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The Village Shepherd

Janice Scott ... The Village Shepherd

After being ordained in 1994 with the first wave of women priests, Janice became curate in a large city centre parish in Norwich and from there, moved to South Norfolk in 1999 as Rector of a rural benefice of six parishes. After completing her MA in Pastoral Theology with the Cambridge Theological Foundation in 2008 she was appointed Honorary Canon of Norwich Cathedral. Janice now lives with her husband Ian just outside Norwich. In addition to her diocesan work and writing "The Village Shepherd," she is a freelance writer for Redemptorist Publications in the UK. She has also written and broadcasts "Pause For Thought" on a local radio station and has written several novels, all with a church background.

Proper 23 | Ordinary Time 28 - B

Children's Liturgy and Story

Mark 10:17-31

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

The rich man asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" As we explore that question in our worship today, let us open ourselves to Jesus and listen for his response to us.

Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes we hang on so tightly to the things that we want, that we don't leave room for you.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes we're unaware when our centre is firmly fixed on something other than you.
Christ, have mercy.

Jesus, help us to let go of everything that prevents us from truly embracing you in our hearts.
Lord, have mercy.

Children's Story

Mark 10:17-31

Janice B. Scott
Nutman was very excited. He always rose from his bed much earlier than any of the other squirrels, and he loved to go exploring miles away from the dray which was his home. He had discovered a rich source of all different kinds of nuts, and he had the feeling this would be his best autumn ever.

Intercession

Mark 10:17-31

Janice B. Scott
Prayers usually include these concerns and may follow this sequence:



These responses may be used:




Let us pray for the Church and for the world, and let us thank God for his goodness.

Almighty God our heavenly father, you promised through your Son Jesus Christ to hear us when we pray in faith.

All-seeing God, we need you to be at the very centre of the church's life, yet so often we are beset by money problems. We spend hours trying to work out how to make ends meet, and often we suffer a subsequent loss of spiritual energy. All-seeing God, show us our destructive patterns so that we can change and through our difficulties, grow ever closer to you.

Sermon

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Janice B. Scott
In the film, "Bruce Almighty", Bruce Nolan, a 'human interest' television reporter is discontented with almost everything in life. At the end of the worst day in his life, Bruce angrily ridicules and rages against God, and God responds. God appears in human form, endows Bruce with all of God's divine powers and challenges Bruce to take on God's work to see if he can do it any better. The film is a comedy, but it highlights some basic human reactions to God, reactions which are as old as life itself. Many of us rage against God when things go wrong in our own lives and ridicule God over natural disasters. Any natural disaster seems to act as a clarion call for derision of the idea that there might be a God, for how could a God of love allow such suffering?

Sermon

Mark 10:17-31

Janice B. Scott
As my family will tell you, with groans, I've always been tempted by shortcuts. I tend to look either for the quickest way to get from A to B, or to veer off on to what appears to be an attractive and unusual and exciting path. And I have an intense dislike of reading instructions!

We've had some interesting results in our time. Many of my so-called shortcuts have taken us miles out of our way, because my sense of direction has never been particularly well developed. Often, when we've been on foot, the "shortcut" has been exceedingly arduous, struggling through difficult terrain, and taking a long time about it.

Sermon

Hebrews 4:12-16

Janice B. Scott
I was watching yet another television programme on near-death experiences. They are rather fascinating, not least because Christianity has been telling the world for the last 2,000 years that we live on in a new kind of life after death, yet these programmes make it sound as if this incredible thought is new.

In this particular programme, all but one of those who had "died" had found it a very enriching experience. They all described a feeling of such love and peace suffusing them that they didn't want to return to this earth. One young man in particular was very angry when he regained consciousness, for he had felt himself being pulled back and he definitely didn't want to come!

But it was the man who talked about judgment who

What is The Village Shepherd?

The Village Shepherd offers sermons, bible stories, children's stories and prayers based on the Revised Common Lectionary. These inspirational sermons, stories, and prayers are sure to touch your heart, because they reflect the simple virtues and tranquil serenity that characterize Reverend Scott's English countryside pastorate. The questions "Where is God in this particular situation?" and "Where does the Gospel story cross our own human story?" are always at the heart of these meditations -- but rather than finding overt answers, instead you will be gently led to make your own connections and discover the powerful ways in which God works. Janice Scott has the unique ability to find interesting details in ordinary life that illuminate scripture, while still challenging even the most intellectual reader. And that gift is precisely what also makes her an outstanding communicator with children.

