St James' Church of Scotland, Lossiemouth

For Christ, For You

Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Prospect Terrace, Lossiemouth, Moray IV31 6JS.

The Union of the former Parishes of St. Gerardine's High Church and St. James' Church

Minister: Rev. Geoff McKee.

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Journeying to the point of death and forward into life

May 5, 2019 by 2

In this sermon for 05 May 2019, the Scripture is Psalm 30. We consider the parallels between the (Old Testament) experiences of the Psalmist and the (New Testament) description of the life of Jesus – as we find ourselves journeying to the point of death and forward into life…

You can download a PDF version of this sermon by Rev. Geoff McKee by clicking here.

Psalm 30 (New International Version)
A psalm. A song. For the dedication of the temple of David.
1 I will exalt you, Lord,
for you lifted me out of the depths
and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
2 Lord my God, I called to you for help,
and you healed me.
3 You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
you spared me from going down to the pit.

4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said,
“I will never be shaken.”
7 Lord, when you favoured me,
you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
I was dismayed.

8 To you, Lord, I called;
to the Lord I cried for mercy:
9 “What is gained if I am silenced,
if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
Lord, be my help.”

11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
Lord my God, I will praise you forever.

The story is told of King Canute who was once ruler of England.

The members of his court were continually full of flattery.

  • You are the greatest man that ever lived…
  • You are the most powerful king of all…
  • Your highness, there is nothing you cannot do, nothing in this world dares disobey you.

The king was a wise man and he grew tired of such foolish speeches.

One day, as he was walking by the seashore, Canute decided to teach them a lesson.

“So you say I am the greatest man in the world?” he asked them.

“O king,” they cried, “there never has been anyone as mighty as you, and there will never be anyone so great, ever again!”

“And you say all things obey me?” Canute asked.

“Yes sire” they said. “The world bows before you, and gives you honour.”

“I see,” the king answered. “In that case, bring me my chair, and place it down by the water.”

The servants scrambled to carry Canute’s royal chair over the sands. At his direction, they placed it right at the water’s edge.

The King sat down and looked out at the ocean. “I notice the tide is coming in. Do you think it will stop if I give the command?”

“Give the order, O great king, and it will obey,” cried his entourage.

“Sea,” cried Canute, “I command you to come no further! Do not dare touch my feet!”

He waited a moment, and a wave rushed up the sand and lapped at his feet.

“How dare you!” Canute shouted. “Ocean, turn back now! I have ordered you to retreat before me, and now you must obey! Go back!”

In came another wave, lapping at the king’s feet. Canute remained on his throne throughout the day, screaming at the waves to stop. Yet in they came anyway, until the seat of the throne was covered with water.

Finally, Canute turned to his entourage and said, “It seems I do not have quite so much power as you would have me believe. Perhaps now you will remember there is only one King who is all-powerful, and it is he who rules the sea, and holds the ocean in the hollow of his hand. I suggest you reserve your praises for him.”

King Canute was wise but – so often – human beings are not.

Have you ever felt as strong as a mountain?

  • A person who calls himself frank and candid can very easily find himself becoming tactless and cruel.
  • A person who prides himself on being tactful can find eventually that he has become evasive and deceitful.
  • A person with firm convictions can become pigheaded.
  • A person who is inclined to be temperate and judicious can sometimes turn into someone with weak convictions and banked fires of resolution . . .
  • Loyalty can lead to fanaticism.
  • Caution can become timidity.
  • Freedom can become licence.
  • Confidence can become arrogance.
  • Humility can become servility.

All these are ways in which strength can become weakness. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Sermons

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord

April 29, 2019 by 2

Psalm 150 is the final one in the Book of Psalms. Rev. Geoff McKee considers what lessons we can learn from it, given that there are those who have described it as serving no practical purpose. Why, instead, is it as precise a vision of ultimate reality as we find in all Scripture?

You can download a PDF version of the sermon by clicking here.

Psalm 150  New International Version (NIV)
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

Sir Thomas Beecham, the English orchestral conductor, once saw a distinguished-looking woman in a hotel foyer.

Believing he knew her, but unable to remember her name, he paused to talk with her.

As the two chatted, he vaguely recollected that she had a brother. Hoping for a clue, he asked how her brother was and whether he was still working at the same job.

