Sunday 28 July 2024 Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – Year B

The Faith Action Programme would like to thank our contributors: Oli Higham, Pastor at Rock Community Church Dumbarton, Callum Henderson, Founder and Director of Comfort International, and Elaine Wardrop, Ministries Development Staff member at St Andrew's and St Marnock's in Kilmarnock, for their thoughts on the tenth Sunday after Pentecost.

Weekly Worship, based on the Revised Common Lectionary, is for everyone – in any capacity – who is involved in creating and leading worship.

It provides liturgical material that can be used for worship in all settings. Our writers are asked to share their approaches to creating and delivering this material to equip leaders with a greater confidence and ability to reflect on their own worship practice and experience and encourage them to consider how this material might be adapted for their own context.

We would encourage continual reflection on the changing patterns of worship and spiritual practice that are emerging from disruption and how this might help identify pathways towards development and worship renewal.

An archive of resources for daily worship can be found on the Sanctuary First website.

We may not all be gathered in the same building, but at this time, when we need each other so much, we are invited to worship together, from where we are – knowing that God can hear us all and can blend even distant voices into one song of worship.

Introduction

There is an interweaving of themes in the Lectionary that feed into each other and draw us into the complexity, simplicity and beauty of following God. That might seem a weird trinity of words (complexity, simplicity and beauty) but that is what Scripture in its entirety and these passages specifically offer us.

There is complexity in 2 Samuel as the great King David abuses his power in taking Bathsheba for his own. There is complexity in the words of Psalm 14 and our human nature to devour one another like commodities. There is complexity in how the multitudes are fed with a little in 2 Kings 4 and in John 6.

There is simplicity in the kindness of a young boy in John 6, who shares his packed lunch with 5,000 people. There is simplicity in Paul's prayer for the Ephesians, that they would be rooted in love. There is simplicity in Elisha's words in 2 Kings 4, that God has said it, so we do it.

And in all of these things is a beauty, an invitation that in the complexity and simplicity we are called into the adventure of faith. There is beauty in God's kingship and everlasting kingdom. Psalm 145 points towards this beauty. In a world of fear, the abuses of leadership, the horrors of wars, we are held by the beauty contained in the words: "The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth." (Psalm 145:17-18).

2 Samuel 11:1-15

We want what we don't have. It's the nature of the human condition. This is summed up in the old proverb, "the grass is always greener on the other side." Or in Emily Dickinson's phrase, "The heart wants what it doesn't have." Or Veruca Salt, demanding a golden goose in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Our nature is very rarely content with being content. There's always an itch for that one thing or that one experience or that one person. This is exacerbated by the modern world and non-stop advertising. Consciously or subconsciously, we are told we need something.

Most of us, thankfully, don't have the power or resources to have everything we want … but if you're King David you probably do. David sees a woman bathing and wants her. So he demands her. He's king, so they bring Bathsheba to him. She becomes a commodity he wants.

This raises a few questions:

• How do we deal with our desires for the new thing that will make us content?
• Can we be content with what we have?
• How do we justify taking that which we know is not ours and/or affects others (this is a difficult question on a day to day level and even more complex in the global politics.)
• How do we let our power/privilege to shape disdain for the other? (David causes Uriah's death so he can keep Bathsheba for himself. How does my desire for [insert any commodity] become more important than the lived experience of the sweatshop worker or abused farmer who will provide me that item.)

Psalm 14

"They devour my people as though eating bread" (v4) is a visceral, emotive image. We consume one another as commodities. We have seen this in a specific way in the 2 Samuel passage, where David treats Bathsheba as an object of his lustful desires.

The psalm, attributed to David himself, takes this image in a more universal theme. We are always part of this dual nature of seeing the evil of others and unable/unwilling to notice when we are pulled into the same evils ourselves.

David writes of our nature of doing what we want while hiding behind the foolish notion that God doesn't see the evil we do. David recognises the sinful, self-serving nature of all of us. He, however, also recognises that God is with those who have been abused by the lust and greed of evildoers. God is our refuge from the evils of this world.

2 Kings 4:42-44

Trusting in God's kingship can be challenging at times. This becomes even more difficult when the tasks ahead of us seem unfeasible. This seems to be the reality of the servant in this passage. They are looking at twenty loaves of barley bread and a few heads of grain and trying to make sense of the task of feeding a hundred men.

