Sunday 06 September 2026
15th after Pentecost
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 Psalms
Psalm 149
Your Weekly Church Notices
Scripture
Exodus 21: 12 – 26
Matthew 18: 15 – 20
Praise – O Lord our Lord
Prayers
Live recording
Gracious and loving God, we thank you that as we come to this time of worship, you are here, waiting to greet us, to speak with us and teach us. You are here as you are always here, as we come to worship you. You are here as you are everywhere, at every moment, in every place, on every occasion, watching over us as a father watches over his children.
Each day of this past week you have been by our side, recognised or unrecognised, remembered or forgotten, obeyed or disobeyed, acknowledged or taken for granted. Our responses to you are varied, our commitment sometimes uncertain, our attitudes mixed, but you have always been the same, unchanging, ever faithful, all loving, always true.
Forgive us for the way we have responded failing all too often to appreciate how much we owe you, thinking your love is ours by right; when it is undeserved, gracious and by your choice freely given.
Forgive us for living life without reference to your ways forgetting you, disobeying your commandments, abandoning the pathways of faith.
Help us to love you as much as you love us, to be as true to you as you are to us and so rejoice in your living presence not only now, in this place and time but in every moment of our lives.
On this table we have presented our offering to you. Gladly, freely we give our gifts; and even though we acknowledge that material gifts have their place, we offer them as a symbol of our deeper desire to offer of ourselves in loving service to You and to each other and to our neighbour. Lord, accept the gifts we bring.
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
I once heard of a congregation, Church of Scotland congregation, where an argument broke out about food hygiene and food standards. Let me be a little more detailed – it was an argument about the buttering of scones. And the argument escalated into a formal complaint. And the complaint came before the Kirk Session and when the elders couldn’t resolve the matter then the complaint came before the Presbytery. And when Presbytery couldn’t resolve the matter then it went to the Commission of Assembly by which time high-level QC’s were taking charge of the case. After a few years of hearings, review’s and special committees, of good people having their names tarnished in one hearing after another, they had still not reached a conclusion and the cost to the church was in excess of £100,000 in legal fees!! Actually that’s not the cost to the church. The real cost comes in terms of fractured relationships and the tarnished reputations of individuals and of congregations and ministers. It makes a mockery of a faith, which is meant to stand for grace and forgiveness and compassion, a willingness to sacrifice self for the benefit of the other. It takes a huge amount of tolerance for a gathering of diverse people to be able to be together in community.
Okay. That’s one situation that got totally out of hand. But at the same time, it was about seeking justice in the midst of a dispute. It was about following a process that could be clearly followed and reviewed, where all parties are heard. It’s what we call natural justice.
Thing is we all imagine we know what Natural Justice is. Isn’t it that bit in the Bible in Exodus just after the Ten Commandments that says “a life for a life, eye for eye, tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”? We might think that’s what Natural Justice is but of course it’s not. Natural Justice is about giving someone a fair and unbiased hearing, an opportunity to defend themselves against accusations. Natural Justice is about good process, showing the working not just the answer. Natural Justice makes sure decisions can be reviewed and appealed against.
There’s a curious little passage in Matthew’s Gospel that we read this morning. It goes like this, “If your brother sins against you, go to him and show him his fault. But do it privately, just between yourselves. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back. But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other persons with you, so that ‘every accusation may be upheld by the testimony of two or more witnesses,’ as the scripture says. And if he will not listen to them, then tell the whole thing to the church. Finally, if he will not listen to the church, treat him as though he were a pagan or a tax collector.”
Well, it’s not quite Natural Justice but it’s a lot closer to it than an “eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth”. Yet sadly, it does not aspire to the greater teachings of Jesus to love your neighbour and your enemy; or to forgive your brother not seven times but seventy times seven. We are led to believe in this passage that Jesus is teaching his disciples and instructing them how they might best resolve disputes in the church. And that’s the odd bit – Jesus talking about church.
The word church is used many many times in the New Testament but you have to look in the book of Acts onwards to find it. In the Gospels, which record Jesus life and teaching there are only two places that Church is mentioned, both in Matthew’s Gospel, once in Chapter 16 when Simon is named Peter the Rock upon which the church will be built. And here in Chp 18. It is hard to imagine that Jesus would talk about what to do in the church when the church didn’t exist at the time he was alive. If there were more occasions in the Gospels of Jesus talking about the church there might be a stronger case for saying these are the words of Jesus but as we know there’s not. I think its pretty reasonable to assume that the early church “put” these words in Jesus mouth to lend some authority, some weight to a process for ending disputes. And where churches couldn’t bring individual members into line, where disputes couldn’t be resolved excommunication seemed to be the last resort. Wayward members were to be treated as pagans or tax collectors. I don’t know exactly what that might mean but it doesn’t sound good.
Wherever people are together there will be disputes, differences of opinion, falling outs, angry words and bad reactions. When things start to go wrong it is the easiest thing in the world to make it worse and the hardest thing in the world to make it better.
It is as we strive to live and work together in a common faith that we share that kind of tolerance and grace and forgiveness in very real and practical ways with each other. It is enormously challenging at times but if, because of our faith and the teachings of the Christ, we can show that it is possible then we have something truly precious, a Gospel, a better way, to offer to our world. And that reminds me of words attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.”
Praise – I the Lord of sea and sky
Prayers for Others
Live recording
The Death of an Infant
Some things are hard to comprehend. Should someone’s life be taken through violent means we struggle to understand why. When a baby is stabbed to death there are no words, no reasoning that can explain this; it is simply beyond comprehension. Yet, in a home in Sheffield a baby girl lost her life through violent means. Four people have been arrested for murder.
We know Lord God, that you will embrace that tiny life within your arms and offer protection and love now and forever more.
And we are caused to wonder… where has humanity gone? Where is sense and decency and love and care and compassion and all the attributes that make us human? How have we ended up here in our society that such an incomprehensible thing should happen? Is humanity no better than an animal where there is no relationship with God?
Our prayer is for justice for a truly innocent life taken so brutally. Lord hear our prayers…
Divisions
Gracious God, teach us what it means to be your people. Broaden our vision, enlarge our understanding, unite us in care and prayer, in thought, word and deed. Help us to be generous in spirit, to be tolerant, understanding, slow to take offence and swift to forgive. Lord Jesus, you call us to be one people, united in faith.
Where divisions creep in and hurt drives us apart; where justice is not upheld and voices are not heard; when we cease to be fair and ostracise those we disagree with, Lord help us to remember what you call us to be – one people united in one faith, a light to the world, a pathway to unity for all people. Lord hear us in our prayers as seek the healing of division wherever that division exits…
Discipleship
Lord it’s hard, when we are faced with disappointment, to find new reserves and fresh inspiration to try and try again. When we’ve given our all and feel we’ve achieved nothing, when we‘ve battled on and all we can see are more setbacks. Life, and discipleship, are full of challenges. Renew us through your Holy Spirit and give us the faith and desire to walk in the ways of Christ pressing on towards the prize set before us. Lord hear us as we pray asking you to strengthen our discipleship…
Praise – The church is wherever
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.