Tag: Bible

Virtual Prayers Monday 17 August 2026

by Bellshill Central, posted in Prayer items

Welcome and Prayer of Welcome

Welcome. For the next few moments, let us set aside the things that occupy our minds.

There is nothing we need to prove to God.

We do not need to have the right words.

We simply come as we are.

Psalm 67 begins with a simple prayer:

“May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us.”

So let us begin by asking God to meet us where we are.

Prayer of Welcome

Loving God,
we come into your presence just as we are.

Some of us come with thankful hearts.
Some come carrying worries.
Some are tired.
Some are hopeful.
Some are uncertain about what lies ahead.

But you know each of us completely.

You know our joys and our disappointments,
our hopes and our fears,
the things we share with others
and the things we keep hidden within ourselves.

Thank you that we do not have to hide from you.

Be with us now.

Slow our thoughts.
Quiet our minds.
Open our hearts.

May this be a time when we become aware of your presence
and allow you to speak to us.

Amen.

Hymn 1

The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want

Invite people to sing reflectively, remembering that this is their personal prayer and response to God.

Prayer of Approach and Confession

Psalm 67 reminds us that God’s blessing is not simply something we receive and keep for ourselves.

God blesses us so that his ways may be known and his love may reach others.

Let us honestly bring our lives before God.

Prayer

God of grace,

I come before you now without pretending.

You know the person I am
and the person I would like to be.

You know the times when I have been generous
and the times when I have held back.

You know when I have spoken words of encouragement
and when my words have caused hurt.

You know when I have reached out
and when I have turned away.

Forgive me for the opportunities I have missed.

Forgive me for the times when fear has been stronger than faith.

Forgive me when I have allowed resentment,
pride or disappointment
to take root in my heart.

Forgive me for the times I have wanted your blessing
without being willing to become a blessing to someone else.

Help me to let go of what I need to let go of.

Help me to forgive where forgiveness is needed.

Help me to receive your forgiveness
and begin again.

A few moments of silence

Lord, may your face shine upon me.

May your grace renew me.

May your peace fill me.

Amen.

Psalm 67

Read Psalm 67:1–7 slowly.

After the reading, pause.

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
    and make his face shine on us—[b]
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
    your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
    for you rule the peoples with equity
    and guide the nations of the earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, God;
    may all the peoples praise you.

6 The land yields its harvest;
    God, our God, blesses us.
7 May God bless us still,
    so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.

Then say:

“May God be gracious to us and bless us.”

Take a moment to think about that personally.

Where do I need God’s blessing today?

Not someone else’s blessing.

Not the blessing of the whole church.

Where do I need God to meet me?

Perhaps in my family.

Perhaps in my work.

Perhaps in a relationship.

Perhaps in a decision I need to make.

Perhaps in something I am carrying silently.

Perhaps simply in my relationship with God.

Then:

Lord, receive the things I have brought before you.

Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Psalm 67 speaks of God’s blessing.

Let us now deliberately remember the blessings already present in our lives.

Prayer

Gracious God,

Thank you for the gift of life.

Thank you for the people who have loved me,
supported me and encouraged me.

Thank you for the people who have made a difference in my life,
perhaps without ever knowing how much they meant to me.

Thank you for home.

Thank you for friendship.

Thank you for laughter.

Thank you for memories.

Thank you for those ordinary moments
which can so easily be overlooked.

Thank you for the beauty of creation.

Thank you for music, for words, for silence,
for friendship and companionship.

Thank you for your church
and for the many ways people serve you.

Thank you for Jesus,
for his compassion,
his welcome,
his forgiveness
and his love.

Thank you that when I have struggled to find you,
you have never stopped looking for me.

For every blessing I can name,
and for every blessing I have forgotten to notice,

thank you.

Silence

Now, in the quietness, invite people to name silently three things they are personally thankful for.

Amen.

Psalm 133

Read Psalm 133, or verses 1 and 3.

“How good and pleasant it is
when God’s people live together in unity!”

Reflection:

Unity begins personally.

It begins with the way I speak.

The way I listen.

The way I forgive.

The assumptions I make about others.

The grudges I hold.

The willingness I have to understand someone whose experience is different from mine.

Ask yourself:

Is there someone I need to forgive?

Is there someone I need to encourage?

Is there someone I have judged too quickly?

Is there someone I need to reach out to?

Intercessions

Let us bring before God the people and situations that are on our hearts.

You may wish to name people silently as each prayer is offered.

For those we love

Lord, we pray for those closest to us.

For those who bring us joy.

For those who are struggling.