Sometimes we can look at the task ahead of us and think it is not possible. This servant doesn't want to look stupid or face the wrath of a hundred hungry men or the annoyance of their master, by serving up a less than glorious feast.

But then we see Elisha's reply. He isn't focused on the implausibility of the task. Rather, he is focused on the command of God. God has said they'll eat and have left overs, and this is what happens when it is shared with them!

We are often asked to tread this difficult tightrope of what seems impossible and what God has called us to. And in those moments we don't need the mind of this un-named servant, but of Elisha. God told us to do it, so we do it.

This passage has an echo of the feeding of the five thousand in the gospel reading this week. John picks up on the detail that the young boy had barley loaves. That time though, there were only five loaves and five thousand people. By mentioning the detail of barley, John would draw a Jewish reader to this old testament story and point towards the divinity of Jesus in this barley bread feast.

Psalm 145:10-18

Psalm 145 is an acrostic, with each verse beginning with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. However, the letter ‘nun' was missing (between verses 13-14) in most manuscripts of the Masoretic text. Some later manuscripts have an extra verse in that position, which is included in around half of the Bible translations, e.g., NIV "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving towards all he has made" (v13). In some translations, this is shown in brackets (e.g. ESV).

I listened to Psalms 140-150 to get an idea of the wider context, and was struck by the common themes that build up to a declaration of praise that extols God's power and righteousness.

In Psalms 140-144 there is a sharp conflict between good and evil/ righteousness and unrighteousness played out within David's life. In Psalm 145 the conflict begins to subside and in the following psalms it is less implicit, but located within God's favour and help for the broken-hearted/ afflicted.

There are three clear sections in today's verses from Psalm 145:

1. Verses 10-13 are a call to give thanks, bless and praise God's glory power and majesty.

David has already referred (v8) to the theme – particularly seen in Exodus 34:6, but repeated throughout the Old Testament, that God's glory consists of the revelation of God's nature as gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness.

Knowing such a God must act as a prompt and summons to us, raising us out of the slumber of ‘comfortable' worship.

Verses 10-18 show the necessity of praise to be:

• Vocal: it is declared, spoken of (v11), uttered, shouted (see v7). This is not a ‘worship as you feel comfortable' call to worship, but a comfort-zone-shaking exhortation to praise God as God's name and glory require and are worthy of.
• Told to others: v11 it is talked about, v12 made known, and indeed, the whole Psalm assumes that vocal praise is communicated to others (see also vv4,6).
  Enthusiastic: the psalm resonates with superlatives that necessitate an appropriate response.

1. Verses 14-16 are a commentary (in the light of the prior call to worship) on the provision of God.

The subject of the psalm changes throughout the verses, so it is clear that the provision of God extends beyond humankind to all creation. There is an increasing emphasis on God's care for creation and the creation's praise of God, in Psalms 145 to 150 (e.g. 147:9,148:1-10, 150:6). The theme is returned to in Psalm 145 in vv15-16 and, as before, there is both an act of devotion/dependence from the created, and an act from God towards them. This ties in with Genesis 1:30, where provision is made for all living things and in Genesis 1 (e.g. vv20,22), where the non-human creation is also to teem with life and multiply.

As we worship God through this psalm we might want to consider how we can also cooperate with care for the animals God has made and God's creation, which we have been asked to work and keep. A study of the Hebrew words translated as ‘work'/'keep' would yield rich results in looking at is implied by tending and keeping the garden.

1. Verses 17-18 are both a comfort and enlightenment regarding the nature of God's righteousness and nearness.

The psalm began with an immediate reference to God as King and central to the psalm is a confident assertion that God is strong and God's eternal reign brings abundant goodness into the world.

With their frequent mention and description of the Kingdom of God, the Psalms strongly and consistently describe the Kingdom of God in terms of justice, righteousness, integrity (faithfulness and truth), and loving kindness; e.g., Psalms 33:4-5, 36:5-6, 40:10, 89:14, 97:2. Here in Psalm 145, God's kingdom and dominion are shown to be everlasting and thus never to be overthrown. Verse 17 is a clear reflection of Psalm 89:14; God's righteousness is unlimited and therefore to be eagerly proclaimed, God's loving kindness, allied with grace and mercy is an undeniable and manifested core quality of who God is (v8), God's people live in truth and integrity (v18).

