Worship, Sun 1 Nov: 'For all the saints'

WELCOME/

Hello and welcome to worship with Upper Clyde Parish. 

The theme for our time of worship is focused around what is traditionally remembered and celebrated as All Saints – remembering that great cloud of witnesses – those followers of Jesus who have gone before us, and passed on the torch of faith, so that we can praise God’s name, and share what he has done, and is doing, in our lives and in the life of the world. 

What is it to be a saint? As we spend time together in worship, let’s see!

CHURCH NOTICES/
Church opening update:

The Kirk Session met together online on Thursday evening to formally approve the electrical work that needs to be undertaken before we can open. Now that this has been approved and minuted, the next step is to see when the electrician can come and do the work. We are hoping that he will be able to do this sometime between the 9th - 25th of November.
If that goes to plan, the next step is to amend the presbytery check list and send that off to the business committee for their approval. Once that has been given, we'll have a much clearer idea of when the doors can once again open.
Slowly, slowly, we inch closer but of course, this is all subject to the regulations, which can change. But, at last there are glimmers of light...

Remembrance Sunday observance:
This coming Sunday is Remembrance Sunday. Given that the regulations do not permit meeting outside at the memorials in our parish, and that the church building is still closed, this service will be online.
However, over the course of this coming week, I will be dropping by the four war memorials to take some photographs - and, in some cases, to film a nominated person from each village as they lay a wreath. The footage will be added into our time of online worship so there’ll be at least some representation of our local memorials and those who in times past served and sacrificed much.

At present, these are all our notices...
I trust that as you move across to our worship service, that the time will be one of encouragement as you walk in faith. 
Blessings on you over the course of this week.
And here's the WORSHIP LINK

Worship, Sun 25 Oct: 'Songs of Praise' - style service

 WELCOME/

Welcome to worship! 
This time of worship presents a wee change of pace...
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been exploring Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, and in our last time of worship, we reached the end of our series.
Given the joyful theme running throughout that letter, and Paul’s encouragement to the Philippians and now, to us, to rejoice in the Lord always, I thought that we could do just that this time in worship with  an online 'Songs of Praise' style service.
So, over this time together in worship, with some great, well-known favourites to sing along to, I trust that you'll be encouraged, that it puts a spring in your step on these colder autumnal days, and helps you to give our God thanks and praise.

CHURCH NOTICES/
Electrical works -
Kirk Session will be meeting online this week to approve the electrical work needing done before we can open the building. We are going to have to draw upon our depleting resources for the invoice: the quote for works is just under £2 700 plus VAT. A bit of a shock!
Nevertheless, hopefully, we can get that work underway when our electrician is free, and subject to presbytery approval and the ever-fluid government regulations, we inch closer to opening those church doors.

Remembrance Sunday worship and observance update/
Given the restrictions, Remembrance Sunday worship and commemorations around the parish mean that we are not able to have an event outdoors to mark this.
So, Plan B -
I will be putting together a service online ... and am hoping to get around to the four villages that have memorials and take some pictures to incorporate into that service.
I’ll also be extra readers, so, those of you who are on the reading list... be prepared.
Another way of marking Remembrance Sunday that’s been talked about is to do something along the lines of what we were doing to celebrate and support our NHS earlier in the year with the rainbows in window...
Perhaps in the lead up to Remembrance Sunday, you could mark it by putting a poppy, or even making a display of poppies, in your windows. And for those of you with smaller members of the household, there are some great poppy making activities on the internet, and I’ll make sure to get some up onto the blog and also have the links placed under some of the youtube clips.

Guild/
If you’ve not already picked up a quiz from the Guild, you can still do so -
quiz sheets are selling for a £1, at the Abington Store, or you can get in touch with Heather Watt or Mary Hamilton to get one. All proceeds go to support the ongoing projects that the Church of Scotland Guild have chosen as their particular charities of choice this year.

Donate online/
Also, don’t forget, if you’d like to continue to support the work of Upper Clyde, you can donate online and the link for that is HERE
And many thanks to those of you have been able to make your donations that way.

Worship link/ To access the service click on this WORSHIP LINK and it will take you where you need to go. 

Enjoy your time of worship and may God bless you.

Worship, Sun 18 Oct: 'Joy' - pt 4 of our series on Philippians

WELCOME -

Hello and welcome to worship with Upper Clyde Parish.
It is always good to remember that, no matter how we gather, it is always good to offer God our worship, for God is truly worthy of our praise.

Over these last few weeks, we’ve been delving into Paul’s letter to the Philippians, and we have arrived at our final chapter – chapter 4. If you wanted a brief summary of this chapter, you could probably do it in two words:

‘Joy’ and ‘Peace’ - and I can almost hear the very long sigh of a certain Rev. I. M. Jolly at the thought of joy...!!

CHURCH NOTICES:

Guild Quiz -

Our friends in the Guild have set a quiz for us all. The quiz sheets are £1, and available at the Abington Store, or get in touch with Heather Watt or Mary Hamilton.

All proceeds go to the ongoing projects that the Church of Scotland Guild supports.
Many thanks to our Guild for organising this and for giving us a little light relief in what for some us are difficult times.

And a little advance notice: there’ll also be a quiz out in December...

