Today's Service: 18 July
Leader: Dorothy Thomson
This is best viewed in Landscape orientation
You will appreciate the sound better if you use earphones or an external loudspeaker, whatever type of device you view on.
In preparation for the service you may wish to get out your cotton wool balls, paper plates, doyleys, pompoms and glue.
Opening words - taken from Psalm 89:
I will sing of the LORD's great love forever;
with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.
I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself.
The heavens praise your wonders, LORD,
your faithfulness too, in the assembly of the holy ones.
For who in the skies above can compare with the LORD?
Who is like the LORD among the heavenly beings?
In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared;
he is more awesome than all who surround him. Who is like you, LORD God Almighty?
You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
Hymn 590 - In heavenly love abiding
tune: Penlan, with intro.
1. In heavenly love abiding, no change my heart shall fear.
And safe in such confiding, for nothing changes here.
The storm may roar without me, my heart may low be laid,
But God is round about me, and can I be dismayed?
2. Wherever He may guide me, no want shall turn me back.
My Shepherd is beside me, and nothing can I lack.
His wisdom ever waking, His sight is never dim.
He knows the way He's taking, and I will walk with Him.
3. Green pastures are before me, which yet I have not seen.
Bright skies will soon be over me, where darkest clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure, my path to life is free.
My Saviour has my treasure, and He will walk with me.
Anna L Waring (1823 - 1910)
Let us pray
As we come before you this morning we acknowledge your greatness. Who is like You Lord God Almighty? And yet you still love us and have declared your faithfulness and abiding love. We thank you that even through the storms of life we can trust in you. We can, with confidence, move forward knowing that you 'will walk' with us.
As we come out of a year or more of strict restrictions guide us through the weeks ahead. We know that we do not always get things right and we are sorry when we do or say things that are not helpful to others or ourselves. Help us to be more mindful of you standing beside us, guiding our actions and words.
Father we thank you that we have been able to worship despite the restrictions, perhaps not in the way we are used to, but we have still been able to 'gather' 'virtually' and worship. We pray that we may soon be able to gather together in our church buildings to worship in person.
And so Lord we lay our worship before you this morning and pray that you would quieten our hearts, still our minds and open our eyes to your message. Amen
Reading: Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life
As you might imagine the theme of this morning's family talk is 'being a shepherd'. I suspect I would have challenged you to recognise different breeds of sheep, they may even have been hidden around the church for the 'shepherds' to find.
I would probably have had a shepherd's crook and asked for suggestions as to how a shepherd might use it (carefully supervised of course) -undoubtedly we would have been making sheep in Junior church - so if you are reading this, and are so tempted, perhaps you could make a sheep and send a photo of it to me. ( I have included a few artistic suggestions at the end of the service)
The 23rd Psalm is perhaps one of the best known of all the psalms and we use a paraphrase of it for our next hymn
Hymn 552 - The King of Love my Shepherd is
tune: 'Dominus regit me', with full verse intro.
1. The King of love my shepherd is,
whose goodness faileth never.
I nothing lack if I am his,
and he is mine forever.
2. Where streams of living water flow,
my ransomed soul he leadeth;
and where the verdant pastures grow,
with food celestial feedeth.
3. Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed,
but yet in love he sought me;
and on his shoulder gently laid,
and home, rejoicing, brought me.
4. In death's dark vale I fear no ill,
with thee, dear Lord, beside me;
thy rod and staff my comfort still,
thy cross before to guide me.
5. Thou spreadst a table in my sight;
thy unction grace bestoweth;
and oh, what transport of delight
from thy pure chalice floweth!
6. And so through all the length of days,
thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
within thy house forever.
H W Baker (1821 - 77)
Prayers
Some years ago, we had a prayer sheep in the church. It was a drawing of a sheep and a bowl of cottonwool balls. Members of the congregation were invited to come up and add a ball to the sheep, in doing so adding their own quiet prayer to the service.
Perhaps you have some ‘cottonwool ball’ prayers today – in your minds-eye add them to the sheep for the shepherd to deal with.
Father we bring before you the concerns of our heart.
(a time of quiet for you to bring your cottonwool balls to God)
Dear Lord
We pray for all who may feel a little anxious about the lifting of restrictions - enfold them in your love giving them the confidence to be out and about again,
We pray for all who are dealing with health issues - may they know your healing.
For those dealing with grief - may they know your comfort. We think especially this morning of the family and friends of Kath Hanson who passed away last week.
For those worrying about financial issues - guide them to find the correct help and support.
Lord open our eyes to see those around us who may need our help, a kind word or thoughtful action.
We pray for the building at Northgate - we thank you for the expertise of those dealing with the structural issues and pray that they may be resolved quickly and that we may be able to once again worship there.
Amen
'Father, hear the prayer we offer' - another hymn using the themes of Psalm 23:
Hymn 495 - Father Hear the prayer we offer
tune: Sussex, with full verse intro.
1. Father, hear the prayer we offer:
not for ease that prayer shall be,
but for strength that we may ever
live our lives courageously.
2. Not for ever in green pastures
do we ask our way to be;
but the steep and rugged pathway
may we tread rejoicingly.
3. Not for ever by still waters
would we idly rest and stay;
but would smite the living fountains
from the rocks along our way.