We are reminded also that the Kingdom of God is not to be seen as an aspiration without power, but, as with the words of Jesus in Luke 11:20 which identify the overthrow of evil powers with the activity of God's Kingdom. We see in Psalm 145 that God is at work in mighty acts, actively intervening in our world and situations on our behalf in answer to our cries and prayers (vv4-6, 11-12, 18-19). We are not at the mercy of the powers of evil, but, even though we are sometimes called to walk through suffering for God's name's sake, we are protected in the embrace of God's merciful love and power.

Being involved in Africa through my work, I often like to step back from an exclusively Western perspective of the passages and consider an African perspective. The Africa Bible Commentary directs its hermeneutic of vv13 (including 13b) and 14 towards a comparison of God as a just and caring King, versus corrupt and nepotistic earthly rulers: "The word ‘all' makes it clear that he is not like some earthly rulers who care only for their relatives, the strong men who helped them gain power and their army. This kind cares for the weakest of his subjects … those who are ‘bowed down' may have been bent under the weight of oppression, but this king is no oppressor." (Africa Bible Commentary (Ed. Adeyemo T) Zondervan 2006 p768).

There are many obvious parallels in all societies and the need for just and caring/kind leadership, which empowers and causes to flourish, can be viewed in comparison to the leaders who preserve their own power or share it with their own select few.

Ephesians 3:14-21

When reading Paul's letter to the Church in Ephesus, it reminded me that we have all applied for jobs after reading the job description. We will have read the list of ‘essential' qualities required from the applicants and then another list of ‘desired' qualities. We go through them with a fine tooth comb, deciding if we know what's expected of us, if we have what it takes! I wonder what it might look like if we were looking at a job description for Christians. We could argue there would be no desirable qualities, only essential ones. We can't just decide to pick up on one or two qualities required in order for us to lead and live as Christians. Rather, rooted firmly in the power of God, with Christ at the head, we should be demonstrating the qualities of honesty, integrity, transparency, credibility, humility, compassion, selflessness – all underpinned by the core values of faith, hope and love. There is no clocking off at the end of the working day; we should be embodying the principles of the gospel in every action, every word and every decision. Every day we live is for God's glory, not ours. All of these qualities are required, they are placed in the hearts of God's children by the Holy Spirit and are essential for Christian leadership and Christian living.

Paul's style of writing is to lay the theological foundation then put the truth he's presented into practical terms; Paul worried that they would have the knowledge but not live it out. With unwavering faith and deep belief we are to follow God's will obediently and model Christian qualities and values in our daily lives, and our actions and decisions should always be under God with Christ at the head. We need to seek the fullness of God – being filled with the fullness of Christ is an essential requirement and should be evident in us all.

Are we truly living in VITAL union with Christ, rooted in His power, lavished in His love and surrounding ourselves with other believers?

John 6:1-21

In the same way the passage from Ephesians highlights the difference between what the world sees as being qualified for the job and what God sees, for me this passage highlights similar differences when it comes to the disciples and the feeding of the 5,000. The most effective leader is not necessarily the one who is most qualified on paper, the one expected to step up due to experience, but rather the one with the essential qualities, the one who steps out in faith, the one who expects God to act and doesn't rely on their own expectations. The world would see the young boy as the least of them, yet he was one Jesus chose. Age or experience is no barrier to Christ's lesson for us all to offer what we have and see what Jesus will do, in abundance. Jesus could have performed this miracle and fed them without the boy's offering, without asking the disciples to solve the problem of how to feed them, without having so much left over. But as with most of Jesus' miracles and teachings, He worked through people, teaching valuable lessons about living a life of faith for God, with God. All through Jesus' earthly life He stayed firmly rooted in His Heavenly Father and has taught us to do the same.