For relationships which are strong
and relationships which are difficult.

Bring healing where there is hurt
and understanding where there is disagreement.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

For those who are lonely

We remember those who feel forgotten.

Those who live alone.

Those who have lost someone they love.

Those who feel that nobody understands them.

Give them companionship, comfort and hope.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

For those who are struggling

We pray for those facing illness, uncertainty, financial worries, family difficulties or difficult decisions.

Give them strength for today
and hope for tomorrow.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

For our community

We pray for Bellshill, Mossend and the surrounding communities.

For those who serve others.

For schools, workplaces, community groups and organisations.

May our communities become places where people feel valued, safe and welcomed.

Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Prayer for BCPC

We pray now particularly for Bellshill Central Parish Church.

Prayer

God of blessing,

Thank you for Bellshill Central Parish Church.

Thank you for everyone who worships, serves, gives, prays and shares in its life.

Bless those who lead.

Bless those who serve quietly behind the scenes.

Bless our worship.

Bless our Young Church and our work with children and young people.

Bless our community connections.

Bless every person who comes through our doors.

Help us to become increasingly a church which welcomes, listens and serves.

Give us courage to look forward in faith.

Give us imagination to see new possibilities.

Give us patience when things are difficult.

Give us generosity when we are asked to serve.

And above all, keep Jesus at the heart of everything we do.

May the blessing we receive from you
become a blessing we share with others.

Amen.

Hymn 2

Brother, Sister, Let Me Serve You

Invite everyone to consider the words personally:

“How can I become a blessing to someone else?”

Personal Dedication and Response

Psalm 67 says:

“May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will revere him.”

God’s blessing is never meant to stop with us.

So let us offer ourselves to God.

Prayer

Lord,

Take what I have.

Take who I am.

Take my gifts, my time and my experience.

Use my words to encourage.

Use my hands to serve.

Use my presence to comfort.

Use my life to bring hope.

Where there is division,
help me to bring peace.

Where there is loneliness,
help me to bring friendship.

Where there is fear,
help me to bring courage.

Where there is despair,
help me to bring hope.

And wherever I go this week,

help me to remember:

I am blessed by you
so that I might become a blessing to others.

Amen.

Hymn 3

Make Me a Channel of Your Peace

This can serve as the final response before the blessing.

Blessing

Go from this time of prayer knowing that you are loved by God.

May you know God’s blessing in the ordinary moments of your life.

May his face shine upon you when you are joyful
and when you are struggling.

May he give you courage when the way ahead is uncertain.

May he give you patience with others
and compassion for yourself.

And may the God who calls us to live together in unity
make you an instrument of his peace,
his hope and his love.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you.
May the Lord turn his face towards you
and give you peace.

Amen.

Recording of Livestream Sunday 12th April 2026

by Bellshill Central, posted in Catch Up, Easter and Holy Week

Worship is led by Revd Jonathan Lyall, with our organist and choir.

The service takes the form of a Songs of Praise for Easter.

The readers are
Carole Muir, Elspeth Dornan and Naomi Dornan.

The choir items are
The Prayer, All in the April Evening and God so loved the world.

The concluding voluntary wasn’t included in the livestream due to a church meeting taking place, so the organist recorded it separately, so you could enjoy it!

I danced in the morning
when the world was begun,
and I danced in the moon
and the stars and the sun,
and I came down from heaven
and I danced on the earth —
at Bethlehem
I had my birth.
Dance then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
and I’ll lead you all, wherever you may be,
and I’ll lead you all in the Dance, said he.

4 I danced on a Friday
when the sky turned black —
it’s hard to dance
with the devil on your back.
They buried my body
and they thought I’d gone —
but I am the Dance
and I still go on.

5 They cut me down
and I leapt up high —
I am the life
that’ll never, never die.
I’ll live in you
if you’ll live in me,
I am the Lord
of the Dance, said he.


1 Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

2 Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they nailed him to the tree?

3 Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?

4 Were you there when God raised him from the dead?
Were you there when God raised him from the dead?
Oh! Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.
Were you there when God raised him from the dead?


1 Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain,
wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again,
like wheat that springeth green.

2 In the grave they laid him, Love whom men had slain,
thinking that never he would wake again,
laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:

3 Forth he came at Easter, like the risen grain,
he that for three days in the grave had lain,
quick from the dead my risen Lord is seen:

4 When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
thy touch can call us back to life again,
fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:


1 Rejoice! the Lord is King,
your Lord and King adore.
Mortals, give thanks and sing,
and triumph evermore:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice;
rejoice; again I say: Rejoice!

