.1009)
Who took fish and bread, hungry people fed? JP 286
Who changed water into wine?
Who made well the sick, who made see the blind?
Who touched earth with feet divine?
Only Jesus, only Jesus, only He has done this.
Who made live the dead? Truth and kindness spread?
Only Jesus did all this!
Who walked the dusty road? Cared for young and old?
Who sat children on His knee?
Who spoke words so wise? Filled us with surprise?
Who gave all, but charged no fee?
Only Jesus, only Jesus, only He has done this.
Who in death and grief spoke peace to a thief?
Only Jesus did all this!
Who soared through the air? Joined His Father there?
He has you and me in view.
He, who this has done, is God's only Son,
And He's interested in you!
Only Jesus, only Jesus, only He has done this.
He can change a heart, give a fresh new start,
Only He can do all this!
Harvest Offering Mwandi Hospital Pharmacy
Bible Reading 1 John 3.1-3,16-18 (p.1227)
There is an everlasting kindness you lavished on us, MP 1359
When the radiance of heaven came to rescue the lost.
You called the sheep without a shepherd to leave their distress,
For Your streams of forgiveness and the shade of Your rest.
What boundless love, what fathomless grace
You have shown us, O God of compassion.
Each day we live an offering of praise
As we show to the world Your compassion.
And with compassion for the hurting You reached out Your hand,
As the lame ran to meet You and the dead breathed again.
You saw behind the eyes of sorrow and shared in our tears;
Heard the sigh of the weary, let the children draw near.
We stood beneath the cross of Calvary and gazed on Your face,
At the thorns of oppression and the wounds of disgrace;
For surely You have borne our suffering and carried our grief,
As You pardoned the scoffer and showed grace to the thief.
How beautiful the feet that carry this Gospel of peace
To the fields of injustice and the valleys of need;
To be a voice of hope and healing, to answer the cries
Of the hungry and helpless, with the mercy of Christ.
Sermon Be compassionate!
Beauty for brokenness, hope for despair MP 806
Lord, in the suffering, this is our prayer
Bread for the children, justice, joy, peace
Sunrise to sunset, Your kingdom increase!
Shelter for fragile lives, cures for their ills
Work for the craftsman, trade for their skills
Land for the dispossessed, rights for the weak
Voices to plead the cause of those who can't speak
God of the poor, Friend of the weak
Give us compassion we pray.
Melt our cold hearts, let tears fall like rain
Come, change our love from a spark to a flame.
Refuge from cruel wars, havens from fear
Cities for sanctuary, freedoms to share
Peace to the killing-fields, scorched earth to green
Christ for the bitterness, His cross for the pain.
Rest for the ravaged earth, oceans and streams
Plundered and poisoned, our future, our dreams
Lord, end our madness, carelessness, greed
Make us content with the things that we need.
Lighten our darkness, breathe on this flame
Until Your justice burns brightly again
Until the nations learn of Your ways
Seek Your salvation and bring You their praise.
Tearfund Prayer Video Jason Leitch, National Clinical Director
Informal Communion
When I survey the wondrous cross MP 755
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ, my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
Benediction
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Streaming 25876
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