Verses 16-21 remind me of my dear friend Margaret. She and her late husband Jim had a sailing boat for most of their married life. They would set off on ambitious trips for weeks at a time, often taking their young children and then in later years, their grandchildren with them. Jim was a very experienced and safe sailor, he always had great stories to tell, but Margaret often recalls one particular night when they were in very serious danger, miles out from shore in the most violent and unexpected storm. Margaret and Jim were certainly no strangers to prayer, living a life serving faithfully in our church over very many years, however Margaret recalls that on this particular night, all they could do was pray, really pray. They expected God to show up, as they had prayed many times out on the seas and had known God's presence with them. This night was no exception, they felt "God's presence on the boat" – a sense of calm – the storm passed and once again they were safe. Powerful testimony indeed. Margaret will still say she often felt closest to God out on the seas. Why? Because they sailed in faith, they expected God to be with them always, they expected God to act, rather than just relying on Jim's qualifications and experience.

This passage and the reading from Ephesians highlight

• The difference between what the world sees as being qualified and what God sees.
• The stark differences between worldly living and leadership and Christian living and leadership.

Sermon ideas

General reflections for shaping sermons or framing conversations

• There is a motif within the passages of recognising – like the little boy with the loaves and fish – that we all have something to offer and bring. Rather than preaching, it might be fruitful to use a tool like Lectio Divina. One way to do this would be to:

• Read the passage and ask people to listen out for a specific word or phrase that resonated with them.
• Let people share some of their insights with each other in conversation.
• Read the passage again, but this time ask people to reflect on the feelings or emotions they felt while listening.
• Let people share with each other in conversation.
• Read the passage a final time, but this time ask people to reflect on what God is inviting them/us into.
• Invite people to share with each other in conversation, or with the whole room. Depending on your context this might work with people sharing from the congregation or in a café style setting, with people sharing their thoughts with the others at their table.

• It may be fruitful to reflect on some of the areas of fear that exist in our context. Where do we consciously or unconsciously say, "We can't do X because of Y"? Is God bigger than those challenges?
• How do we draw parallels between seeing the evils of our world (captured in David's writing in Psalm 14) and our own personal responsibility and impact (captured in David's failings in 2 Sam 11)?
• How do we trust in God's kingship rather than our own fears? How does Elisha's faith in God's commands (2 Kings 4) connect with the disciple's faith in Jesus' commands (John 6) to point us towards trust and faith?

Sermon idea based on 2 Kings / Psalm 145

The passages from 2 Kings 4 and Psalm 145 sit well together within the theme of an all-sufficient God and a faith-filled people. Psalm 145 issues a declaration of who God is, with frequent reference to God's power, mighty acts and provision, whereas 2 Kings 4 demonstrates how this operates through the man of faith, Elisha.

David knew difficulties and setbacks, and even unanswered prayer (see Bathsheba's first son to David), but he did not lose sight of who God is and what God does. Elisha is represented in ‘the prophets' of Hebrews 11:32ff and the life of faith is certainly not portrayed through rose-tinted glasses. They experienced both challenge and victory, but all of them gained approval through their faith.

There is of course a call in Jude v22 to have mercy on those who doubt, but perhaps in an age of scepticism we need even more a call to faith in our God who does wonders. Psalm 145 is a Psalm about an active God and 2 Kings 4 is a story about an active God.

Prayers

Gathering prayer / call to worship
Loving Father,
Lord of Lord,
King of Kings,
The source of all good things,

In You we find life in abundance,
Lord, let our hearts be turned to You.

As we bring our voices in song and recognise You are worthy of praise,
Lord, let our hearts be turned to You.

As we read from scripture and are reminded of Your goodness in the past and present,
Lord, let our hearts be turned to You.

As we share thoughts and reflect on who are and who we are in You,
Lord, let our hearts be turned to You.

As we take moments of silence and give You space to speak to our hearts and minds,
Lord, let our hearts be turned to You.

As we pray and recognise that You are the God who hears us,
Lord, let our hearts be turned to You.

As we dwell here,
gathered as Your children
and as we leave again,
Lord, let our hearts be turned to You.

Prayer of confession
Forgive us when we see the sins of others and are unable to see our own.
Lead us in this moment to the places where we fall short of Your ways,
where our lives point away from Your light.
As these things fill our minds call us back to right paths, back to Godly ways.
May we know Your love, which leads us to repentance.
May we know Your power, which helps us break free from unhealthy cycles of behaviour.
May we know Your invitation to shine Your beauty into our world.
We recommit ourselves to You and Your ways.

Thanksgiving/Gratitude prayer
You are the God who loves us,
who knows us and sees us
in our good and bad moments,
and still chooses to embrace us
So we say together,
Thank You, God.