“Oh, he’s very well,” she said, “And still king.”

—

The wife of a retiring bishop was impressed when she and her husband left the home of their host, the Episcopal bishop of Panama, and found a crowd waiting near the front of the house.

Having seen these people during a morning church service, she greeted each one present and thanked them for such a warm good-bye.

Her enthusiasm waned, however, when a city bus appeared and the puzzled crowd climbed aboard.

—

I’m sure none of us like to be embarrassed.

The sudden awareness that you’ve said or done something silly before an amused gathering can cause the blood to rush to your cheeks and that just makes it worse, doesn’t it?

I was watching a children’s choir in church recently on television.

They stepped up onto the chancel and lined up ready to begin to lead worship. The pianist began to play and they all, on cue, sang through the first verse beautifully and all went well until they got to the chorus.

You see, there were actions with the chorus and it was clear that some of the children knew the actions better than the others and the others were aware of that. The uncertain ones were hesitant, off-beat and made mistakes as they gazed at one another and their cheeks reddened with embarrassment. The earlier focus on worship degenerated into an awareness of one another and ultimately an awareness of self which hindered their praise…

Imagine if an African choir were to suddenly appear at the front door of the church.

If they were to march down the aisles, praising and dancing and making quite a noise, how would we react? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Sermons

Children’s Holiday Club in Lossiemouth – 15-19 July 2019

April 27, 2019 by 2

IMPORTANT NOTE (13 July 2019):

We are now close to capacity for the Club. Only a few places remain. If you are still hoping to attend the Club, please could you email Peter at the btinternet address on the flyer image further down this page to check availability (or send a message via this website). We don’t want people turning up on the day and being disappointed at not getting a place.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE CLUB:

We are excited to be running a children’s holiday club in conjunction with the wonderful Out of the Box.

Out of the Box (Scotland) Ltd (OOTB) is a charity set up in 2004 to provide Christian outreach using puppetry, song and other forms of performing arts.

Chris Watt, Children’s Worker with OOTB, will lead the club, which will be held in the Hall at St James’ Church from 10am to 12 noon, Monday to Friday (15 – 19 July 2019).

The club is open to Primary school children.

At the lower age level, this means children who, by July 2019, have completed Primary 1 (it does not include children who will be starting P1 in August 2019).

The title of the club is “Navigate”.

The material was written by Chris and his colleagues at OOTB.

It has an outdoor adventure theme and includes videos shot in the Cairngorms, giving everything a “local” feel. As you would expect, there will be plenty of opportunity for craft-making, action songs, Bible stories, puppets, challenges and loads of fun (plus juice and snacks).

Information has been distributed to local primary schools.

Margaret Burns and Rev. Geoff McKee have given talks to children at Hythehill and St Gerardine’s Primary Schools in the week beginning 10 June 2019 and children have received postcard flyers about the Club and registration forms. These should be returned by 24 June 2019 but “late” returns are still acceptable.

The club is open to any child (within the age range mentioned above) and free to attend.

However, places may have to be limited.  The room we use for the Club has a capacity of 80 and there will be up to 20 adult helpers. (From our previous experience with Holiday Clubs, we do not expect to be oversubscribed but you never know).

If there are still places available after 24 June (and we confirm that there are still places!), registration will remain open until all places are taken.

If you have any questions at this point about the Children’s Holiday Club in Lossiemouth, feel free to contact us via this website.

You can download a PDF consent/registration form by clicking here – or a Word version of the form by clicking here. Forms can be submitted to Peter Brash via the btinternet email address at the foot of the flyer image, below.

Navigate Holiday Club Postcard Flyer - Details of Club

Filed Under: News / Events

Learning from both brothers in the Parable of the Prodigal Son

April 13, 2019 by 2

For the Fourth Sunday in Lent (31 March 2019), Rev. Geoff McKee’s text is Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke’s gospel. It is an unsettling story with an apparently shifting focus: is it the younger or older son? – or their father? Geoff explains how it can be as dangerous for Christians to follow the path of the older son as that of the younger son, though it is the younger son who appears at first sight to have gone more astray. We need to be learning from both brothers in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.

The sermon can be downloaded as a PDF by clicking here.

