Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Christians need to show determination in adversity and in the face of rejection. The Canaanite woman’s encounter with Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel is difficult for us because Jesus’ behaviour towards her, on the face of it, is rude to the point of being outrageous. Nevertheless, through her determination, in the face of Jesus’ initial rejection of her pleas, her wish is granted by him. Rev. Geoff McKee (in his sermon for 20 August 2017) discusses the lessons we can draw from her persistence, for our own lives.

If you would like to download a PDF version of the sermon – which follows below – please click here.

Matthew 15:10-28 (New International Version)

10 Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen and understand. 11 What goes into someone’s mouth does not defile them, but what comes out of their mouth, that is what defiles them.”

12 Then the disciples came to him and asked, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?”

13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”

15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”

16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”

The Faith of a Canaanite Woman
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly.”

23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”

24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.”

25 The woman came and knelt before him. “Lord, help me!” she said.

26 He replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

27 “Yes it is, Lord,” she said. “Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”

28 Then Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

At 25 years, Poon Lim was appointed second steward on a British Merchant Ship.

There were a crew of 55 when the ship left Cape Town on 23rd November 1942. A few days later, a Nazi U-boat torpedoed them.

The ship was sinking and on seeing this, Poon jumped overboard. The ship sank into the ocean and Poon tried to gasp for air in between the waves. He found a raft after two hours of struggle, swam to it and hauled himself on board. [Read more…]

Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for 13 August 2017 deals with the well-known passage in Matthew’s Gospel when Jesus walks on the water – and Peter gets out of the boat, which is a faith lesson to us all.

Click here to download a pdf version of the sermon, if you wish.

[Read more…]

The well-known story of the Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew 14:13-21) is the scriptural basis for Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for 06 August 2017. He explains the background to the story and the significance of its “wilderness” setting. He also discusses the issue of miracles, generally, given that a miraculous number of people were fed with the raw materials available (and there were leftovers). You can download a PDF version of the sermon, if you wish, by clicking here.

Matthew 14:13-21 (New International Version)

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

When on holiday in Northumberland recently we visited the beautiful market town of Alnwick with its stunning castle, the home of the Duke of Northumberland.

Alnwick also has a very fine second-hand bookshop and, on a rainy day, a browse there helps to pass the time. I’ve bought at least one book every time I’ve visited, over the years.

But my latest purchase from the shop wasn’t a book at all but a CD box set of Richard Strauss’ Salome.

I’m not very familiar with Richard Strauss’ music and I wanted to explore it a bit and so I bought the recording second-hand. I can’t say that I’m enjoying listening to it. [Read more…]

This is Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for Sunday 30 July 2017, continuing the look at Jesus’ parables, as related in Matthew’s Gospel. This week’s discussion covers several short parables. Click here if you would like to download a PDF version of the sermon.

Matthew 13:31-33 (New International Version)

The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast
31 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” 33 He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Matthew 13:44-52

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

The Parable of the Net
47 “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. 49 This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous 50 and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 “Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked. “Yes,” they replied. 52 He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

In the dark years of the Apartheid regime in South Africa, sometime in the early 1980s, Archbishop Desmond Tutu was interviewed on television.

In that interview, he said the following curious thing:

“When the white people arrived, we had the land and they had the Bible. They said, ‘Let us pray.’ When we opened our eyes, they had the land and we had the Bible. And we got the better of the deal.” [Read more…]