You are the God who gives good gifts,
who chooses to bless us.
You taught us to call You Father
and to expect the kindness of a good parent.
So we say together,
Thank You, God.

You are the God who gives strength to Your people,
who knows, first-hand, the strains of being human,
who has walked on the soil and dirt of this world
and knows what we need and provides it.
So we say together,
Thank You, God.

You are the God who breathes peace into our chaos,
whose voice formed the cosmos
and breathed life into Adam's nose.
Order and peace in the vastness and in the intimate.
So we say together,
Thank You, God.

You are the God who blesses us with insight,
who calls us into Your adventure,
who welcomes us into Your plans
and lets us see Your vision of what could be.
So we say together,
Thank You, God.

You are God.
You are God.
You are God.
So we say together,
Thank You,
Father, Son, Spirit.
Thank You.

Prayer for others / intercession
Father, we pray for those who are disempowered and at the mercy of those stronger than them.
We ask for Your intervention as the God who defends the righteous, sustains those who fall, raises up all who are bowed down, and brings down the wicked – will You intervene on behalf of those who love You and those who are broken and fallen.
Cause Your mercy to be poured out on all Your works.

We thank You for the example of leadership we see in Jesus
and ask that in any of the spheres of life where we have leadership responsibilities,
we will act with kindness, compassion and grace.
Make us reflections of Your grace and mercy, fill us with Your Spirit, that we may be filled with loving kindness and that,
by living in the resurrection power of the risen Jesus, we may also, like You,
be slow to anger and gentle towards others.

We pray that where leaders are using their position and authority to crush and exploit the weak and poor
that You would raise up men and women of faith and integrity who can speak and act on behalf of the voiceless.
Show us also where our lives intersect with the powerless –
in the purchases we make, the investments we hold, the effects of the choices we make on the climate –
make us people of action who make this world a better place.
In Jesus' name. Amen.

Blessing / closing prayer
May The God Of Peace Go With Us(CH4 786)

May the God of peace go with us
as we travel from this place;
may the love of Jesus keep us
firm in hope and full of grace.

Or:

(Based on Ps 145)
Lord, as we leave this place of worship today,
may we never cease to give thanks to You for all Your goodness, love and mercy.
In our conversations through this week,
may we speak to others of Your saving acts and the glory of Your Kingdom.
Help us to walk through this week with our eyes on You,
never forgetting You are our Provider and Helper.
May we reflect Your righteousness in the way we live our lives
and may You be near to us as we call on You.
Amen.

Creative Prayers

These creative prayer suggestions come from our St Marnock's Parish Church Prayer Group. I wanted to give you a brief background to our prayer group. When we went into lockdown in 2020, our small prayer group could no longer meet in church (where we would pray prior to our worship service each Sunday). We decided to start meeting for half an hour on Saturday mornings via Zoom. This worked well, the group grew a little and we had a lady join us from Spain. When we were able to meet in person again, we made the decision to stay online to allow everyone to still meet, and this has become a real praying community. We took on our first 24/7 Prayer project online during COVID, and for the last two years our 24/7 Prayer Space has been hybrid, allowing folks to use the Prayer Spaces created in our large outreach building or to pray at home. This prayer group has provided these creative prayers for today's Weekly Worship.

Creative Prayer 1

"The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down" Psalm 145:14
Have a large cross at the front of the church. Encourage everyone to take a stone/piece of card and a marker pen as they arrive, during a time of reflective prayer encourage folks to write their burdens on the stone/piece of card. Then as music plays very gently in background invite folks to come forward and lay their burdens at the foot of the cross. If this would be uncomfortable for people in your setting, the cross could simply be placed at the door as they are leaving and people could lay their burdens down there.

Creative Prayer 2

"Let justice roll like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream." Amos 5:24

Prayer for the nations: Five-finger prayer

Thumb: Introduction – pray for our world
Index finger: Prayer for the poorest nations
Middle finger:Pray for the wealthy nations
Ring finger: Pray for the Persecuted Church
Little finger: Pray for the most powerful nations

This prayer could also be prayed using stones: invite people to have a cup of water (or leader only) and place a stone in the water as each continent is prayed for (illustrating the river).

