Oldmachar Church

@oldmacharchurch.bsky.social

479 Followers 918 Following

A welcoming, inclusive Christian community, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in Bridge of Don, Aberdeen, Scotland ✝️🏳️‍🌈 https://linktr.ee/oldmacharchurch?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=0cce1c0a-cc5c-443 All are welcome and all belong.

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Big-hearted God, brimming with ideas, You dreamed up a world, a cosmos, that is colourful, dramatic, alive, full of spirit, Your Spirit.
Soak us in Your beauty, dear God, and accept our wonder and gratitude that You call us Your children and Your friends.
The Church of Scotland

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
The Lord is good to all,
and his compassion is over all that he has made.
Psalm 145:8-9
The Church of Scotland

Generous God,
we are glad there are days it's so easy to say thank You.
We are glad You understand the days when all around seems like bad news.
So, whether our thanks come easy today or it's hard to see the positives, we know You hear us and love us.
The Church of Scotland

We pray for those who have more than enough,
that they will not take their comfort for granted or lose touch with neighbours living on less,
but choose to follow Your example in quiet and unadvertised giving.
Thank You, for all who are habitually philanthropic.
The Church of Scotland

We pray for those who do not have enough,
but are hungry in body thirsty for affection and company and hope,
anxious because of low income.
Bear them up
and embolden them to speak out and do not let us rest
as long as inequality persists,
but work for peace and justice to prevail.
The Church of Scotland

Keep us bighearted, good God.
Come and help us
when we find it hard to forgive; come and console us when we meet with disappointment;
come and brighten us
when the colours fade and we get jaded.
The Church of Scotland

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives
in love lives in God, and God in them.
1 John 4:16
The Church of Scotland

Loving God, make us passionate people for You.
Let us draw strength from the passionate people
who have walked this way before us.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Loving God, keep strong our faith and enliven our witness that the Church of Jesus Christ
may prosper and that many come to find for themselves the love of God from which nothing can separate us.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

We pray for our wonderful and troubled world.
In some places the violence of war tramples and crushes the seeds of peace.
In others the bread may rise but it is not shared and people go hungry.
We seek the growth of reconciliation and the flowering of justice.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Loving God, we confess that too often we turn to You with impossible demands.
We ask the God of justice for more than our fair share.
We drain from others that which they need to survive.
We put our trust in the passing, flimsy things of this world when we should trust You.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Loving God, who gives wisdom to those who are wise enough to ask for nothing more,
we gather in Your presence, seeking to discern what You would do through us in the Kingdom's cause.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

When we cry, 'Abba! Father!' it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ - if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.
Romans 8: 15-17
The Church of Scotland

Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart to revere your name. I give thanks to you, o Lord my God, with my whole heart,
and I will glorify your name for ever.
For great is your steadfast love towards me; you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
Psalm 86:11-13
The Church of Scotland

May the patient love of God steady your heart, guide your steps,
and give you hope as you grow in grace.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Loving God, we pray for all who wait: those waiting for healing, for justice, for peace. We pray for communities divided by judgement and fear.
We pray for creation itself, groaning for renewal. Give endurance, hope, and trust in Your faithful love.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

We thank You, God of steadfast love, for Your patience with us, for growth we do not always see, for hope that carries us through waiting.
We praise You that Your purposes unfold in mercy.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

God of gentle judgement, we confess our impatience.
We rush to conclusions, we judge before understanding, we try to do Your work for You.
Forgive us when we fail to trust Your timing.
Teach us the kindness that reflects Your righteousness.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

A window in our church with writing on and its shadow.

Rev Darren doing the actions up the front of the church wearing a sailor outfit.

Patient and gracious God,
You, whose power is shown in kindness, gather us into Your presence.
Still our hurried minds and restless hearts, that we may learn again Your way of mercy,
and worship You with undivided hearts.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Isaiah 55:12
The Church of Scotland

God who cares for all creation, we pray for places where the balance of the natural world is fragile - where there is too little water, or too much,
and where lives are affected as a result.
We pray for communities facing uncertainty,
for those whose lives are marked by judgement or exclusion,
and for those seeking a new beginning.
The Church of Scotland

God of abundance,
we give thanks for the gifts that sustain us, for water and food, for growth and renewal,
for the quiet work of Your Spirit in our lives.
We give thanks for signs of hope, for unexpected beginnings,
for moments of change and possibility.
The Church of Scotland

