Fifth Sunday of Easter
Call to Worship – (Based on Psalm 22:25-31)
Praise the Lord of all the nations
We seek the Lord and turn to Him in praise
The ends of the earth remember Him
all shall bow before Him
Future generations shall hear the Lord
The Lord will deliver those yet to be born
The Lord holds our future
Our hearts live forever with Him
Let us praise and worship the Lord
Hymn 246 Great God of every shining constellation
Prayer of Approach, Reading and Reflection
Scripture: John 15:1-8 – Reader Ewan Bruce
Reflection – Pruning and Growing
True Vine – Katherine Taylor
Hymn 716 Come and find the quiet centre
Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession
Hymn 469 Restore, O Lord, the honour of your name!
Blessing
Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and
may the Blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with us all, now and for evermore.
Amen
Closing Voluntary – Postlude Op 55 nr 149 JCH Rinck (1770-1846)
Intimations
Sunday Services
Services continue at 11 am. You are very welcome. Please remember that restrictions are still in place; please arrive by 10:55 at the latest.
See our website (northleithparishchurch.co.uk) for online worship.
One Church for Leith Bible Study
The bible study continues this Monday evening, 3 May, from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm by Zoom. You are very welcome. The link to join is the same as before, contact the church office if you need it.
Opening the Church
The church building will be open again on Tuesday and Friday mornings between 10am and 12 noon from Tuesday 4th May to welcome anyone who would like a quiet space to be in. If you have an hour to spare on either morning (it doesn’t have to be regularly) and would be like to be involved, please do add your name to the volunteer rota on the wall in the church vestibule.
Session Meeting
The Kirk Session will meet by Zoom this Wednesday, 5 May, at 7:30pm
Christian Aid Week, 10 – 16 May 2021
Last year the lockdown took us by surprise and we were unable to carry on fund raising as usual during Christian Aid Week.
This year Christian Aid has provided an option to make things easier. There will still be envelopes, but all we need to do is deliver them. If the person receiving an envelope wishes to make a donation they will be invited to return it to the church office or make a donation online, whichever they prefer.
To make things easier we will only deliver to homes that have an easily accessible letter box.
If you would be willing to deliver 100 or so to a street or two in the parish please let me know after church or email me at hudsonz@blueyonder.co.uk
Many thanks
Jimmy Hudson
Picture
True Vine, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN.
Prayer for this Sunday Evening at 7 pm
“We see something of the identity of God revealed in the self-giving of God. In the self-giving of God, we see revealed the truth that: ‘God is love’. In the light of our understanding of this truth, there will follow, in large measure, the pattern of how we engage with others.”
We pray:
God whose name is Love,
We see your love revealed
In the giving of your Son.
May we embrace the offer of your love
And live in response to your generosity.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God whose name is Love,
We see your love revealed
In the One who shares in our humanity and who suffers on our behalf.
May we live as those who share a common humanity
And in the suffering of the world.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God whose name is Love,
We see your love revealed
In the community of your people and in all who are made in your image.
May we share in the life of your people
And recognise your image in the life of others.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God whose name is Love,
We see your love revealed among us
In the places where love is known and fear is cast out.
May fear be cast out and love be known
In the community we share and in the spaces we shape.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God whose name is Love,
We see your love revealed among us
In the resurrection of your Son and in the promise of your Spirit.
May we live as those who share in the hope of the resurrection
And in the life of your Spirit.
Lord, in your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
Amen