Worship, Sun 27 Sept - Philippians series wk1: 'It's a hard knock life for us'

WELCOME:

Hello and welcome to worship with Upper Clyde Parish. No matter how we gather, it’s good to be able to make time and worship our God, the One who unites, and calls us into community, and who stands with us every moment of our lives.

Previously, in our last time of worship, we spent time hearing about the newly-liberated Israelites, who were wandering in the wilderness.
With supplies seemingly so scarce, how would they survive?
We also heard a story told by Jesus, about the owner of a vineyard who was in need of workers to bring in the harvest, and who, at the end of the day's work, paid all his labourers a full day's wage, regardless of when they may have started working.
In both cases, we reflected on God's justice, and God's generosity.

This week we begin a 4 week series exploring Paul’s Letter to the Philippians...
And in Chapter One, we'll see what Paul, the Philippian Christians, and little orphan Annie might just have in common...
This cartoon might also feel topical, as we reflect... 

If you prefer to skip the following and go straight to worship, you'll find the WORSHIP LINK HERE
Otherwise, a link is also provided at the end of our notices...

CHURCH NEWS:
There's not much to flag up in the way of church news:

Opening of church Building:
Nothing yet to report on the electrical work in the church building - once there’s news, I’ll make sure it’s passed on to you all.

Clydesdale Foodbank:
A quick reminder: if you’d like to support the ongoing work of Clydesdale foodbank, the online address is just here for online giving -
FOODBANK DONATIONS LINK

If you have any food or household items, do get in touch with me and we can organise either a drop off at the manse or church or some such – and my phone number is 01864 502139
And, if you find yourself or someone you know, needing some help, do get in touch with me and I can organise a referral.

All-age worship resources and Bible study material:
Don’t forget that if you have an all-age household, or you’d like to explore the reading a little further, links are below for both all-age worship material, as well as study material for personal reflection -
ALL-AGE WORSHIP RESOURCES and... REFLECTION and BIBLE STUDY

Just for a laugh: 
a certain minister's Aussie Dad enjoys a dire pun [yes, this is where I get it from!] and during the week he sent me several 'humour for times such as these' cartoons.
So, including the following just for a wee smile - or groan!

I hope that this time of worship will help to encourage and strengthen you as you follow in the way of Jesus. To access worship via our YouTube channel please CLICK WORSHIP LINK
Take care, and have a good week...
Nikki

Worship, Sun 20 Sept: 'More than enough'

Hello and welcome to worship with Upper Clyde Parish – I hope for those of you within the parish, that you've been enjoying these last few days of reprieve from all the rain!

For those of you new to us - a very warm welcome, we're glad that you're able to join with us in worship.

A quick recap: last time in worship, we heard Peter ask Jesus about forgiveness, and listened to a story Jesus told of mercy in the face of quite an enormous obstacle. So, we spent time thinking a little about mercy and forgiveness.
This week we’re going to drop in on the Israelites, wandering in the wilderness - about 6 weeks after they’ve made their escape from Egypt. They're getting a wee bit tetchy, and rather hungry. Will God provide? We’ll also be hearing a parable from Jesus, about some workers in a vineyard.
So, on our worship menu this week, we have manna, quail, and a little wine to finish!

Just a couple of notices - 

For those of you who missed last week’s building update:
due to some electrical issues discovered in the course of our very comprehensive electrical check, we’re not able to open the building until this has been attended to. We're currently in conversation with the electrician to see how long the work might take... and how much.
Once the work’s been done and presbytery gives us the green light, we'll let you all know.
So, for the time being, however, we’re continuing with our online worship.

Meantime, as I mentioned last week: we are still a community, and as part of our calling to love God and our neighbour, over September, we’re once again supporting the work of the Clydesdale foodbank.
So, a wee reminder that if you’d like to make a donation of cheque or direct debit online, the link is here ...FOODBANK LINK
Should you wish to drop items off to me in the manse, let me know.
You'll find my contact details above in the 'who's who' section.

Given this strange year, and the effects of COVID and lockdown, I've been referring more people to the foodbank, so this year, as we look further and think about potential Harvest giving, I’d ask you to consider supporting the foodbank as our charity of choice this time around... 

And finally, our usual note for those of you with all-age households, and those who might like to delve a little more deeply into our worship theme over the week:
Access for age-appropriate worship resources, as well as Bible study/reflection material and prayers can be found here... 
BIBLE STUDY REFLECTION AND ALL-AGE RESOURCE LINK
To go to the all-age worship material, see menu on p1 and click 'alternative material'

I hope that this time of worship will provide space to pause and ponder and pray and wonder...
and encourage you in your relationships with God, your neighbour, and the wider world.
And so on to worship - WORSHIP LINK HERE

Worship, Sun 13 Sept: 'Mercy and Forgiveness'

 Hello and welcome to worship with Upper Clyde Parish – it’s good to meet together and to praise the One who calls us to gather; the One who loves us, and who calls us to be his merciful, forgiving people. If you're joining with us for the first time, a warm welcome.