Luke 15:1-3; 11-32 (New International Version)

15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 Then Jesus told them this parable …

The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”

The Property Laws of a Toddler are as follows:

1. If I like it, it’s mine.
2. If it’s in my hand, it’s mine.
3. If I can take it from you, it’s mine.
4. If I had it a little while ago, it’s mine.
5. If it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way.
6. If I’m doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.
7. If it looks just like mine, it’s mine.
8. If I saw it first, it’s mine.
9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically becomes mine.
10. If it’s broken, it’s yours.

Such is the power of me, me, me!

One of the amazing features of the Parable of the Prodigal Son is its perfect framing:

  • It begins with the story of the youngest son who is only interested in himself, and
  • It ends with the story of the eldest son who is only interested in himself, and
  • In the middle, is the story of the abused Father who behaves scandalously!

What a story it is…

The story has a shifting focus which can throw us.

Who is the principal character? –

  • Is it the younger son whom the parable is most commonly named after: the prodigal?
  • Or is it the Father who dominated the middle part and who is the fixer of the problem?
  • Or is it the older son who annoys us most because we’re most like him?

It’s distinctly unsettling, isn’t it? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Sermons

Holy Week Services at St James’ and St Gerardine’s 2019

April 13, 2019 by 2

Rev. Geoff McKee will lead (or take part in) Services during Easter week, in Lossiemouth, as follows:

Thursday 18th April

Maundy Thursday at St Gerardine’s High Church at 7:30 pm (Holy Communion Service)

Friday 19th April

Vigil at St Gerardine’s High from 12 noon – 3:00 pm (All welcome for quiet prayer and reflection)

Good Friday Service at St James’ Church at 7:30 pm (A Service of Loss and Lament)

Sunday 21st April

Easter Sunrise Service (Lossiemouth Combined Churches) at East Beach, Lossiemouth from 05:45am.  As churches in Lossiemouth together, we will gather on the East Beach to watch the sunrise and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

This will be a short communion service and all are welcome.

Easter Sunday at St James’ – 10:00 am

Easter Sunday at St Gerardine’s High – 11:30 am

You would be most welcome to attend all or any of these Services and we hope to see you.

 

25-26 “You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?”

John 11:25-26
from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson

Filed Under: News / Events

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Jesus Ascends to Glory

May 28, 2025 By 2

Sunday 25 May 2025 is Ascension Sunday.

Christians celebrate the time when Jesus ascended to heaven. Ascension Day itself is generally observed on a Thursday, the fortieth day after Easter.

Today’s Main Scripture

Jesus speaks to his disciples, following his resurrection at Easter and shortly before his ascension:

John 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.

The Spirit of Truth
15-17 “If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you. I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can’t take him in because it doesn’t have eyes to see him, doesn’t know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!

18-20 “I will not leave you orphaned. I’m coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me because I am alive and you’re about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I’m in my Father, and you’re in me, and I’m in you.

21 “The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him.”

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said, “Master, why is it that you are about to make yourself plain to us but not to the world?”

23-24 “Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent me.

25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.

28 “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.

29-31 “I’ve told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I’ll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don’t worry—he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father’s instructions right down to the last detail.

“Get up. Let’s go. It’s time to leave here.”

Sermon by Rev. Anne-Marie Simpson

To get straight to beginning of the sermon, click here.

Sermon Text

For 40 days after Easter morning, Jesus remained on earth.

We know of several occasions when he met with some of his disciples.

Mary Magdalene in the dawn Garden, the two walking the road to Emmaus. appearing more than once to those in the upper room. On the shore at sunrise, and now in this final time of parting.

We can only surmise how Jesus spent the rest of this time before his departure. How many others did he meet with, perhaps, who did not record the fact? How many lives did he touch in those final 40 days on Earth?

Just as it was vital for Jesus to prove his resurrection to his followers, so it was very important that he took his leave properly.

His appearances to them could not just stop suddenly. That would leave too much uncertainty in the minds of his friends. Nor could the story that we’ve heard today of this awesome ascension be omitted from the narrative.

People at the time needed to know this part most fully. Indeed, we need to understand exactly where Jesus has gone.

There have to be witnesses. There is much mystery to this story, ascending into a cloud seems, well, rather vague. We desperately want more detail.

