Sunday 25 October 2025
22nd Sunday 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 1
Live recording
Your Weekly Church Notices
Scripture
1 Thessalonians 2: 1 – 9
Live recording
Matthew 22: 34 – 36
Live recording
Praise – Oh come and let us to the Lord
Prayers
Live recording
Almighty God, we come together as those whom you have called into fellowship, to be your people and to share in the rich inheritance of those who have gone before us in faith. We come to worship you, not alone, but as part of the worldwide family of the Church, united with our brothers and sisters in Christ across countries and continents, across the centuries and millennia, bound together by the same Lord and the same faith.
We come as part of the great company of your people in heaven and on earth, following in the footsteps of past generations, picking up the torch from those who have run the race and kept the faith. We come as those called to build for the future, conscious of the generations that will follow us, mindful of our responsibility to pass on to them the message we have received, to offer inspiration and encouragement through the example of our faithful living
Lord Jesus, we meet with You in community this day. We are sorry for the times when we have tried to go it alone and ignored the people on the way who have needed a friend. For not loving our neighbour as You have loved us. For ignoring Your will for our lives and theirs. Lord forgive us and heal us, help us to put things right.
Lord God, would you give us what we need this day and always, so that we can share Your love with others and show them the way to Your peace and glory.
You call on us to offer the Good News to others, a gift from God given to us so we might share it with our neighbour. A gift beyond price, beyond measure. And the gifts we bring to you today we know are not just for ourselves, not just for this church but for the whole church and the cause of the Gospel, they are gifts to share. Lord reveal to us your will that these gifts we bring may be used to the Glory of your name.
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
Through the years there have been countless sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists and many other “ologists” who have done their best to understand the workings of society. And from their understanding of humanity’s wants and needs have promoted theories to make society better. Many things influence the way we live and interact with our neighbours like; what we hear and see on the news, the endless flow of opinion, fact, fiction and outright lies on social media, the growth and decline of high street shopping, the acute loss of community facilities, the ever changing ideas of how to bring up children which has ranged from “Children should be seen and not heard” at one end of the spectrum to over indulgence and lack of any discipline at the other. And it all boils down to one thing – if we aren’t happy with society, if we feel society is shockingly bad these days, what are we doing about it? If we feel there is something terribly wrong how are we going to make it better? Or do we leave all that stuff about community and neighbour to our politicians and local councillors?
Yet most of today’s so-called “problems” have arisen out of the solutions to yesterday’s problems.
In the 1920’s, poverty was widespread. It was common to see children walking to school in the depths of winter without a warm jacket to wear and very inadequate shoes on their feet. And before that, back in the 1800’s, some children had no shoes at all.
Although undoubtedly there is still severe poverty in some areas, thanks to the benefits system nowadays, even though that system has its failings, it should be possible for all children to have an improved standard of living compared to previous generations.
Over the last 60 years or so our social services have been very active, preventing at least the worst kinds of poverty. Back in the 1960’s the pro-active approach of social services to eradicating extreme poverty was thought to be the way to save society from collapse.
The theory was that desperate people living in desperate conditions turn to crime, and the argument was that if conditions were improved, crime would diminish. And so it became imperative to raise the standards of living. Improvement in living standards – better shopping facilities, television for some relaxation and leisure, a gentler approach to children – was the magic that would put right all the ills of society.
But as we try to take an overview of today’s society we aren’t entirely convinced it has worked out that way. While by and large the poor are not as poor as they once were, the rich have also become richer so that the gap between rich and poor still exists. Those whom we would describe as living in poverty feel as impoverished and neglected as they ever did. Crime has certainly not disappeared from our streets. Shop lifting is an epidemic to which the police response is to ask retailers to fill out a form as they can’t respond over the phone. The practices introduced to protect our children from abuse have discouraged many from being involved with children at all. Could we be distancing our children from any sense of community? Are we encouraging our children to distrust their neighbour? Could it be that today’s solution is creating tomorrow’s problem? And then there’s social media which seem to be doing a great job of distancing everyone from each other and then there’s the myth of the “online community” which is no kind of community at all.
A more affluent society has not only failed to solve society’s problems; it has become a problem in itself. Deprivation may still be the root cause of much of the world’s evil, but it’s no longer the deprivation caused by lack of money. It’s something much more basic. I think it’s the deprivation caused by lack of love, because society has substituted love and quality of relationship for material gain. Politicians can offer you a better standard of living, more money in your pocket, but who offers you care, compassion, relationship, love? We need community. You need your neighbour; your neighbour needs you.
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” asked one of the Pharisees. Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as you love yourself.’ The whole of the Law and the teachings of the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”
But actually, it’s more than just the law and the prophets depending on those two commandments, the whole of society depends on them; community depends on them.
The Apostle Paul famously wrote about the nature of love in his first letter to the Corinthians; if we all loved like that our society would be a different place, a better place.
Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.
So, I believe, and you believe, we believe, that Church and faith and Christianity are not redundant. We are custodians of a message that society needs to rediscover. We are a community that seeks to love; love God and love our neighbour. By living out the Gospel, with prayer in our hearts and service to our neighbour we can change the society we live in.
Praise – We cannot measure
Prayers for Others
Live recording
Community and Church
Father God, we come to you feeling that things are not right. Community is under pressure. Facilities are reducing, even disappearing all together. There is nowhere for people to meet, to forge friendships, be in community, find support. Community is fractured, divided and people are isolated from one another.
And here we are, a church, a congregation, a gathering of people who find strength in each other’s presence, who are blessed to have a place in which to gather, who pray and love and care and support; and yet maybe we are viewed as “members only”. Heavenly Father, place a prayer in our hearts that church and community might find new openness to each other, that welcome awaits and welcome can find a way of seeking out the isolated; welcome can heal division and restore foundations. Lord Jesus, our sense of community is a gift to offer to our neighbour. In these moments of quietness place that prayer within our hearts where our love for you enables us to love our neighbour…
Those who live out-with community
Lord Jesus, not everyone lives happily and comfortably within community. Some seek alternate lifestyles in isolated areas. Some endure addictions and find themselves unable to “fit in”; they live on the out-skirts of community. Some cannot function with the responsibilities of a job and bills to pay. Some live on the streets, homeless, vulnerable, without neighbours, friends or anyone they can trust. Yet, these are the ones you often spent time with. By your presence, your words, your kindness and compassion you restored broken lives and brought them back into community. Just as we pray for those who fit in to our community, we pray for those who do not, and ask that community may be broad enough and generous enough to embrace all people…
Praise – As a fire is meant for burning
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.