Sunday 10 May 2026
6th Sunday of Easter
Christian Aid Week
Welcome!
Welcome to excerpts from the worship held within the newly formed Westhills Church of Scotland Congregation. We know that not all members of the congregation are able to be in church on Sunday morning; offering these excerpts from the Sunday morning service might help you feel included. Where we can, we offer parts of the service in text and audio, whichever works best for you.
If this post helps you explore what happens within an act of worship then please read on…
The content of worship today is based upon resources provided by Christian Aid
The Psalms
Psalm 66
Live recording
Your Weekly Church Notices
Scripture
1 Peter 3: 13 – 22
Live recording
John 14: 15 – 21
Live recording
Praise – Praise to the Lord the almighty
Prayers
Live recording
Faithful God, we come before you with our gifts and strengths, and with our faults and weaknesses, knowing your unfailing love for us.
Open our hearts and our minds, that we may hear your word and act on it.
Foster in us boldness and perseverance.
Transform us into your likeness, and inspire us to build your kingdom of justice and love on earth.
God of mercy and grace, your steadfast love extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Yet still we turn away from you. We give up in the face of challenges. We allow division to deepen. We tell ourselves that you have deserted us. When we lose faith, loving God, in your mercy: Forgive us and help us.
Jesus, you call us to love one another and share our good gifts with our neighbours. But too often we say: ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ We hold tight to what is ours. We do not listen to cries for justice. We tell ourselves that there is nothing we can do. When we fail to turn our faith into action, loving God,
in your mercy: Forgive us and help us.
Holy Spirit, your fruit is faithfulness, love, joy and peace.
Too often we fear the growth and change that comes with being guided by you.
We would rather pursue our own way. We do what is wrong and we neglect to do what is good. When we fall short as faithful followers, loving God,
in your mercy: Forgive us and help us.
As we place our offering before you Lord, we are challenged. What we give is for the life of our church, yet also for the support of other congregations and the wider work of the church as it reaches out in compassion to those who are in need. We give as we can but we do not give in the same way as you gave to us; in boundless grace and endless love. As we give to you Lord, may you give to us the gift of compassion, the desire for justice and grace that knows no end.
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
Live recording
If you scan the shelves of any supermarket, you’ll probably see at least one product with the words ‘new formula’, ‘new recipe’ or even ‘new and improved’ printed on its packaging. We are always looking for something “new and improved”. The human desire for novelty goes back a long way. In Acts 17:21, the residents of first century Athens are characterised as people who are always ‘telling or hearing something new’.
The Athenians are keen to hear what the Apostle Paul has to say because they are interested in the “new god” he is talking about. Maybe, just maybe, this new god could be a contender for inclusion into their worship alongside other gods? Or maybe Paul’s god is a ‘new and improved’ version of an idol they already worship?
Paul’s answer to them comes as a surprise. Instead of delivering a promotional pitch for this new deity, Paul tells them that they have already encountered God without knowing it and that God is going to turn upside-down all their ideas about the divine. Paul’s message to the Athenians is that the God he preaches is not just another option alongside others. God does not lack anything or need anything. God does not need to be worshipped or idolised. God is not a power to be harnessed or a force to be placated by human beings. Instead, God is the creator of every living thing, the source of existence itself. God created human beings in God’s image and is as close to them as a parent to their child. So, the Athenians have already encountered God because it is in God that they live and move and have their being. Nothing that exists is outside of God’s loving attention as creator.
The final part of Paul’s message is that if those who hear him believe what he says is true, then this will change their lives. God is not served by human-made statues. Instead, service is about how we live. To serve the righteous, just and loving creator we must embody righteousness, justice and love in our lives.
One of the sources through which we hear about the experiences of our global neighbours is news media. But as the word ‘news’ suggests, the stories the media report are shaped by our attraction to novelty. As quickly as one crisis appears in the headlines, another takes its place, simply because it is new.