God of grace,
we acknowledge that we do not always receive what You give.
We are distracted, or guarded, or uncertain.
We recognise the ways in which we have closed ourselves off,
and the ways in which we may have made it harder for others to find space to grow.
The Church of Scotland

By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains;
you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples.
Psalm 65: 5-7
The Church of Scotland

You bid us rest,
not so that we can simply regroup and replenish.
You bid us rest in You
so that we can be reminded of Your love and Your desire to hold us close.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Lord, teach us to pray...
Teach us to pray with abandon, not to limit our requests but to pray big, for the impossible.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Bless all who worship You, almighty God, from the rising of the sun to its setting: from Your goodness enrich us, by Your love inspire us, by Your spirit guide us, by Your power protect us, in Your mercy receive us, now and always.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

When the excitement of achievement wears off,
Christ, You bid us rest.
When we've given all we have to give
Christ, You bid us rest.
When our resources seem exhausted
Christ You bid us rest.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Lord, teach us to pray...
Teach us to pray with courage Courage that names injustice, calls it out, admits our complicity and prays for lasting change.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

God, You persist in calling us back to that which we know instinctively, that we are loved.
Loved as we are
and called to rest in You.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

We give You thanks, O Lord, for the many ways in which You provide for us.
The material blessings we enjoy and which we too often take for granted.
For the company and fellowship we enjoy, for the people who bless and enrich our lives beyond measure.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Give us, we pray, a deeper holiness in speech, thought, and action,
and let our lives more fully reflect Your grace and beauty,
so that our lives would overflow with the living water of Your Holy Spirit.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Lord, we seek
to live in Your light and Your strength,
but we confess that there are times when our steps are faltering, times when our trust in You wavers.
Lord we would ask that You give us a deeper trust.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Loving, Heavenly Father,
we come and bow in Your presence, offering our prayers and worship to You.
We acknowledge that You are the one who has created all things, and to who we all owe our existence, our life.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Compassionate and ever-loving Lord, we thank You, that in
Your mercy, You have brought us together today to worship You, the one true, holy and everlasting Lord.
We ask that You would give us the grace to grow in knowledge of You.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

O Lord, our sovereign how majestic is Your name in all the earth.
You have set Your glory above the heavens.
We praise You that in love You have created this wonderful universe and that in love You have given
us life, so that we may know Your love and care for Your creation.
The Church of Scotland

We lift up our eyes to the hills, from where does our help come?
It comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth, the One who neither sleeps nor slumbers and who keeps us from all evil.
We come with honesty and with trust for we have seen God's love, authority and glory in Jesus.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
Psalm 91:1-2
The Church of Scotland

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13
The Church of Scotland

May God bless us with encounters that turn strangers into neighbours, that turn fear into friendships, that turn hatred into hospitality, that turn pain into peace.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Lord Jesus, You break down the walls that divide us, walls of hostility that blind us to one another.
You died that we may be one.
Thank You for Your great and merciful love, we trust You.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

I refuse to be discouraged.
I receive spiritual encouragement to go forward.
Lord, everywhere I go, I will not be alone because You are always with me.
I will not give up, in Jesus' name.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Thank You God for always coming to meet us where we are, at our best, at our worst, in ordinariness, in crisis, You welcome us and offer help and healing.
In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

May God walk with refugees as God walked with Abraham.
May Christ protect those who were forced out of their homeland as Christ experienced displacement since His birth.
May the Holy Spirit lead and comfort those who are willing to lose everything, but keep the faith.
Amen.
The Church of Scotland

Give others the love you’d hope to receive. #RefugeeWeek

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil, cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9
The Church of Scotland

Love one another, change the world. #RefugeeWeek

Love builds bridges, hate build walls. #refugeeweek

Loving God,
Incline Your ear toward us now and hear our prayers.
You meet us in our need and in our sin - in those times when we have made bad decisions or ignored Your prompting and guiding and failed to work for love and for peace.
When we have declined Your
invitation to bring peace, or to comfort, or to act in justice and mercy.
Forgive us, we pray.
The Church of Scotland

STRANGERS BECOME NEIGHBOURS, NEIGHBOURS BECOME
FRIENDS.
Refugee
Week

Loving and Living God, may Your peace, may Your love, may Your hope,
find each of us exactly where we are.
May it be real in the hearts and homes of all those in our communities and in the faraway places of the world, those places we do not think of enough, or try to block out and ignore because it seems like too much.
The Church of Scotland

Where love lives, all belong. You have a place here. Rainbow coloured text, and hearts.

EVERY FRIENDSHIP
STARTS WITH A WELCOME
Refugee
Week