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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Taking risks so that lives are changed for the better

February 15, 2019 by 2

Rev Geoff McKee’s scripture for the fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (10 February 2018) is Luke 5:1-11, the story of Jesus calling his first disciples. Creating “fishers of men” resonates with us in a fishing community like Lossiemouth. Geoff explains how God – and Jesus – have continually taken risks for the benefit of humanity. It’s up to us to follow that example – taking risks so that lives are changed for the better.

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

Luke 5:1-11 (New International Version)

Jesus Calls His First Disciples
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Anyone who attended the funeral service for Andrew Campbell on 22 December 2018 could not fail to have been impressed by the tribute from Michael Harrington, the young fishing skipper from Castletownbere, Co. Cork in Ireland.

Michael and his crew were having no fortune catching fish.

There was no doubt that the fish were there but they weren’t finding their way into Michael’s nets.

He described how Andrew and friends from Lossiemouth travelled to Cork to have a look at their set-up and routine to try and find a way to break the bad fortune.

The old, wise heads made some suggestions and almost immediately the nets filled and the boxes overflowed with fish.

I couldn’t help bringing to mind the story of Jesus and his first disciples recorded in Luke 5 and the very similar story recorded in John 22.

Like Michael Harrington, the disciples were prepared to listen and everything changed as a result of that. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Sermons

Good news or bad news first?

February 4, 2019 by 2

“No prophet is accepted in his hometown”, said Jesus. Rev. Geoff McKee’s scripture for the fourth Sunday after Epiphany is Luke 4:21-30, in which Jesus’ return to Nazareth is reported and it seems he is lucky to escape with his life. There are difficult issues raised by what Jesus has to say, including how self-centred our faith is, how tolerant we are of other faiths and how willing we are to accept change. Geoff also considers whether, in any situation where you have to receive both good and bad news, is it better for you to receive good news or bad news first?

You can download a PDF version of this sermon by clicking here, if you wish.

Luke 4:21-30 (New International Version)

21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked.

23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’”

24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”

28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.

Many situations we encounter in life bring both good news and bad news with them.

  • A promotion at work may come with an increase in salary but also more responsibilities and longer hours.
  • A workplace evaluation may involve both praise for jobs well done, as well as suggestions for improvement.

When you are about to get a shot of good and bad news, what is your preference—good news first, or bad?

And what should your preference be? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Sermons

Why the Baptism of Jesus is an act by which he shows his complete identification with us

January 16, 2019 by 2

This is Rev. Geoff McKee’s 2nd sermon in the season of Epiphany (13 January 2019), looking at the Baptism of Jesus and its lessons for us, including why the Baptism of Jesus is an act by which he shows his complete identification with us.

You can download a PDF version of the sermon here, if you wish.

Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 (New International Version)
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Messiah. 16 John answered them all, “I baptise you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

…

The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus
21 When all the people were being baptised, Jesus was baptised too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

I have been fascinated for some time with the story of Jane Haining.

She was the Church of Scotland missionary who perished in Birkenau death camp in 1944.

She is very much the forgotten Scottish hero of the Holocaust.

She began to serve as matron of the girls’ home with the Scottish Mission School in Budapest in 1932. She was holidaying in Cornwall in 1939 when the Second World War broke out, and she immediately returned to Budapest. She refused to return to Scotland, as ordered in 1940, determined to remain with her girls. After the Nazi invasion of Hungary, in March 1944, she again refused to leave.

She was arrested in April 1944 and detained by the Gestapo, accused, amongst other things, of working among Jews and listening to the BBC.

And what Jane Haining did that was so remarkable was simply that she wished to identify herself with the Jewish children in her care to the extent that she wished to be treated exactly as they would be treated.

She wished her fate to become inseparably joined to theirs.

And that is what God has done in Christ Jesus.

He has come among us. He has identified with us. He has taken on our flesh and our blood – our experience – our joys and our concerns, our trials and tribulations – so that he might help us, so that we may know that we are not alone; so that we may know that we are loved. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Baptism, Sermons

How the lessons of Epiphany challenge narrow assumptions about the reach of the light of Christ

January 8, 2019 by 2

In his sermon for Epiphany (06 January 2019), Rev. Geoff McKee looks ahead to the series of sermons forming the season of Epiphany. Look for an online definition of epiphany and you’ll find the narrow definition as “the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi (Matthew 2:1–12)” (and that is the Scripture for today) and the wider definition as “a moment of sudden and great revelation or realisation”.  Concentrating our attention on the Magi / Wise Men, Geoff considers (1) what do seekers after truth look like? – and (2) what is an appropriate response to the revelation of the light of Christ? Ultimately, it’s about how the lessons of Epiphany challenge narrow assumptions about the reach of the light of Christ.

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

Matthew 2:1-12 (New International Version)
The Magi Visit the Messiah
2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”

3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for out of you will come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Is the good news of Jesus Christ for people like us?

The right answer to that question is ‘yes’. Of course it is!

But also, the right answer is ‘yes, but…’

If the good news is only for people we feel comfortable with or familiar with, generally, then it’s a very particular ‘good news’, isn’t it?

The lessons of Epiphany challenge narrow assumptions about the reach of the light of Christ.

After all, the star that drew the Magi to Christ, was visible to all who had the inclination to look up and see it. It was not a private viewing for the privileged but a guide to the seeker after truth.

What did Jesus say later in his ministry? ‘Ask, and it shall be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7).

The season of Epiphany (for its significance is experienced through a series of epiphanies from the visit of the Magi through the baptism of Jesus culminating in the Transfiguration) is in many areas of the world a bigger holiday than Christmas. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Sermons

Christmas Services in Lossiemouth 2018

December 19, 2018 by 2

We look forward to welcoming you to the 2 main joint services over Christmas within the linkage of St Gerardine’s High Church and St James’ Church. Our minister, Rev. Geoff McKee, will be leading the worship on both these occasions.

Christmas Services

Christmas Eve Watchnight Service at St James at 11:15pm

Mulled wine and shortbread will be served in the Fellowship Hall from 10.30pm. Please come along early to enjoy some social time together.

Christmas Day Service at St Gerardine’s High Church at 10:00am

This is the annual combined Christmas Day service shared among St James’, St Gerardine’s and the United Free Church. Everyone welcome.

Other services

The service on Sunday 23 December 2018 at 10:00am is in St James’ (link to location map).

It is a service of Nine Lessons and Carols. Come and hear the Christmas story with readings from the Old Testament (Genesis and Isaiah) and the New Testament (from the Gospels of Luke, Matthew and John). We’ll also light 4 of our Advent candles during the service (this being the 4th Sunday of Advent).

It’s also a chance to sing some favourite Christmas Carols.

After the service, we’ll have tea and coffee in the Fellowship Hall, to which everyone is welcome.

We hope you will be able to join with us.

The service on Sunday 30th December at St James’ is at 10:00am when the service will be taken by St James’ Kirk Session.

 

We hope to see you at one or more of these services.

We wish you health and happiness this Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

John 3:16 (New International Version)

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Christmas Stable - Table Decoration - Sweta Meininger - Unsplash.com

Filed Under: News / Events

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WELCOME

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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.

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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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