2 Jesus the Saviour reigns,
the God of truth and love;
when he had purged our stains,
he took his seat above:

3 His kingdom cannot fail;
he rules both earth and heaven;
the keys of death and hell
are to our Jesus given:

5 Rejoice in glorious hope,
for Christ, the Judge, shall come,
and take his servants up
to their eternal home:
We then shall hear the archangel’s voice;
the trump of God shall sound: Rejoice!


1 Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won;
angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes, where thy body lay.
Thine be the glory, risen, conquering Son,
endless is the victory thou o’er death hast won.

2 Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let the Church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
for her Lord now liveth; death hath lost its sting.

3 No more we doubt thee, glorious Prince of Life;
life is naught without thee: aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors, through thy deathless love:
bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.


1 And can it be, that I should gain
an interest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died he for me, who caused his pain —
for me, who him to death pursued?
* Amazing love! how can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

4 Long my imprisoned spirit lay
fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
thine eye diffused a quickening ray;
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
my chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed thee.

5 No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in him, is mine!
Alive in him, my living Head,
and clothed in righteousness divine,
bold I approach the eternal throne,
and claim the crown, through Christ, my own.

Virtual Prayers 29th December 2025

by Bellshill Central, posted in Prayer items

Call to Worship – First Sunday After Christmas

Leader: The Word has become flesh and dwells among us. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

People: We gather to rejoice in God’s gift of love, still bright in our hearts after Christmas Day.

Leader: Come, let us celebrate the Child who brings peace, the Saviour who brings hope, the Lord who brings life.

People: With grateful hearts and joyful voices, we come to worship the God who is with us— yesterday, today, and always.

All: Glory to God in the highest! Let heaven and earth rejoice, for Christ is born and Christ is here.

Prayer of Approach

God of light and life, we come before you still carrying the glow of Christmas joy. In the quiet after celebration, you meet us with peace that lingers and hope that does not fade.

As we gather in your presence, open our hearts to the wonder of the Word made flesh. Let the story of Christ’s birth shape our living, guide our choices, and renew our trust in your unfailing love.

Draw us close, O God, that we may hear your voice, receive your grace, and offer our worship with gratitude and joy. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Matthew 2:13-23 The Escape to Egypt

13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[a]

16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. 17 Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

18 “A voice is heard in Ramah,
    weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.”[b]

The Return to Nazareth

19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Psalm 148 – A Reflective Paraphrase

Praise rises from every corner of creation. From the highest heavens to the quietest places of earth, let all that exists turn its face toward God.

Sun and moon, steady in your courses— shine with gratitude. Stars scattered across the night— glimmer with praise. Skies above, vast and sheltering— hold your breath in wonder.

Let all things praise the One who spoke, and it was so; who commanded, and all things found their place.

Mountains lifting their heads to the sky, hills rolling gently across the land, oceans deep and mysterious, creatures great and small— praise the Lord.

Storm winds that obey His whisper, fire and frost, rain and snow, trees that root and rise, birds that soar and sing— praise the Lord.

People of every land and language, leaders and labourers, young and old, those who rejoice and those who seek hope— lift your hearts in praise.

For God’s name alone is holy, God’s glory stretches beyond the heavens, and God draws near to His people with strength, mercy, and love.

Let everything that has breath and everything that simply is offer praise to the Lord.

Responsive Reading – Psalm of Christmas Light

Leader: The Lord is our light and our salvation; the brightness of Christ still shines among us.

People: We walk in the glow of God’s love, and we rejoice in the hope Christ brings.

Leader: Though the world may grow weary, God’s faithfulness remains steadfast.

People: The Child of Bethlehem is our strength, our peace, and our joy.

Leader: Come, let us lift our hearts in praise, for God’s mercy is new every morning.

All: Glory be to God, whose light no darkness can overcome.

Intercession
Fathering, Mothering God,
We pray for all children who have never known
or who have lost the loving care and protection of their parents…
For all children whose days begin and end in fear and uncertainty…
For all children who have no one to care for their comfort and wellbeing…
For all children unsheltered and uncomforted…
For all children alone and afraid….

And we pray too for all those
who have lost someone they love
through actions driven by the fear and violence of others.

Fathering, Mothering God –
keep them all in Your sight,
hear their cries and right their wrongs,
now and in eternity. Amen

Benediction

May the peace of the Christ‑child rest upon you, the joy of the angels surround you, and the light of God guide your steps as you go into the days ahead.

And may the blessing of God Almighty— Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— be with you and remain with you always. Amen.