'The Shepherd' worship reflections and church notices

Hi folks, today in various places around the world, the Church celebrates what has come to be known as 'Good Shepherd' Sunday. It's an opportunity to reflect on Jesus, our Good Shepherd, to pause and consider the words from John 10:1-10, and Psalm 23. And, given our very rural context and that we're in the midst of lambing season, it's very apposite.

On site, we are also learning a new - to us - song from the group New Scottish Hymns Band called 'You're the Shepherd'.
So, in our time here, let's begin with that.

CALL TO WORSHIP 
Come as you are – known and loved.
Come with joy, come with hope.
Come with your burdens, come with your doubts.
Come with your dreams, come with your fears.
For God calls you by name and rejoices....

PRAYER 
God of new life,
planting grassy meadows for picnics,
pooling clear waters for floating,
making starry skies for gazing:
you shaped us in your image so we might not ever want;
you sent women and men of faith to us,
sharing their experience of you,
encouraging us to look up to listen, to follow you.
Loving us, You sent Jesus to us,
that we might hear his voice and believe his plain spoken words:
and so we give you our praise and worship.

Loving God, when we are quiet in your presence,
when we try to pray and when we reflect on your word...
when we are surrounded by noise and bustle,
when people compete for our attention and we have too much to do:
help us to hear your voice.

When we are happy and secure in the love of friends and family
and at peace with ourselves...
when we are overwhelmed by regrets for the past,
disappointment in the present, 
and fears for the future...
when we are confident in our decisions and sure of our plans:
help us to hear your voice.

When we are bewildered by many choices
and confused about the right way to go,
in the day and at night, at home and at work,
in company and alone, teach us to listen...
help us to hear your voice. 

Lord, where the waters of our life have been troubled,
you still our hearts and minds.
Where we have walked in strange and difficult ways,
you guide us in the right paths.
Where we have walked even through the valley of death,
you have been beside us.

…In your mercy, restore our souls.
In Jesus' name, Amen.

REFLECTION: 
It was one of those stunningly gorgeous days – hardly a breeze; the sun, beaming down on the hills and along the glen, and I’d taken myself off down to the end of the garden with a cuppa, to sit on my wee stool and just watch the world go by for a bit. The river was all diamond-sparkly and everything felt right with the world. Looking across the river, I saw a shepherd, with his dogs, guiding some sheep down the slope towards it. I admired the relationship between man and dog, as they worked together to lead the sheep down and  then under the bridge to get to the field just along.
A good shepherd, thought I.
But it was time to head back inside and crack on with some work.
So, a little reluctantly, I did.

A couple of days later, I met up with someone who knew that particular shepherd very well, and I mentioned how much I admired his skill.

This was met with a huge grin.

Apparently, if I’d stayed watching, I’d have seen five minutes later, that same shepherd, in the river, wading across to the other side in pursuit of a small group of rogue sheep who’d decided that they weren’t going to pay any notice to his instructions. 

I guess they thought that the grass really was greener on the other side..

So… a good shepherd, yes…

but not THE Good Shepherd that our bible passages refer to –

the one who says to his assorted group of listeners:

‘I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.’

In a busy, busy, rush, rush world where too often the voice that is listened to is telling us all that our value is found only in what we can produce, and which calls us to be continually, relentlessly doing in order just to survive…

in an unquiet, fractured, and fearful world, where too often fear is weaponised and it seems that the only voices we hear are those that divide and create discontent and where difference is seen as suspect…

in a world that too often feels as if everyone and everything is broken or breaking, as we listen to the voices of doom in an endless cycle of news…

perhaps it’s time to press the pause button and spend a little time thinking about Jesus our shepherd, to listen to his voice,  and to think about life beyond mere survival –

about life that is…abundant.

So, what is it to have abundant life and how do we find it?
Some of the answer to both questions are seen within the words of the Psalmist.

Who's voice are we listening to?
In the early part of the psalm, the Psalmist talks of God as the shepherd in whom we have all we need.

God is our abundance, our provider – the One who is more than enough.
If we listen to his voice, and follow where he leads, our needs will be met.
I wonder: what are the voices we might listen to that can prevent us from following the Shepherd?
And, what might we do - what small changes could we make - to help us better hear our Shepherd's voice?

