Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Sunday 14 May 2023 is the Sixth Sunday of Easter and also Christian Aid Sunday.

Organisations such as Christian Aid and partners, have supported Esther Saizi in Malawi. Esther describes her small, but significant, agricultural work as ‘a tree’. The pigeon peas she grows are the trunk, and the branches are the many ways in which she is supporting her children and grandchildren. Esther has grown from a place of grief, loss and exploitation to financial security. She has built up a herd of goats, started her own tailoring business, and supported her daughter Ziwone’s dreams of being a carpenter by purchasing tools.

Esther bakes and sells pigeon pea bread and feeds her beloved grandchildren Nespo and Emmanuel food that is delicious and nutritious – and she often has enough to share with the rest of her community.

This week’s main scripture is from Matthew’s Gospel – the Parable of the Mustard Seed.

Perhaps Esther – and communities like hers in Malawi – understand the metaphors of Jesus better than the disciples who first heard them – or indeed better than many of us in Britain and Ireland today.

You can view the video which is played during today’s service about Esther and her circumstances – from Christian Aid TV – here.

[Read more…]

07 May 2023 is the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The main reading today is from John’s Gospel and it is a familiar passage which, in the King James’ Bible, contains the following:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

In today’s sermon, Rev. Geoff McKee unpacks what this “Mansions in Heaven” talk is all about.

Today’s main Bible reading

John 14:1-14 (from The Message Bible Translation)
The Road
14 1-4 “Don’t let this rattle you. You trust God, don’t you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father’s home. If that weren’t so, would I have told you that I’m on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I’m on my way to get your room ready, I’ll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I’m taking.”

5 Thomas said, “Master, we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?”

6-7 Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!”

8 Philip said, “Master, show us the Father; then we’ll be content.”

9-10 “You’ve been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don’t understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, ‘Where is the Father?’ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren’t mere words. I don’t just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.

11-14 “Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can’t believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I’ve been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do.

Video recording of the service from St. James’

There will be refugees, homeless people, dreamers, addicts, domestic-abuse victims, ignored or abused elderly people – among many others. And they are all welcome here because in Jesus’ Father’s house there are many dwelling places.

REV. GEOFF MCKEE

30 April 2023 is the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

Today’s main scripture reading

1 Peter 2:18-25 (from The Message Bible Translation)
The Kind of Life He Lived
18-20 You who are servants, be good servants to your masters—not just to good masters, but also to bad ones. What counts is that you put up with it for God’s sake when you’re treated badly for no good reason. There’s no particular virtue in accepting punishment that you well deserve. But if you’re treated badly for good behavior and continue in spite of it to be a good servant, that is what counts with God.

21-25 This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.

He never did one thing wrong,
Not once said anything amiss.

They called him every name in the book and he said nothing back. He suffered in silence, content to let God set things right. He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing. You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of your souls.

[Read more…]

Sunday 23 April 2023 is the Third Sunday of Easter.

The main Scripture in today’s sermon is 1 Peter 1:17-23.

Peter did not use the word ‘refugee’ for the Christians he was addressing in this – his first epistle – but he used a very similar word. He used the term ‘exiles’ in the opening sentence of his letter and in verse 17 here in our passage today he referred to ‘the time of your exile’.

Rev. Geoff McKee discusses what this means for the way Christians should relate to God, to one another, and to the world in general.

Today’s main scriptural reading

1 Peter 1:17-25 (from The Message Bible translation)
17 You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.

18-21 Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.

22-25 Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said,

The old life is a grass life,
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;
Grass dries up, flowers wilt,
God’s Word goes on and on forever.

This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.

[Read more…]

16 April 2023 is the Second Sunday of Easter.

In his sermon today, Rev. Geoff McKee includes the following quote from Malcolm Muggeridge:

“Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my 75 years in this world,
everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my experience, has been through affliction and not through happiness.”

How can that be?

Joy is sown in tears. That’s the Easter model. That’s what the Easter story brings to us.

Main Scripture for today

1 Peter 1:3-9 (from The Message Bible Translation)
A New Life
3-5 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

6-7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

8-9 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.

[Read more…]