Sunday 1 November 2026
23rd 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…
Prayers in this service are adapted from those prepared by the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team in their “Light in the Darkness” prayer initiative.
The Psalms
Psalm 34: 1 – 10
Live recording
Your Weekly Church Notices
Scripture
1 Thessalonians 2: 10 – 13
Live recording
Matthew 23: 1 – 12
Live recording
Praise – Will you come and follow me
Prayers
Live recording
The story of Scripture begins in darkness. There is emptiness, disorder and darkness – and then God speaks: “Let there be light.”
Light is not something humanity creates for itself. Light begins with God. And throughout Scripture, light becomes a picture of God’s presence, God’s goodness and God’s salvation.
As we come before God in prayer, we remember that transformation begins with God. We do not have to manufacture the light. We pray for the God who brings light into darkness to do what only he can do. Let us pray…
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
God of light, you spoke, and there was light. You brought order out of chaos,
hope out of despair, and life out of nothing. Today we come before you in prayer.
Open our eyes to see where your light is already shining. Open our hearts to receive your light. Open our hands to carry your light. And open our churches and our communities to the transforming work of your Spirit.
May this be a day when hope grows, when faith is renewed, and when your light shines more brightly in the Church of Scotland, in and through our parish churches and throughout our communities, in the name of Christ, the Light of the World.
God who sees us completely, bring us into your light.
For the things we have done that have caused hurt: Bring us into your light.
For the things we have failed to do when we could have made a difference: Bring us into your light.
For the times when fear has been stronger than faith: Bring us into your light.
For the times when selfishness has been stronger than love: Bring us into your light. Search us, O God, and know our hearts. Lead us in the way everlasting.
God our maker – We need not hide ourselves from your light who is Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Holy Spirit our Counsellor and guide – you light the path before us. Make us people who walk in your light and reflect your light to others.
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
Who could possibly object to a Day of Prayer? Prayer is a gift. Prayer is what we do. Prayer is at the root of everything in our life of faith. So, when the Church of Scotland’s “Faith Action Programme Leadership Team” otherwise known as FAPLT came up with the idea of a National Day of Prayer – Light in the Darkness – no one was going to say “that’s a silly idea”. And it’s not a silly idea. It’s a good idea. Prayer runs through everything we do as a church. Coming together in a National Day of Prayer for the life of the Church of Scotland and the life of local congregations is a good thing. So, you may be thinking today is the Day of Prayer. Well, no it’s not. It was yesterday. The Light in the Darkness prayer day was held yesterday Saturday 31st October. And that may be the reason why about ¼ of all Church of Scotland congregations actually signed up to say they were taking part by holding a Prayer service. I cannot say therefore, if FAPLT will look on their initiative as being successful or not. ¾ of congregations have either ignored this or are doing what we are doing – we are making these prayers part of our Sunday morning gathering.
We like others will offer prayers for the Church of Scotland to be transformed. Will we wake up tomorrow morning and find that everything is changed beyond all recognition? Probably not. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want or need change to happen; we may still be seeking God’s guidance on what must change and in what way it needs to change. In prayer we seek the Lord’s will for us. We pray and we continue to pray for the Church to be transformed. It’s not about survival. It’s about discerning how we can be a church, the body of Christ present in this world, at this time, in this place.
In another way, the timing of this National Day of Prayer could not have been better for us here in Westhills. Like all congregations in the Church of Scotland, we are responding to the General Assembly’s instruction to prepare a Congregational Mission Action Plan. The six people who form our planning group soon came to the realisation that prayer is at the heart of everything we do. Whatever future unfolds for Westhills Church, whatever pathway we feel called to follow as a congregation it begins in prayer. It would be natural for me then, to ask you to remember the Planning Group in your prayers, and remember the Trustees in your prayers, and remember the non-trustee elders in your prayers, and remember each other in your prayers and your church, Westhills Church, as a whole; remember your church in your prayers.
We will not have an issue with any of that. We matter to each other, we care about each other, our church matters to us, it feels only right to uphold all of this in prayer. Yet, we can be so self-conscious about saying it out loud. When last did we ask someone to say a prayer for us? or say to them, “I’ll remember you in my prayers this week”. There is a language of faith that we have allowed to slip-away into the background and now it feels awkward to re-introduce it to our conversations at home, in church, over tea and a scone. Yet, that is where prayer belongs, in our conversations, in all that is simple and natural and everyday.
When we look at Matthew’s Gospel and the reading from Chapter 23, we can tell that Jesus was not impressed with those Teachers of the Law and Pharisees who put on a show; the pomp and ceremony of long prayers in the marketplace, the scripture verses embroidered on straps they wore on their foreheads and arms. Jesus was much more impressed with the simple, quiet, prayer offered in the privacy of your room. Your prayer and your words matter to him. Your prayers will be entirely different to those prepared for worship in church on a Sunday morning but no less valid. Prayer is not about show, or carefully chosen words, it is about relationship with God and with each other. Prayer expresses faith and hope; prayer expresses care and compassion. Prayer can offer confession and express forgiveness. Prayer can offer healing. Prayer truly is the gift that keeps on giving.
If the Faith Action Programme Leadership Team has challenged us to pray for the Church of Scotland, then I too must offer you a challenge; to overcome the self-consciousness we too often feel about speaking words of faith. Let prayer be part of your fellowship. When the tea is poured and the pancakes arrive, please don’t think that church is over and now it’s time for a good blether and a catch up. Listen to those around you, listen to their concerns, hear their anxieties, their hopes and fears… and be brave and say, ‘Would you like me to remember you in my prayers this week?” and do this every week.
Praise – Beauty for brokenness
Prayers for Others
Live recording
Prayers for the Church of Scotland
Father in Heaven, we join with others around our nation to offer prayers for the Church of Scotland. As a national church we still have the desire and calling to serve the people of Scotland in the name of our Lord Jesus. Yet, we find it harder and harder to answer that calling, harder to discern what the people of Scotland need from us, harder to find the resources within the church to meet those needs. We confess that we have felt, in recent times, that we are simply doing what we can to survive. As a national church, as congregations across Scotland, we have born the pain of closures and with church closures comes an impact upon communities and faith and the credibility of faith. Lord we cannot come before you and simply pray for survival. You came to us with a message, a Gospel, Good News, hope, light, grace, forgiveness; you challenged institutions and traditions, you challenged those who with rules and clever words hid the face of God from those who needed you. Forgive us if we too have become like Pharisees and Teachers of the Law where the language of church has hidden the call to faith in Christ. Lord we cannot come before you and simply pray for survival; we must pray that your Word transforms us and reforms us once again. Lord hear us as we offer prayers for the Church of Scotland to be transformed even as it begs the question – transformed into what? …
Prayers for Westhills Church
Today we pray Lord God, for ourselves as individuals and as a gathering of God’s people, a congregation, a church, the body of Christ present in this world at this time in this place. We know Lord that all things begin with prayer. Show us how to pray together, to pray for each other, to pray for those who feel they belong and those who do not. Show us how to speak to the language of faith and prayer rather than the language of church tradition. Show us how to proclaim Good News, how to serve our neighbour, how to welcome those who feel excluded, to bring hope to those who despair and live in such a way that the face of Christ can be seen in all we do. Help us to be courageous in faith. Lord hear our prayers for Westhills Church…
Praise – Come and find the quiet centre
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.