4. Be our strength in hours of weakness,
in our wanderings be our guide;
through endeavour, failure, danger,
Father, be thou at our side.
Love Maria Willis (1824 - 1908) & others
Reflection
Psalm 23 is attributed to David; in it he identifies with the loving caring role of God, referring to him as 'my shepherd'.
"The Lord is my shepherd" - to me there is a huge amount to unwrap in that short statement. It is a statement that we so often use and sing about in our worship - but in those 5 words we can begin to understand what God is.
The Lord - as we heard in our opening words Who is like you, LORD God Almighty? You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you. David uses the wording The Lord, not a lord, some lord, but THE LORD. The one and only.
Is - not might be, not was, not will be, but IS! real time! Now! God is. Scripture tells us He is, was and is to come, but for today He IS
My - personal, He is for me, he understands me, He knows me (and how many people do you know who truly know you? as humans we are experts at being who we think others want us to be) but the word 'my' shows us that God is personal to each of us.
Shepherd - the role of a shepherd is to tend, herd, feed, and guard the sheep. Tend to their needs; ensure the herd stays together and no one gets lost; ensure there is plenty of food for them: and guard against danger.
God in his heavenly love abides with us He is our protector, defender, provider, carer.
Wow what a lot in just 5 words. The Lord is my shepherd!
As we continue to read the rest of the psalm we can take encouragement in its words.
He makes me lie down in green pasture ands leads me beside still water - a safe, secure place to be in His presence.
He restores my soul - if we allow Him to do so. We are often so busy trying to 'be' that we forget to lie down and rest in God's love. In doing so He restores our soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness - God will always lead us down the right path, however, we don't always follow. When we choose to go our own way we all too often stray of the path of righteousness.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley - We will go through dark times, life will not always be easy and we will be challenged. And yet we can have confidence in God
I fear no evil - why? Because God is with us - again that word is.
Your rod and staff comfort me - the shepherd crook is used to care for the sheep God is not going to let us down His rod and staff are there to uphold us, to comfort us, to protect us.
You prepare a table for me - God will provide
You anoint my head with oil - apparently shepherds use to anoint the sheep's' head with oil to protect them from sunstroke and parasite. Later in new testament oil was used to anoint the sick. This is God's promise to care for his flock.
And the psalm finishes with a promise I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
If you, like me, are so familiar with this psalm perhaps you too have forgotten the real blessing of it. As I prepared today's worship I was encouraged that even the most familiar of words can become new and fresh in God's light.
Being a Shepherd is no easy task. Unlike sheep, who tend to follow each other, humans have free will. It is that free will that often leads us away from the paths of righteousness and yet God, through Jesus Christ, provided us with the greatest of shepherds. The Lord is my shepherd.
Amen
Hymn 603 - Lord for the years
tune: Lord of the years, with intro.
1. Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided,
Urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way,
Sought us and saved us, pardoned and provided:
Lord of the years, we bring our thanks today.
2. Lord, for that word, the word of life which fires us,
Speaks to our hearts and sets our souls ablaze,
Teaches and trains, rebukes us and inspires us:
Lord of the word, receive Your people's praise.
3. Lord, for our land in this our generation,
Spirits oppressed by pleasure, wealth and care:
For young and old, for commonwealth and nation,
Lord of our land, be pleased to hear our prayer.
4. Lord, for our world when we disown and doubt him,
Loveless in strength, and comfortless in pain,
Hungry and helpless, lost indeed without him:
Lord of the world, we pray that Christ may reign.
5. Lord for ourselves; in living power remake us -
Self on the cross and Christ upon the throne,
Past put behind us, for the future take us:
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.
Timothy Dudley-Smith (b. 1926)
Blessing
Jesus you are the Shepherd over this flock
keep us in thy shelter and fold,
bless us beneath your own glorious mantle,
be our Shield of protection, and guard us throughout the coming week
Amen
Next week, the service will be led by Revd Dr John Elliston
Don't forget the live streamed hymns on Sundays at 10:45 a.m. from Zöe (via the 'Northgate URC Darlington' Facebook page)
These are available to view later as well. (via YouTube, for those without Facebook, and also Facebook)
The streamings are a great success - well done, Zöe!
The recorded streamings are now, thanks to Harry Marshall, available to all on YouTube - search for 'Northgate URC Darlington'.
Ask Harry to invite you to the Northgate Facebook Group 
and you will get a notification of the live stream.
- Or you can just search for 'Northgate URC Darlington' in Facebook.
The URC denominational church audio Services (podcasts) at https://devotions.urc.org.uk/ are excellent, with well-delivered prayers and readings using a selection of voices and well-presented hymns.
Do give these a try - they are excellent.
(Just start the sound playing and scroll down to the written words)
Why not put the time aside for Zoe at 10:45, our preacher's service after that and follow up with the podcast - you will feel as if you had been IN church, as well as WITH church.
As we begin to come out of the most unusual 16 months - 16 months of restrictions, hand sanitiser, face mask, isolation etc.. - I am reminded that throughout it all God's faithfulness has been evident.
Who is like the Lord God Almighty, He is awesome! His love stands forever.
We can abide in that love, trusting His faithfulness - even when 'storms rage around us' He will guide and protect he will be 'our shepherd' and is always 'beside us'.