Most weeks include:

  • Sermon based on the Gospel reading
  • Sermon based on the Epistle reading
  • Sermon based on the First reading
  • Children's stories linked with the Gospel readings
  • Children's liturgy and story (a different story than mentioned above)
  • An intercessory prayer
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
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Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 21
30 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
29 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
2 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 | OT 29 | Pentecost 22
31 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
34 – Children's Sermons / Resources
22 – Worship Resources
30 – Commentary / Exegesis
2 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 23
32 – Sermons
180+ – Illustrations / Stories
33 – Children's Sermons / Resources
21 – Worship Resources
30 – Commentary / Exegesis
2 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
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(No credit card needed.)

New & Featured This Week

CSSPlus

John Jamison
Object: A sewing needle, a larger, darning needle, and a stuffed animal. You could use a stuffed camel if you have one, but I used a stuffed bear.

* * *

Hello, everyone! (Let them respond.) Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) Excellent!

The Immediate Word

Mary Austin
Dean Feldmeyer
Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
George Reed
Katy Stenta
For October 13, 2024:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

David Coffin
A younger clergy colleague once shared in our ministerial group that people in his generation do not like using the phone (despite an abundance of cellphones) to communicate. They prefer text messaging or email because they do not want to have to watch their words in modern telephone etiquette. They grow weary of gender identity, definitions of what is and is not politically correct change rapidly and vary in differing communities with diverse core values.
Mark Ellingsen
Bonnie Bates
Frank Ramirez
Bill Thomas
Job 23:1-9, 16-17

StoryShare

Frank Ramirez
“If I go forward, he is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive him; on the left he hides, and I cannot behold him; I turn to the right, but I cannot see him. But he knows the way I take….” (vv. 8-10)

You don’t have to be able to see something for it to be there. You may not fully understand what it is, for it to be fully what it is. And sometimes it’s a little child that leads you down a rabbit hole and onto a journey of discovery towards something you hadn’t imagined!

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

The rich man asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" As we explore that question in our worship today, let us open ourselves to Jesus and listen for his response to us.

Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes we hang on so tightly to the things that we want, that we don't leave room for you.
Lord, have mercy.

SermonStudio

Mark Ellingsen
Theme of the Day
Taking sin seriously.

Collect of the Day
Petitions are offered to increase the gift of faith that believers might forsake the past to reach out to the future, following the commandments and receiving the crown of everlasting joy. Sanctification (worked by grace as a gift) and eschatology are emphasized.

Psalm of the Day
Psalm 22:1-14
* See Good Friday.
James Evans
(See Good Friday, Cycle A; Good Friday, Cycle B; and Lent 2, Cycle B, for alternative approaches.)

Psalm 22, perhaps more than any other text in the Bible, gives eloquent expression to the loneliness and isolation which comes from experiencing God's absence. We can debate the reality of a theology of abandonment, arguing back and forth whether or not God ever actually does abandon us. But whether God moves or not, there are clearly times in life when we feel completely alone. This psalm gives voice to that feeling.

Stephen M. Crotts
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.
H. Alan Stewart
Ancient people were terrorized by the thought of God. We have to strain our minds and our imaginations to try to conceive of the confusion and fear that people of antiquity faced when trying to get to know and understand God. They looked at the weather, the storms and the peaceful days, their own lives, the times of the year, and the way nature unfolded and tried to understand God.

They did not have Jesus Christ and his teachings, so they looked upon bad things as tests and punishments by God for the behavior of their lives.
Paul W. F. Harms
Adolph Hitler had a dream of a thousand-year empire. The years may make us forget too soon and too easily the terror that was Adolph Hitler. The terror was that this little man, not in stature alone, but in smallness of mind, had managed to do in an extraordinary degree what others had done before him, and what we are all capable of doing. What he did, says Kenneth Burke, was to make virtue vice, and vice virtue.

Special Occasion

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