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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 25 | Ordinary Time 30 - B

Children's Liturgy and Story

Mark 10:46-52

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

They said to the blind man, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you." Jesus continues to call us today, so in our worship let us take heart, get up and respond to him.

Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes we don't hear you when you call.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes our hearts are low and we feel fed up and depressed.
Christ, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes you feel so far away that we are unable to respond to you.
Lord, have mercy.

Reading:

Mark 10:46-52

Children's Story

Mark 10:46-52

Janice B. Scott
Those who think they can see everything are often the ones who are really blind! The bystanders in this gospel story had far less insight and vision than Bartimaeus, who knew that the most important thing in the world was to get to Jesus. The bystanders didn't have that same priority, and did their best to stop Bartimaeus from achieving his burning desire.

This is a story about Greg and his friends, who discover they can't "see" quite as well as they thought.


It was Greg's birthday party, but he was utterly fed up. He'd been looking forward to this day for months and all his friends were coming, but his mother had suddenly dropped on him that she'd invited a girl! That was bad

Sermon

Hebrews 7:23-28

Janice B. Scott
I remember going to a Lent group years ago, where the priest gave all us lay folk a piece of paper and a pen and asked us to write down what we knew about Jesus. He didn't want us to write down what we'd been told about Jesus or read about Jesus, but simply what we knew for ourselves from our own experience.

I ended up with a blank sheet of paper, but one person wrote, "I know that Jesus saves me." That led onto an interesting discussion along the lines of: saves you from something? Or for something? How does Jesus save you? What does "Jesus saves me" actually mean? As I recall, nobody had much idea what the words meant, but it was in car-sticker vogue at the time.

Sermon

Mark 10:46-52

Janice B. Scott
I once gave a talk to a small group in a remote Norfolk village. While I was talking, no one in the group reacted in any way. They didn't smile or frown or indicate in any way whether or not they were even listening. They just sat there, without a flicker. It was a real struggle for me because I couldn't detect any response.

Sometimes I feel like that about God; as though I'm doing all the talking, but I don't know whether or not he's listening. I can't get a feel of God's presence, so that prayer becomes a real struggle because I can't detect any response.

I've often wondered why communicating with God should be so difficult. Why do I sometimes feel that I'm talking to myself? Why doesn't God reply? Why

Sermon

Job 42:1-6, 10-17

Janice B. Scott
Years ago, children used to enjoy crazes in the school playground. At various seasons of the year there would be a craze for conkers, a craze for marbles, a craze for skipping, a craze for juggling with a couple of sorbo rubber balls, a craze for yo-yos, a craze for hoola-hoops and so on. I never knew quite how the current craze started, but once it was under way every child in the school seemed to join in. At the time the crazes seemed supremely important, but they faded as quickly as they began and were soon followed by other crazes.

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
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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...
Signup for FREE!
(No credit card needed.)

New & Featured This Week

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John Jamison
Object: A coin to flip.

* * *

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

The Immediate Word

Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Christopher Keating
Dean Feldmeyer
George Reed
Tom Willadsen
For October 27, 2024:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Bonnie Bates
Mark Ellingsen
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
God’s presence changed Job. George Bush was changed by faith from a party-boy alcoholic to a serious politician, a governor, and finally our president. Famed 20th-century Catholic theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin so powerfully expressed this awesomeness of God. He wrote:
Wayne Brouwer
In Morris West’s novel The Clowns of God, there’s a powerful scene where a father and his daughter are having an argument. She tells him that she’s going to go to Paris to live with her boyfriend. He won’t let her. Why would she want to do something like that?

“Because I’m afraid,” she says. 

“Afraid? Whatever are you afraid of?”

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
“God hates me,” Tim announced to the empty room. He picked up the baseball sitting next to his bed and tossed it in his hand. He had come all this way to play ball. This was his dream. He had worked hard, he had trained, he had done everything his coach said he needed to do.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Those who think they can see everything are often the ones who are really blind! The bystanders in this gospel story had far less insight and vision than Bartimaeus, who knew that the most important thing in the world was to get to Jesus. The bystanders didn't have that same priority, and did their best to stop Bartimaeus from achieving his burning desire.

This is a story about Greg and his friends, who discover they can't "see" quite as well as they thought.


It was Greg's birthday party, but he was utterly fed up. He'd been

SermonStudio

Hugh H. Drennan
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
"The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
Patrick J. Rooney
Heads bowed, hands clasped, the words are spoken softly and gently. A prayer is lifted up for this need, for that person, for those in trouble or affliction. There is need, want, despair -- for someone or for many. A hope is voiced that God will intervene, help, safeguard, or assist. Then, with these needs and wants laid before God, the prayer ends, "In Jesus' name we pray. Amen." That's it; that's the assurance that God will hear us, for this prayer is being offered in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who is the one interceding for us before the throne of God.

Mary S. Lautensleger
Playwright Neil Simon has written a comedy, God's Favorite, based on a contemporary Job, a tycoon whom Simon names "Joe Benjamin" or "Joe B." for short. The setting is Long Island, where Joe B. lives in a nineteen-room mansion with his wife, a prodigal son, and a pair of kooky twins. The family's assets include priceless paintings, irreplaceable antiques, including a Gutenberg Bible, half a million dollars in jewelry, swimming pools, and domestic servants.

John R. Brokhoff
Robert W. Stackel
When six nations of eastern Europe were freed from the domination of totalitarian Communism in 1989, there was wild celebration by the people in the streets. They sang, they shouted, they marched, they danced in the streets, they laughed, they hugged each other. This was the happiest time of their lives. They were freed from decades of living under uncompromising dictatorships. Now they could speak out openly about how they felt, and they could march and shout their protests to a hated regime. It was a celebration the like of which they had never before experienced.
William G. Carter
A cigar-chomping realtor was driving around a young couple to search for their first dream house. After listening to their concerns about mortgage points, maintenance costs, and school systems, he decided to give them a bit of advice. "I've been selling homes for 23 years," he said, "and I've discovered only three things matter when you're buying a home: location, location, location."

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