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

Sunday 04 April 2021 is Easter Sunday.

The Lord Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Main scripture for this week

Mark 16:1-8 (New International Version)
Jesus Has Risen
16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

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Good Friday 2021 – Friday 02 April.

Good Friday is observed on the Friday before Easter Sunday. Christians commemorate the suffering (“passion”) and death on the cross of Jesus Christ.

Normally, there is an in-person Good Friday evening service in St James’ Church and St Gerardine’s High Church – in alternate years – but this year Rev. Geoff McKee offers this online video reflection for Good Friday.

Immediately below, you will find the lengthy passage from John’s Gospel (All of Chapter 18 and the following Chapter up to verse 42) which tells the story from the point of Jesus’ arrest through to his burial, following the Crucifixion.

Today’s scripture

John 18:1-19:42 (New International Version)
Jesus Arrested
18 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.

2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

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28 March 2021 is Palm Sunday.

For St James’ Church, in some ways, this marks the first anniversary of Lockdown.

Palm Sunday 2020 saw the first “virtual service” from St James’ featuring audio rather than only text.

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We’ve reached the 5th Sunday in Lent: 21 March 2021.

The Lectionary verses for this week are Jeremiah 31:31-34; Psalm 51:1-12;
Hebrews 5:5-10; and John 12:20-33. The main text is the reading from John’s Gospel in which Jesus predicts his death.

Rev. Geoff McKee discusses Jesus as the Messiah he proved to be compared with the kind of superheroes with which we are familiar in our time and with the concept of “Messiah” the people in Jesus’ time would have had (which was very different to the Messiah they got in Jesus).

Jesus confounds all our expectations.

“I believe because Jesus fulfils none of my dreams, because He is in every respect the opposite of what He would be if I could have made Him in my own image.”

W.H. Auden

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14 March 2021 is the Fourth Sunday in Lent.

The Lectionary readings for this week are Numbers 21:4-9; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22; Ephesians 2:1-10; and John 3:14-21.

The John text is the basis for Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon.

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