There are many communities whose stories are absent from the headlines altogether. Their situations are judged too complex, their challenges too entrenched to grab our attention. How many of us knew about the difficulties faced by those living in informal settlements in Kenya before hearing Fridah and Belinda’s stories? The day-to-day struggle that people face in Dagoretti will never be deemed newsworthy.
Paul’s message runs counter to our attraction to the new. It focuses our attention instead on the deep and constant faithfulness of God, who is present to all people as creator. This is important to Fridah. It is God who gives her strength each day, as she says: ‘In God I trust.’
Paul’s message also challenges us to consider how we are serving God. Are we creating a big show of faithfulness, as shiny and impressive as an Athenian statue? Are we forgetting that what God values is how we reflect the image of the creator in our lives?
Our reading from John’s Gospel this morning begins with the words “If you love me, you will obey my commandments”. It is earlier in chapter 13 that Jesus whets his disciples curiosity with ‘a new commandment’: ‘Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another,’ Jesus says, ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.’ (John 13:34-35).
Have you ever noticed where this commandment sits in the story of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion? It comes just after Judas leaves the Last Supper to betray Jesus. And it comes just before Jesus predicts that Simon Peter will deny knowing him. The commandment to love is surrounded by failure to love. Yet love persists, even as the disciples fall short of what they are called to do.
You may have heard the saying: ‘Love conquers all’. What Jesus offers is not a conquering love that pushes past and ignores what we get wrong. Instead, he gives us a love that endures. This love will be offered to us precisely in those moments when we feel we least deserve it. In our reading today, Jesus expresses this unfailing care. He tells the disciples that they will never be alone, or ‘orphaned’. The Spirit is coming and they can be assured of God’s faithful, constant presence forever. And more than this Jesus tells his disciples that the love he has given them is theirs to share.
If we love Jesus, then we will keep his command to love one another. This love does not have neat boundaries. We are not asked to love only those whom we like, or only those who have never wronged us, or only those who offer us something in return. If we are to love Jesus by loving as he does, we must love abundantly and radically. We must love in action. We must transform the world with our love. This is what sets apart those who follow Jesus Christ.
If we can be certain of God’s unfailing love for us then we can also be certain of this; we will make mistakes. We will fall short. But we will be called again and again to the work of love; to love God and love our neighbour; to love one another and in so doing reveal that we are disciples of Jesus Christ. Christian Aid Week is just one opportunity to show love in action.
Praise – For everyone born
Prayers for Others
Live recording
Let us pray together.
Lord, you are faithful and just. In your mercy, hear our prayer.
Lord, hear us as we pray for our global neighbours in Kenya. We pray especially for the residents of Dagoretti. We hold before you all people forced to live in inadequate housing, without reliable access to running water, sanitation or electricity.
We pray for those who live with uncertainty and the threat of hunger each day.
Help us to hear clearly the voices of our neighbours when they share their experiences. Inspire us to action, as we respond to your command to love one another. Lord, you are faithful and just. In your mercy, hear our prayer…
Lord, hear us as we pray for those with power: for governments, leaders, lawmakers, and those who speak with loud voices on the public stage.
May those who have power and influence love mercy, act justly and walk humbly. We pray for governments to take action to end economic inequality.
We pray especially for countries like Kenya, who are carrying an unjust debt burden. Instil in us the prophetic voice that speaks truth to power. Lord, you are faithful and just. In your mercy, hear our prayer…
Lord, hear us as we pray with thanksgiving for changemakers; those who have no voice yet act with generosity, who respond to their neighbours need from the little they have. We are thankful for bold and courageous urban farmers like Fridah and Belinda, who show us what is possible.
We pray for Beacon of Hope, Christian Aid’s partner in Nairobi.
We ask that you sustain and guide urban farmers as they grow food, protect their children from hunger, and nurture hope.
We thank you for all who are giving, acting and praying this Christian Aid Week.
May we see your image in these acts of generosity and love, and may we find new ways to live out our faith through service to others. Lord, you are faithful and just. In your mercy, hear our prayer…
Great is your faithfulness, Lord. You have promised to hear us when we call upon you. Receive these prayers, in Jesus’ name. AMEN
Praise – Longing for Light
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.