Last time in worship, in Matthew’s gospel, we were thinking about Jesus’ call to live in peace with one another – to be a community of reconciliation. 

And why do so? Apart from Jesus asking this of us, as the great reformer John Calvin observed:
the godly community is a harmonious community... So, to live in harmony, to live at peace with one another, is a mark of where we’re at within both our individual and communal faith journeys.
This week, we’re continuing a little further along that path, as we hear Peter ask Jesus about forgiveness, and listen to a story Jesus tells of mercy in the face of quite an enormous obstacle.
So, in a nutshell, mercy and forgiveness are our themes today in worship.

Before we move more fully into our worship time there’s several church notices:

First, an update on the church building and on opening for worship:
we now have our fully comprehensive electricians report.and, unfortunately, we’ve hit a slight snag -
there’s a wee bit of work that needs to be done before we’re allowed to open the building.
I’ll find out more on Monday when I speak with the electrician and I'll be seeing just how long he thinks it will take to do this work, and of course, the question I don’t want to ask...just how much it will be.
Until that work is done, we will not be opening for the next wee while.
So, worship options continue to be – to meet online through our youtube channel and for those folk who can’t access the internet, to tune into the morning acts of worship on the radio.
And, I’ll let you know when we can reopen the building!
We will get there, so thanks for your patience.

Meantime, we are still a community, and as part of our calling to love God and our neighbour, over September, we’re once again be supporting the work of the Clydesdale foodbank –
so, a wee reminder that if you’d like to make a donation of cheque or direct debit online, the contact details can be accessed on this FOODBANK LINK
Also, a little later on, in October, as we think about Harvest, I’d ask you to consider supporting the foodbank as our charity of choice this year. I ask this because I’ve been doing an increased number of foodbank referrals due to covid and feel that this year, we might concentrate our efforts a little more locally.

And finally:
As usual, for those of you with all-age households, don’t forget you can access age-appropriate worship resources to make worship more user-friendly for our younger friends. You can find the ALL-AGE LINK here..
Should you wish to dive a little deeper into today’s reading from the gospel you can access material  on this BIBLE STUDY LINK. 

With all that said, I hope that this time of worship will recharge your spiritual batteries, and re-energise you to show God's love at home, and wherever you may be this week. 
And here's the WORSHIP SERVICE LINK.

Worship, Sun 6 Sept: 'Peace-builders and Reconcilers'

 

Statue of Reconciliation, Coventry Cathedral

Hello and welcome to worship at Upper Clyde Parish.
It is good to gather to worship the One who calls us to be makers of peace, and reconcilers of relationships, and equally, it's great to be able to make space and time to worship our God - 
who loves us and will not let us go.

Last week, we visited with Moses on the mountain, as he encountered the God of his ancestors.
This week, we're in the New Testament, hearing Jesus talk with his followers about restoring 
broken relationships, mending fences, healing hurts - and our Gospel passage is a practical blueprint
to help follow Jesus' command to love our neighbour... in times when things go wrong.

Just an update on the opening of the building:
it's a little like we're stuck in time at the moment - we're in limbo, just waiting to get the electrician's
report to hand to presbytery...
Everything else has been done, and so it's a wee bit frustrating to be so close and yet not quite there...
Like many other tradespeople, however, our electrician is hugely busy with a backlog of clients -
including six other churches in a similar situation to us, wanting to get the doors open once more.
We will get there, but ... oh, gosh, it is painfully slow at the moment.
As I've said previously, once we've got this last box checked by presbytery, we'll be good to go...
and we will be getting the information out to you by a variety of means - so keep your eyes and ears 
peeled for news... 

Over September, we're once again supporting the work of the Clydesdale Foodbank - and because
I've been referring more people to them due to the knock on effects of lockdown, we'll also be 
supporting them when we acknowledge Harvest in October. If you'd like to make a donation you
can do so by clicking this FOODBANK LINK or by getting in touch with me if you have items
of food or household products on 01864 502139, and they can either be dropped at the manse, or we can arrange some other method of collection. Thank you in advance for your help.

For those of you with a mix of ages in your house, don't forget to access our all-age, family friendly
worship resources by clicking on this ALL-AGE RESOURCES LINK...
And for the grown-ups, there's the opportunity to delve a little deeper into our gospel passage by
clicking on this BIBLE STUDY LINK.

And, here's our WORSHIP LINK to take you across to our YouTube channel.  I hope this time of worship inspires and recharges your batteries and that you go out into the week
spiritually nourished. 

Have a good week,
Nikki

Update on church building re-opening

 For the latest details please do go to the dedicated page on the blog. 
                  LINK IS HERE

We are so tantalisingly close to opening - just one wee delay...