Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

This is text of the sermon by Margaret King (Bellie and Speymouth Parish Church, Fochabers / Mosstodloch) at St James’ on Sunday 24 January 2016.

The scriptural references are: Psalm 19: 1-4, 7-9; Nehemiah 8: 1-10; Luke 4: 14-21 (New International Version (NIV)).

Psalm 19
For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.

Nehemiah 8: 1-10

8 1 all the people came together as one in the square before the Water Gate. They told Ezra the teacher of the Law to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded for Israel.

2 So on the first day of the seventh month Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. 3 He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

4 Ezra the teacher of the Law stood on a high wooden platform built for the occasion. Beside him on his right stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; and on his left were Pedaiah, Mishael, Malkijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah and Meshullam.

5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was standing above them; and as he opened it, the people all stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah—instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. 8 They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people understood what was being read.

9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher of the Law, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them all, “This day is holy to the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.

10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Holy Word, Hungry People: Heartfelt Response

Nehemiah is a wonderful and unusual book because it is the memoire/ diary of one of the last leaders of Judaea before the 400 year silence, when we hear nothing official from God until the New Testament. [Read more…]

Rev. Mary Whittaker (with Scott, her hearing dog) preached the following sermon on Epiphany Sunday – 03 January 2016 – at St James’  Church:

The carol ‘We Three Kings’ and today’s bible reading (Matthew 2: 1 – 12) mark the key theme for the New Year. [Read more…]

The sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Advent by Rev. Graham Crawford:

“Might is right” – or so they say.

Certainly, the world, as we see it today, seems to back that up.

• We have the military superpowers battling over control of the Middle East, so that they can control the oil reserves,
• We have a government cabinet made up of multi-millionaires, who use their financial might to fund election campaigns, and
• Even the world of sport is not immune, as teams try to outspend each other in order to win the big trophies.

Every so often there is an upset. Every once in a while, a giant-killer comes along and disturbs the natural order. But we all recognize this as being the status quo. We are not surprised by any of this. [Read more…]

Rev. Graham Crawford’s sermon for Sunday 13 December 2015:

The TV is full of it at the moment.

On the cooking channels and even on some of the more mainstream channels: Nigella’s Christmas Recipes, Jamie Oliver, Heston Blumenthal, River Cottage …

All the celebrity chefs are at it.

Just “do this” and you will have a stress-free Christmas that will be the tastiest ever.

Some of the recipes are simply fabulous, others downright weird, while yet others require ingredients that are just not that easy to find outside of multicultural cities.

But, while these shows and the recipes on them may be good, none of them guarantee you joy at Christmas. None of them guarantee you the real spirit of Christmas.

For that, I think, we need to turn to a minor Old Testament Prophet and a prolific letter writer. For they have the secret to joy at Christmas. And it is not in the way you baste your turkey or in what is lying under the Christmas tree. It is something much cheaper and much simpler. [Read more…]