And another question for reflection: 

take some time now to think about where God is leading you;

where he has led you in the past;

where he’s led you to now.

Pray about where he may be leading you in the future…

 

Work / life balance is not a new concept: it's in the Bible.
The Psalmist also reminds us that the Shepherd leads his flock to places of refreshing, places of stillness, quiet, where we can find rest. It's the very antidote to our hyper-consumerist society where, too often people are valued only by 'what they can contribute' - 

what they can produce... where they are seen as just expendable cogs in the machine of industry.
The 'shepherds' of industry are often too ready to fleece their sheep, rather than to tend them.
The Good Shepherd knows the wisdom to be found in giving his flock space to be, and to breathe, and to enjoy life. Which is also a better strategy for both a contented flock, and a way of ensuring that they are at their best... 

In the end, rather than rest, creative space, times of stillness, reducing productivity, it enhances it.
God, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, instituted the concept of rest right at the beginning of Creation:

after the sixth day, God rested. 

And later, God codified it: Sabbath rest. 

If resting is good enough for God, then... let's take the hint and rest.

Dark valleys.

It’s often been said that you don’t find many atheists in foxholes –

basically, when dark times come, in moments of crisis, that’s often when we turn to God for help and comfort. But even when we might not be quite with God, God our shepherd is always faithful and always with us:

there for us in our deepest point of need,

there when all other hope is gone.

He is the one who walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death, and out the other side of it.

If we pause, if we’re still, if we call…

we find that God is near.

Again, an opportunity for some reflection: 

stop and think about those times in your own life when things seemed darkest, and when you felt God’s presence close to you.

And, if in the present, there are difficult times that you’re navigating, why not use this time to offer your particular situation up to the One who listens and who knows your name…

We come full circle and ask again:

What is it to have abundant life and how do we find it?

Well, we do the work of listening to the voice of our Shepherd, Jesus –

who will show us the right way to go –

who will lead us to the paths of peace, of refreshing,

of quiet space apart from the noise and busyness that so often fills our lives –

a space in which we remember again whose we are and who we are:

called to be his.

As we follow, so his goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives.

And, knowing ourselves loved, knowing God’s goodness and mercy, we go ahead:

widening the path so that goodness and mercy will not just bless us, but others -

knowing that as we do:

we need not fear, 

we shall not want -

for there is more than enough:

overflowing cups of goodness and mercy and God’s abundance all the days of our lives.

And also knowing that the one who calls us

guards us and guides us, leads us and loves us

and never, ever lets us go.  Amen.

A blessing for this week:

BLESSING

We belong here with God’s family, 

but we also belong in his world. 

Called by God, he sends you to turn belief into action –

to be his hands, his feet, his loving heart, in the world.

As God’s own, 

as you go about your lives this week,,

God, our shepherd, goes with you, guarding and guiding you.

May the blessing of God, 

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 

be with you all, evermore... Amen.

NOTICES

Sun 3 May: Kirk Session meeting - 

after worship and morning tea this coming Sunday, Session will be meeting over a 'bring and share' lunch. This is an open meeting, and those who are not on the Session are most welcome to stay. The main business will be exploring our future within the cluster, now that we are officially in a deferred union with the newly united cluster parishes of Cairngryffe and Douglas Valley - now Clydesdale Trinity. It's an opportunity for looking, and planning, ahead. 

Added to this, Presbytery have asked that all parishes prepare a mission plan to be ready for attestation 2027. Having asked Presbytery on Saturday, we are able to do this particular exercise jointly with the Clydesdale Trinity Session - given it ultimately affects all of us, and saves us all doing this twice!

Sun 10 May, 10:30am : Christian Aid service -

It's coming up to that time of year again, an opportunity to remember the excellent work of Christian Aid, and, as we can, to support them. Along with our regular offering, there will be a bowl as you leave the church should you wish to make any donations to Christian Aid.

Looking further ahead:

Sun 24 May, 10:30am: Pentecost -

The day we celebrate the 'birthday' of the Church. The traditional colour of Pentecost is red, so, if you're coming to our on-site service, why not wear something red!