Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Welcome to the service materials for Sunday 18 September 2022.

Today we have a Service in Remembrance of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The Queen died a Presbyterian in Scotland, not the head of the church, but an ordinary member of the Church of Scotland. She loved Scotland and she loved its church and would never fail to attend worship when fit and able. … I would like to share some thoughts regarding the late Queen’s faith, how it shaped her life and how it should be an inspiration to us all.

REV. GEOFF MCKEE

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We welcome Assistant Minister, Christine McWhirter, to lead our worship today – 11 September 2022.

We reflect on, and mourn, the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The main scripture today is from John’s Gospel, close to the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It’s the story of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus with exorbitantly expensive perfume – a controversial event at the time because it seemed to at least one of Jesus’ disciples to be a criminal waste of a resource which could have been converted into money and used to much better ends. Christine’s sermon today tackles the question “How can Mary’s apparent wastefulness be explained?”

Main scripture today

John 12:1-11 (from The Message translation of the Bible)
Anointing His Feet
12 1-3 Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus’ feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.

4-6 Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, “Why wasn’t this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces.” He said this not because he cared two cents about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but also embezzled them.

7-8 Jesus said, “Let her alone. She’s anticipating and honouring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don’t always have me.”

9-11 Word got out among the Jews that he was back in town. The people came to take a look, not only at Jesus but also at Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead. So the high priests plotted to kill Lazarus because so many of the Jews were going over and believing in Jesus on account of him.

Order of Service

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Sunday 04 September 2022 is the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The main Lectionary reading for today is from Luke’s Gospel (Luke 14: 25-35).

In many ways, it’s an astonishing passage in terms of “selling” the Christian faith to potential followers. At first sight, Jesus seems to be saying: “Want to be my disciple, do you? Well, in that case you have to learn to hate your family, give up your possessions, and get ready for a nasty death!”

Below, you will find the section from Luke as excerpted from The Message Bible translation and then the video of today’s service, including Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon on Jesus’ challenge and how it should be interpreted in practice.

We also welcome our new Associate Minister, Christine McWhirter, to a service for the first time today. See her “Address to the Young at Heart”, as part of the service.

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It’s Seafest Songs of Praise Sunday in Lossiemouth (14 August 2022) and the Lectionary verse which Rev. Geoff McKee focuses on today for his sermon is Matthew 14:22-33, in which Jesus saves his disciples by walking on the water.

Geoff reflects on our varied relationship with the sea – ranging from fun to terror. In Lossiemouth, it is our constant neighbour.

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Sunday 07 August 2022 is the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost.

Welcome to our service materials for this week, where the main reading is from the Old Testament – Isaiah 1 – which contains the following instructions (Isaiah 1:17):

Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow.

…the ultimate reason for our hope is not to be found at all in what we want,
wish for and wait for; the ultimate reason is that we are wanted and wished for
and waited for.

Jürgen Moltmann (1977)

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