Church building -

It's a long, slow process, I'm afraid, however, I’m hoping to have a little bit more information next week on what’s happening. We have received a quote for all the electrical work, so a meeting of the Session needs to happen, along with a wee discussion on finances for the work.
That said, given the current stricter lockdown regulations in force in South Lanarkshire, the Session is not really minded to push opening the doors just yet – even if we could... 

We want you to feel safe and not take unnecessary risks.
Thanks, as ever, for your patience.

WORSHIP AND RESOURCE LINKS -
In the meantime, turning to worship, here are the links -
first, for all-age resources
ALL AGE LINK

and for further bible study and reflection
STUDY LINK

Also, don’t forget, if you’d like to continue to support the work of Upper Clyde, you can now donate online, and many thanks to those of you have been able to make your donations that way
CHURCH DONATIONS LINK
Click 'donate to a congregation' and type in 'Upper Clyde Parish'

And finally, here is our WORSHIP LINK that will take you across to our YouTube channeL for our time of worship

Worship, Sun 11 Oct: 'Dual Citizenship'

WELCOME:

Hello and welcome to worship with Upper Clyde Parish.

In our time of worship, we continue exploring Paul’s Letter to the Philippians – and we’re now onto chapter three.
Last time, as we looked at chapter two, we thought about Paul’s encouragement that, as we lived out our lives walking in the faith, that we try to be imitators of Jesus – Jesus as our role-model...
As we explore chapter three, Paul talks of continuing on in the Christian life, - reaching for the goal, which is to be more like Christ and, that not only are we citizens of earth, but citizens of heaven.
how might being a citizen of heaven affect the way we live our lives in the here and now, I wonder?

CHURCH NOTICES:

First: in case you havn't heard, both Tom Hamilton and Drew Somerville have, sadly, passed away.
Tom’s funeral will be held on Monday afternoon at South Lanarkshire Crematorium
and Drew’s will be a graveside committal at Crawfordjohn Cemetery on Tuesday afternoon.
Please do be aware that due to the COVID-19 regulations, only 20 people will be able to attend these funerals - and given the numbers, that will mostly be family members.
However, I’m sure our thoughts are very much with both Margaret and Sheena and their families at this time - and I know many of you have already sent messages of support.

In other parish news:
just to note that a GUILD QUIZ is about to be unleashed upon the parish –
Isobel Taylor has once again done a cracking job putting the quiz together.
Copies will be availble for a £1, at the Abington Store, or get in touch with Heather Watt or Mary Hamilton...
All proceeds go to the ongoing projects that the Church of Scotland Guild supports, and in the meantime, we get to have a little bit of fun as we support that work.– so thanks to our Guild folks for organising this and keeping all our brains nice and active...

For those of you with younger members in your household: don’t forget to make use of the link to access all-age worship resources ...
ALL-AGE WORSHIP MATERIAL LINK

And for those of you who would like to spend more time reflecting on our scripture passage –
follow the link to take you to material to help your study and reflection... 
LINK TO STUDY MATERIALS

Also, don’t forget, if you’d like to continue to support the work of Upper Clyde, you can now donate online and the link for that is also on the blog, below this clip and sitting just below me even now, as I speak. And many thanks to those of you have been able to make your donations that way:
CLICK TO DONATE

And now, as we move into our time of worship, I hope that this set aside time refreshes your soul, and, having just mentioned the Guild, helps remind you of whose you are, and who you serve... which is also the Guild motto.
To get to our YouTube channel for worship, please click on the following link:
WORSHIP LINK

Worship, Sun 4 Oct - wk 2 Philippians: 'Aim low, and you're never disappointed'

WELCOME/
Hello, and welcome to our worship link page. Here you'll find links to take you across to our YouTube channel for a time of worship, and also links to resources for worship, and beyond.

Last time in worship, we began a 4-part series on Paul's letter to the Philippians, looking at Chapter 1.
We saw that Paul was currently under house arrest, a prisoner in - scholars believe - Rome.
Paul wrote to his fellow believers in Philippi, encouraging them to stand firm in the faith under difficult circumstances, and this encouragement was mutual - as he encouraged them, so they encouraged him.
So, our 'take-away' from last time was very much focused on the power of encouragement, and of the importance of both being encouraged and being an encourager.
This time around, in Chapter 2, Paul urges the Philippians to continue on in the faith by suggesting that the best example is Jesus himself - 'be imitators of Christ', he encourages them, and as he describes just who Jesus is, and what he gave up, we find a theme of practical love in action: loving and serving God and each other for the benefit of all... self-giving, not self-seeking.

For those of you with all-age households, for the younger members of the house, you'll find accessible worship material here: 
ALL-AGE RESOURCE LINK
And for those of you who would like to reflect a little more deeply on the bible passage itself, you can find material for further study and reflection here:
BIBLE STUDY LINK

Just to flag up that if you'd like to help support the ongoing work of Upper Clyde Parish, you can donate online by clicking the following link:
UPPER CLYDE DONATE ONLINE
This will take you to the Church of Scotland website. Just click the 'donate to a congregation' option, type in 'upper clyde parish church' and follow the instructions.
And thank you to all who continue to support the work in this and in other ways.

No news yet of the building opening...
In the meantime, you'll find worship available online by clicking on this link:
THIS WEEK'S WORSHIP 

I hope you enjoy and are spiritually fed by this time of worship.
God bless
Nikki