St James' Church of Scotland, Lossiemouth
For Christ, For You
Tickets are available from Katherine Robertson (via this website), Buckley’s Post Office and Unique. The tickets cost £5 each.
The choir are performing a wide variety of songs which will be sung mostly in English. The programme includes religious music, songs from musicals, folk and light popular music.
This is Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for Sunday 04 August 2019, with Hosea 11:1-11 the main text.
You can download a PDF version of the sermon by clicking here.
Hosea 11:1-11 (New International Version)
God’s Love for Israel
11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 But the more they were called,
the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
and they burned incense to images.
3 It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
taking them by the arms;
but they did not realize
it was I who healed them.
4 I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
a little child to the cheek,
and I bent down to feed them.5 “Will they not return to Egypt
and will not Assyria rule over them
because they refuse to repent?
6 A sword will flash in their cities;
it will devour their false prophets
and put an end to their plans.
7 My people are determined to turn from me.
Even though they call me God Most High,
I will by no means exalt them.8 “How can I give you up, Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, Israel?
How can I treat you like Admah?
How can I make you like Zeboyim?
My heart is changed within me;
all my compassion is aroused.
9 I will not carry out my fierce anger,
nor will I devastate Ephraim again.
For I am God, and not a man—
the Holy One among you.
I will not come against their cities.
10 They will follow the Lord;
he will roar like a lion.
When he roars,
his children will come trembling from the west.
11 They will come from Egypt,
trembling like sparrows,
from Assyria, fluttering like doves.
I will settle them in their homes,”
declares the Lord.
Father, hear us, we are praying.
Hear the words our hearts are saying.
We are praying for our children.
Keep them from the powers of evil,
From the secret, hidden peril.
Father, hear us for our children.
From the worldling’s hollow gladness,
From the sting of faithless sadness,
Father, Father, keep our children.
Through life’s troubled waters steer them.
Through life’s bitter battles cheer them.
Father, Father, be thou near them.
And wherever they may bide,
Lead them home at eventide.
These beautiful, poignant words were written by Amy Carmichael, who lived most of her life in India, serving God as a missionary.
She was born in Millisle, a little village, just a few miles from where I come from in Ireland.
After many remarkable years of sacrificial service in India, she was bedridden for the last twenty years of her life but she remained in India throughout her incapacity – with her people. She wrote countless books lying in her bed.
She asked that no stone be put over her grave at Dohnavur.
Instead, the children she had cared for put a bird bath over it with the single inscription “Amma”, which means ‘mother’ in the Tamil language. She was a true mother to them all: nurturing, caring and inspiring.
The younger generations of mums and dads probably don’t because, with the advent of digital photography, photos tend to be stored digitally on computers.
The best of the photos will, of course, be printed and displayed at home, but most will lie unseen in a hard-drive.
But the older generations of mums and dads will probably still have the albums.
When my mother and father were preparing for their house move recently, out came the albums from dear knows when! They were downsizing and so there was a cull of the photographs. The ones that myself and my sister wanted were given to us and the rest were disposed of. But it gave us all a good laugh to see some of us with hair and others with different hair styles and all the changes through the years of growing up.
Photo albums can bring those memories back, maybe with a wee tear in the eye.
These are God’s memories of his son, his people Israel, sometimes referred to as Ephraim in the passage.
God’s memories that Israel has no memory of. Tender, poignant memories, yet laced with stark realism. [Read more…]
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the first scriptural ‘repeats’ (previous sermon here) among the sermon blog posts on this website. On this occasion, Rev. Geoff McKee reframes the lawyer’s question to Jesus: ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ – which prompts Jesus to tell the story of the Good Samaritan – for a modern audience: “Please tell me it will all be okay in the end?”
Yes, it will all be okay but there is important action we have to take as Christians, which Geoff explains.
You can download a PDF version of the sermon by clicking here.
Luke 10:25-37 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”
30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
… and there are countless different interpretations that might come to mind.
In fact, I think it’s fair to say that this parable has been defined as containing the essence of Christianity. So we would expect lots of different takes on it, especially when the parable is lifted out of Luke’s Gospel and presented on its own terms.
Unfortunately, that inevitable process of extracting – and then analysing – removes the parable from its context and, as a result interpretation can go awry.
That supplies the immediate context which should direct the interpretation of the parable.
The lawyer asked: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
What might that question sound like in today’s speak? Might it be something like: “Please tell me it will all be okay in the end”? [Read more…]
Who is welcome in Church? For the fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Rev. Geoff McKee looks at this recurring theme through Paul’s letter to the Church in Galatia. We must not only believe that, in Christ, the old has fallen away and the new creation is emerging but demonstrate that too. We live in a remarkably diverse community and God is calling us from insular preoccupation to generous fellowship.
You can download a PDF of the sermon by clicking here.
Galatians 6:1-16 (New International Version)
Doing Good to All
6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Not Circumcision but the New Creation
11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.
During our holiday in Seville in March, Annie and I visited the Maestranza bull ring.
It is said that it is the most beautiful bull ring in Spain, second in importance only to Madrid.
It houses a museum in tribute to the history of bull fighting in Spain. It has pictures and photographs of legendary bull fighters and specimens of their extravagant capes in display cases. It is full of colour and glamour but it cannot hide the unsavoury fact that much cruelty and some tragedy has occurred within its walls over the years. Many bulls have been needlessly sacrificed in a cruel way and some of the lauded matadors have lost their lives too.
José Cubero, one of Spain’s most brilliant matadors, only 21 years old, had been enjoying a spectacular career. However, in a 1958 bullfight, José made a tragic mistake. He thrust his sword a final time into a bleeding, delirious bull, which then collapsed. Considering the struggle finished, José turned to the crowd to acknowledge the applause. The bull, however, was not dead. It rose and lunged at the unsuspecting matador, its horn piercing his back and puncturing his heart. He died instantly.
Just when we turn to accept the congratulations of the crowd, pride stabs us in the back.
We should never consider pride dead before we are. [Read more…]
For the third Sunday after Pentecost (30 June 2019), Rev. Geoff McKee discusses the difficult concept of “Freedom in Christ”. Love is meant to be given away. Freedom offers us the opportunity – and the means – to become entangled with others through the sharing of love. By sharing the love of Christ, we are free to free others.
You can download a PDF version of the sermon by clicking here.
Galatians 5: 1, 13-25 (New International Version)
Freedom in Christ
5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.…
Life by the Spirit
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbour as yourself.” 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Do you ever wish we could get back to the wholesomeness and stability of the past, to a world where things are simpler and easier?
The central characters of the movie are teenage twins, David and Jennifer, each struggling in their own way with the pressures of modern life and a family that has been through divorce.
Jennifer becomes the ultimate party girl, careless and acting on her every whimsy. David becomes depressed and retreats from the world into his room, where he spends as much time as he can watching his favourite TV show, an old 1950’s black and white sitcom, Pleasantville.
Pleasantville seems to offer everything David could want: simplicity, intact families, stability, clear community values.
Then, one day, something strange happens. [Read more…]