Creative Prayer 3
Introduce a prayer tree, provide heart-shaped tags, encourage everyone to write or draw their prayers on the tags. As they are leaving church, encourage them to hang their prayers on the tree. Encourage people to continue to use their prayer tree and follow this up by ensuring these prayers are regularly prayed in church or by prayer groups.

Musical suggestions

God Welcomes All is the new supplement to Church Hymnary Fourth Edition. This exciting new collection features over 200 hymns and songs in a wide range of styles by writers from Scotland and around the world.

The full music version is now available; and the words-only book, digital resources including the expansion of the existing Church of Scotland music website, will be published in due course, with streaming functions and further information on each song; backing tracks; and lyric videos. God Welcomes All is available to order from https://chbookshop.hymnsam.co.uk/books/9781786225573/god-welcomes-all

Our online music resource is on the Church of Scotland website; you can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship. You will also find playlists for this week and liturgical seasons and themes on the Weekly Worship and Inspire Me tabs.

You can find further musical suggestions for this week in a range of styles on the Songs for Sunday blog from Trinity College Glasgow.

• CH4 180 – "Give thanks with a grateful heart"
• CH4 252 – "As a fire is meant for burning"
• CH4 465 – "Be thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart"
• CH4 561 – "Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!"
• MP 151 – "For I'm building a people of power"
• MP 646 – "The greatest thing in all my life"
• MP 870 – "Jesus is the name we honour"
• "Give thanks to God" – Allan McKinlay, Pete Crockett (CCLI song number 7065012)
• "Good, Good Father" – Anthony Brown, Pat Barrett (CCLI song number 7036612)
• "Goodness of God" – Bethel Music (CCLI song number 7117726)
• "Gratitude" – Benjamin Hastings, Brandon Lake, Dante Bowe (CCLI song number 7158417)

Reflecting on our worship practice

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, the way we worship has changed and we need to reflect on the changing or newly established patterns that emerged and continue to emerge as a result of the disruption.

We can facilitate worship for all by exploring imaginative approaches to inclusion, participation and our use of technologies in ways that suit our contexts. This is not an exhaustive list, but some things we could consider are:

• Framing various parts of the worship service in accessible language to help worshippers understand the character and purpose of each part. This is essential for creating worship for all (intergenerational worship) that reflects your community of faith.
• Holding spaces for reflection and encouraging prayer to be articulated in verbal and non-verbal ways, individually and in online breakout rooms.
• In online formats the effective use of the chat function and microphone settings encourages active participation in prayer, e.g. saying the Lord's Prayer together unmuted, in a moment of ‘holy chaos'.
• While singing in our congregations is still restricted, we can worship corporately by using antiphonal psalm readings, creeds and participative prayers.
• Using music and the arts as part of the worship encourages the use of imagination in place of sung or spoken words.
• Use of silence, sensory and kinaesthetic practices allow for experience and expression beyond regular audio and visual mediums.

The following questions might help you develop a habit of reflecting on how we create and deliver content and its effectiveness and impact, and then applying what we learn to develop our practice.

• How inclusive was the worship?
  Could the worship delivery and content be described as worship for all/ intergenerational?
  Was it sensitive to different "Spiritual Styles"?
• How was the balance between passive and active participation?
• How were people empowered to connect with or encounter God?
  What helped this?
  What hindered this?
• How cohesive was the worship?
  Did it function well as a whole?
  How effective was each of the individual elements in fulfilling its purpose?
• How balanced was the worship?
  What themes/topics/doctrines/areas of Christian life were included?
• How did the worship connect with your context/contemporary issues?
  Was it relevant in the everyday lives of those attending and in the wider parish/ community?
  How well did the worship connect with local and national issues?
  How well did the worship connect with world events/issues?
• What have I learned that can help me next time I plan and deliver worship?

Useful links

You can listen to samples of every song in the Church Hymnary 4th edition (CH4) and download a selection of recordings for use in worship in our online hymnary.

You can find an introduction to spiritual styles in our worship resources section

You are free to download, project, print and circulate multiple copies of any of this material for use in worship services, bible studies, parish magazines, etc., but reproduction for commercial purposes is not permitted.

Please note that the views expressed in these materials are those of the individual writer and not necessarily the official view of the Church of Scotland, which can be laid down only by the General Assembly.