Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Sunday 22 December 2024 is the Fourth Sunday of Advent.

Today, Rev. Geoff McKee leads a Service of Nine Lessons and Carols.

Why a Service of Nine Lessons and Carols?

It is a service of Christian worship traditionally celebrated on or about Christmas Eve.

In terms of Biblical content, we get a reminder of some of the main points in the journey through the Old Testament to the New Testament – up to and beyond the Birth of Jesus Christ:

• the story of the “fall” of humanity (i.e. how we “fell” from the position of having a truly intimate relationship with God),
  
• the promise of the coming of the Messiah (i.e. predictions from Old Testament prophets who foretold that God would send someone to finally put right the relationship between God and humanity once and for all), and
  
• the birth of Jesus and his significance for the World.

As you can see from the Order of Service for today, we have nine Bible readings (or “lessons”) from:

• Genesis (i.e. from the Old Testament – from the very first Book of the Bible – beginning with Adam and Eve and “The Fall”),
  
• the Prophets (i.e. here, from the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament), and
  
• the Gospels (i.e. here, from the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John, among the first Books in the New Testament).

These Bible readings are interspersed with the singing of various well-known Christmas carols.

Interesting facts about the 9 Lessons and Carols format

The first such service was conducted by the Right Rev. Edward White Benson, Bishop of Truro, on Christmas Eve 1880. Apparently, he was concerned at what he considered to be the excessive consumption of alcohol in Cornish pubs during the festive season. He hoped this would be a good way of attracting revellers out of the pubs and into church by offering a bite-sized (no Sermon!) religious celebration of Christmas.

Probably the most famous version of this service format is tha annual Carols from King’s, broadcast by the BBC. The first Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at King’s College, Cambridge, was held on Christmas Eve, 1918. During World War I – which had just ended – the dean, Eric Milner-White, had served as an army chaplain. He was concerned that the distress of the “Great War” had hardened attitudes to religion.

Traditionally, the King’s service has Once in Royal David’s City as its first carol and Hark the Herald Angels Sing as its concluding hymn.

The Bible readings from King’s are taken from the King James’ Version of the Bible published in 1611.

Our Service does not follow the King’s carol list exactly and our readings are from the New International Version of the Bible.

Below, you will find the Order of Service for today, followed by the video recording of the Service. Below that, for illustration purposes, we give the King James’ version of the first Genesis reading and then the same text from The (modern) translation of the Bible by Eugene Peterson known as The Message (and then all the others from The Message too).

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Sunday 15 December 2024 is the Third Sunday of Advent.

So far, during this Season of Advent, we have lit the candles of Hope, Peace and, today, Joy. These elements stand individually but are, crucially, stronger together.

This is how the Church works too. God knows and loves us all individually but the Church is a collective.

Rev. Christine McWhirter discusses this across today’s service and touches on the theme in both her All-Age address and the sermon.

Video recording of today’s service

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Sunday 08 December 2024 is the Second Sunday in Advent.

The main theme for this Sunday in Advent is “Peace”. We light our second Advent candle.

Today’s service is led by Rev. Anne-Marie Simpson.

We are thinking today about “Messengers”.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, in the Church, we often talk about people called “Prophets”.

Prophets were people who God spoke to directly. God gave them a message and then wanted the Prophet to take the message to the people – so that the people would know what God wanted them to do.

BUT – the people did not normally want to hear God’s message. And the people were often very nasty to the Prophets.

Sometimes, that’s because the people were scared by the message relayed to them by the Prophets. On other occasions, the people were angry at being criticised for their “bad behaviour”. At other times, the people did not believe the Prophet’s message – to the extent that they would laugh at the message apparently sent from God.

Most of the time, being a Prophet was a pretty awful job. They would carry out God’s will because it was God who was asking them – but, even then, sometimes God had to force the Prophet to do what God wanted.

One bit of news that various Prophets brought to the people over and over again was that God would send a Saviour.

For example, from today’s Lectionary:

Malachi 3:1-4 (From The Message Bible Translation)

The Master You’ve Been Looking For
3 “Look! I’m sending my messenger on ahead to clear the way for me. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Leader you’ve been looking for will enter his Temple—yes, the Messenger of the Covenant, the one you’ve been waiting for. Look! He’s on his way!” A Message from the mouth of God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

2-4 But who will be able to stand up to that coming? Who can survive his appearance?

He’ll be like white-hot fire from the smelter’s furnace. He’ll be like the strongest lye soap at the laundry. He’ll take his place as a refiner of silver, as a cleanser of dirty clothes. He’ll scrub the Levite priests clean, refine them like gold and silver, until they’re fit for God, fit to present offerings of righteousness. Then, and only then, will Judah and Jerusalem be fit and pleasing to God, as they used to be in the years long ago.

This is an important element of the many reasons why Christians believe Christianity to be “true”.

In other words, the fact that Jesus was long-awaited and long-foretold.

When Jesus arrived, he did not behave as the people had anticipated (i.e. as a great warrior who would sweep all enemies aside). Instead, he came to heal the rift between God and his people and make us right with God again. God wanted to show through Jesus that God’s Kingdom was indeed “at hand”.

Video recording of today’s service

The all-age address in the service begins here.

The main sermon begins here.

01 December 2024 is the First Sunday of Advent.

In Christian communities the world over, Advent refers to a four-week season of remembering and celebrating the arrival of Jesus on Earth. This is the period leading up to Christmas.

Essentially, it is also the first Sunday of a new Church year. The First Sunday of Advent symbolises “Hope”. With the lighting of the “Prophet’s Candle”, we are reminded that Jesus is coming.

The main reading for today is from one of the several Old Testament prophets – in this case, Jeremiah – who foretold that a Messiah would be sent to save the world. The prediction is framed in terms that God “will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land. In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.” (NIV)

Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon is based on the Jeremiah text – see further, below, for the video of the service and the sermon.

Today’s main reading

Jeremiah 33:14-18 (from The Message Bible Translation)
A Fresh and True Shoot from the David-Tree
14-18 “‘Watch for this: The time is coming’—God’s Decree—‘when I will keep the promise I made to the families of Israel and Judah. When that time comes, I will make a fresh and true shoot sprout from the David-Tree. He will run this country honestly and fairly. He will set things right. That’s when Judah will be secure and Jerusalem live in safety. The motto for the city will be, “God Has Set Things Right for Us.” God has made it clear that there will always be a descendant of David ruling the people of Israel and that there will always be Levitical priests on hand to offer burnt offerings, present grain offerings, and carry on the sacrificial worship in my honour.’”

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