Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

This is Rev. Graham Crawford’s sermon for Sunday, 21 June 2015:

If you want a frozen pizza to have in your freezer for emergencies, in the USA, one of the options is Tombstone Pizza.

Originally it was the product of a small bar or pub in Wisconsin, but it grew and grew until it attracted the attention of one of the big multinationals and it is now part of the Nestle empire. Part of its success has to be its marketing. After all, who would forget the phrase, “What do you want on your tombstone?” The inference being, of course, that you can choose all sorts of toppings.

However, it is also something which we all think about from time to time. Some people get very creative with their tombstones or gravestones, as we more usually call them here. I have a book in my library, “A small book of grave humour,” which contains many fabulous epitaphs, although one of my favourites came after the book was published, which is on Spike Milligan’s Gravestone. “I told you I was ill!”

However, the inscription had to be written in Gaelic in order for it to be approved by the Chichester Diocese. I plan to be cremated, so I will not have a gravestone or even a tombstone, but if I did I know what I would want on it: [Read more…]

Rev. Graham Crawford’s Sermon for Sunday 07 June 2015:

At the school my brother attended, one of the sports options in the Summer term was cricket. It was the option he chose.

After about a week or so, he came home from school and announced that he needed a pair of cricket gloves: the gloves that batsmen wear to protect their hands. According to my brother, everyone else had their own gloves, so he needed a pair.

Of course, when my parents investigated, it was a load of rubbish. Yes, there were one or two boys who had their own pair, but most just used a pair out of the school kit bag.

This proved very unfortunate for me because, as the younger brother, whenever I really needed something when I was growing up, my folks would look at me and just say: “Cricket gloves”.

There is always a desire among young people to have what everyone else has, or what they perceive everyone else has. Whether it is a particular pair of shoes, rucksack for school, make of boot for football. There is the desire to fit in.

But it does not just happen to young people; it happens to nations and even churches. Countries look at what other countries have got and decide they want it too, which often starts a war. Even churches can look enviously at other churches and say “We want that” – even if it is entirely inappropriate. [Read more…]

This is Rev. Graham Crawford’s sermon for 24 May 2015 (Pentecost Sunday):

Inevitably, given the debates over the last few years, various groups have formed within the Kirk: some more liberal, some more conservative.

I happen to be part of two of these groups:

• Church of Scotland Evangelical Network, and
• the Covenant Fellowship.

Here is the confession of the Covenant Fellowship:-

“I believe that the Church of Scotland is moving away from its roots in Scripture and the Westminster Confession of Faith. I believe that the time has come for the creation of a ‘Covenant Fellowship’ within the Church. This Covenant Fellowship will draw together those who believe that the Scriptures, in their entirety, are the Word of God and must provide the basis for everything we believe and do. This vision is nothing less than the reformation and renewal of the Church of Scotland, in accordance with the Word of God, and by the empowering of his life-giving Spirit.”

I believe that, on this Pentecost Sunday, this renewal by the empowering of the Holy Spirit is the most crucial thing that we need at this time. [Read more…]