Laich of Moray Parish Church (formerly Lossiemouth Church of Scotland)

Sunday 30 January 2022 is the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany.

The main text today is Luke 4:21-30.

At an early stage in his public ministry, Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth. On the face of it, he is lucky to leave the place unscathed, or even alive.

Rev. Geoff McKee analyses the passage and challenges us with reference to three questions to which we might have a tendency to answer “Yes” –

• Is our faith centred on our own peace of mind – an inner peace – or is it centred in finding justice for the oppressed?
  
• Is our faith about protecting ourselves from other beliefs?
  
• Is our faith about resisting change?

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Our guest preacher, Murray Campbell, for this the Third Sunday after the Epiphany (23 January 2022), and looking ahead to the “Burns’ Week” ahead, focuses on how poetry and music enhance our worship.

Many of the hymns in the service are sung to well-known Scottish melodies.

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Sunday 16 January 2022 is the Second Sunday after the Epiphany.

Main scripture for today

John 2:1-11 (New International Version)
Jesus Changes Water Into Wine
2 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

4 “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

11 What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.

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Sunday 09 January 2022 is the First Sunday after the Epiphany.

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica online: Epiphany, also called Feast of the Epiphany, Theophany, or Three Kings’ Day, (from Greek epiphaneia, “manifestation”), is a Christian holiday commemorating the first manifestation of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, represented by the Magi, and the manifestation of his divinity, as it occurred at his baptism in the Jordan River and at his first miracle, at Cana in Galilee. Epiphany is one of the three principal and oldest festival days of the Christian church (the other two are Easter and Christmas).

In the Church of Scotland, and many other Western Churches, the feast is observed on 6th January.

The main scripture for today is Acts 8:14-17. The events narrated there are extraordinary because they marked the first moment that non-Jews were baptised after coming to belief in Jesus Christ. This was a major development which challenged the prejudices and hurts resulting from long-standing ethnic tensions between Jews and Samaritans. (See – as a famous example of the general ‘bad blood’ between Jews and Samaritance – the Parable of the Good Samaritan).

God’s healing is communicated through the actions of one to the other. In a divided world, we must risk for relationship and change. Presence and touch are made to overcome the forces of fear and division.

Main scripture for today

Acts 8:14-17 (New International Version)
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

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Welcome to the first Sunday Service of 2022 from St James’ Church – 02 January 2022 – led by Elders from St Gerardine’s and St James’.