Luke gives us a brief description in his gospel and another in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.

Yet, however brief this story is, it is so important for both the disciples and for us today.

The disciples needed closure for them. This is an ending, the end of their time spent with Jesus – i.e. the end of Jesus amongst them present here in this world.

Yet it is also a beginning. The beginning of a brand new chapter for the disciples.

Now they have been given final instructions. Wait here in Jerusalem and show you are empowered by the Holy Spirit, then go out and preach the good news of repentance and salvation to all the world.

They must continue Jesus’ work of justice and compassion, healing and acceptance, but now they must also preach their testament, make new believers and baptise them in the Holy Spirit, not just the people of Israel, but everyone, right around the world.

They are witnesses. They have a testament to share.

And if this work seems impossibly huge to undertake, so very difficult to achieve, then Jesus has promised them a helper. That will be given power through baptism in the Holy Spirit. And so the disciples are not overwhelmed by the task in hand, or cowed under the weight of their commission. Instead, they go back into Jerusalem filled with joy at what Jesus has promised. Filled with joy at what they have seen.

They know exactly where Jesus has gone. They’ve witnessed him rising to heaven with their very own eyes, and there is no room for doubt. Now they have a friend in heaven, a friend whom we believe presents our prayers at the throne of God and intercedes on our behalf. A friend who has sent them a helper, a friend who has always present with us, always available when we need help.

The human Jesus could only be in one place at any given time, but now as a heavenly being, Jesus transcends the spatial and the temporal qualities of this world.

He can be constantly with his disciples. He is constantly with us.

Furthermore, Jesus has promised them that they will follow where he has gone.

Before the crucifixion he has told them that he goes to prepare a place for them. Those words that we say at every funeral, I go to prepare a place for you. Now they understand what that means. One day they too will be in heaven, where they will see Jesus again and live in the presence of their Heavenly Father. They also know that Jesus is listening to their pleas and prayers. He might be out of sight, but he isn’t out of their hearing.

And Jesus has promised to return, to come back one day when everything will be put right, and the whole of creation will be restored to its original state of balance.

The early church watched patiently and diligently for the coming, believing it to be imminent.

But God’s time is not our time, as we are reminded in the second letter of Peter: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

But we must keep watch and be prepared for this coming, for this event, so that we are ready to meet with Jesus on his return. Ready for whatever that will mean for us.

Jesus speaks of how his ascension has been written into Hebrew scripture in the laws of Moses, in the writing of the prophets, and in the Psalms, as we’ve heard in Psalm 93, and in Psalm 47.

The signs have always been there, but it would have been impossible for human minds to comprehend what was meant.

The story of death and resurrection and ascension is too full of wonder, too full of awe for us to fully understand. Jesus has ascended to sit enthroned at the right hand of the Father, where, as Paul tells us, he reigns supreme.

In the meantime, the disciples returned to Jerusalem in great joy to spend their time giving thanks in the temple, praying to God, knowing that they are heard, and knowing that whatever happens to them, Jesus awaits them with a place prepared.

And so what does this day of Ascension mean for us?

We’ve been promised everything that the disciples were promised.

We know that God, Jesus has gone before us, and we live in the hope that this and every other promise He has made will be fulfilled. that, through repentance, our sins will be forgiven, and we will go to take up that place, which He has prepared for us in his Father’s house, where we will live forever in the presence of God, reconciled and beloved for eternity.

And the second coming, what will that be like?

The angels in Acts have told us that Jesus will return in the same way as he left, descending from a cloud, perhaps, to the awestruck gaze of the people below.

Will you be there, as generations’-worth of prayers are answered, watching and waiting in joyful expectation, as your Lord and Saviour descends to bring the Kingdom that we pray for to come?

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Recent Posts

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  • Holy Week Services in Lossiemouth Area Churches of Scotland 2025
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Contact Us

We would be glad to hear from you. Feel free to contact our Minister, Rev. Geoff McKee, or attend one of the events or groups detailed on this website.

Our Minister

Our Minister is Rev. Geoff McKee.

Lossiemouth Church of Scotland is a registered Charity No. SC000880.

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Our mission is to be a Christian community sharing the love of Christ, reaching out to the people in this area and encouraging them to worship God and grow in the knowledge of the care and love of Christ.

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