Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Welcome to Rev. Geoff McKee’s Virtual Sunday Service for 05 April 2020 – Palm Sunday.

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, when Christians celebrate Christ’s triumphant entry (on a donkey) into Jerusalem. In many Christian traditions, though not in the Church of Scotland, this involves processions in which branches of palms are carried.

This week’s service has an audio version of the sermon, which you can access below. Further down, you’ll find the prayers and readings from the service.

First of all, let’s look at the Bible story for today, taken from Matthew’s Gospel.

Matthew 21:1-11 (New International Version)
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
21 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
5 “Say to Daughter Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
6 The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. 8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

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This is the ‘virtual’ service for 29 March 2020, with there being no actual service due to the social distancing restrictions currently in force.

The resources here comprise prayers, Scripture and Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon.

You can download these materials in PDF format, if you wish, by clicking HERE.

In future weeks, we hope to provide audio – as well as written – content, as part of these posts.

A Prayer for these Times

For all that is good in life, thank you,
For the love of family and friends, thank you,
For the kindness of good neighbour and Samaritan stranger, thank you.
May those who are vulnerable, hungry or homeless, experience support.
May those who are sick know healing.
May those who are anxious or bereaved sense comfort.
Bless and guide political leaders and decision-makers with wisdom.
Bless and guide health workers and key workers, with strength and well-being.
Bless and guide each one of us as we adapt to a new way of living.
And may the light shining from our windows across road and wynd, glen and ben, kyle and isle be reflected in our hearts and hands and hopes.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

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There follows a letter for everyone in the linked Churches of St Gerardine’s High and St James’ – and beyond. If you would like to download a PDF of the letter to print and perhaps pass (as safely as possible) to someone else who is not online, click HERE.

Dear friends,

I have recently returned from a ten day break in Connemara in the west of Ireland. I returned to empty streets in Lossiemouth and I have started the period of life behind closed doors that many of you have already begun.

On holiday, I visited the beautiful woods at Coole Park, by Gort, near to Galway city. There in the walled garden stands a copper beech tree on which several famous Irish writers such as George Bernard Shaw and W.B. Yeats have carved their names. Yeats, living in a very different era, with different concerns, wrote of everything having changed, changed utterly. I’m sure we are all feeling and experiencing an utter change to our lives and circumstances. We are uncertain what will come our way and how long it will all last.

In the midst of the uncertainty, we need to turn to our God who is ever faithful in his love and care and we need to do all we can to support one another. We will miss our gathering together for worship each week and with time we will appreciate, all the more, how precious our freedom, in normal times, is.

However, with the benefit of technology, we can still communicate. We can phone one another; some of us can communicate via online technology. Each week I will endeavour to make available online my Sunday sermon and prayers via the St. James’ Church website. I encourage those in St. Gerardine’s High Church to access the material from the St. James’ Church website and in that way the churches can work together to support one another. I am aware that many in our congregations are not able to access online material and so arrangements will be put in place to help distribute worship material. I encourage everyone to listen to church services broadcast on the radio. This is an excellent way to experience participation in community worship which we miss so much at this time. The following web page links to excellent resources from the wider Church of Scotland family https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship

Please be assured of my thoughts and prayers during these troubling times.

Your minister and friend,
Geoff

There is no physical Sunday Morning Service at St James’ Church, with effect from 22 March 2020.

Geoff, our Minister, was not to be conducting the service this week anyway. However, Margaret King, his replacement, has kindly provided the order of service and her sermon.

These are published below and we hope you will get some comfort and inspiration from them. Margaret sends a “long distance hug” to everyone and we thank her for her “virtual” ministry to us all.

You will find the following sections below: first, the various sections from the Bible which form the theme of the service; secondly, Margaret’s sermon; thirdly, suggested hymns, with links to performances of them on YouTube.

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This is the sermon for Remembrance Sunday 2019 (10 November 2019). Rev. Geoff McKee’s scripture is the story from John’s Gospel of how the disciple, Thomas, would only believe in Jesus’s resurrection by meeting Jesus face-to-face.

You can download a PDF of the sermon, if you wish, by clicking HERE.

John 20:24-31 (New International Version)

Jesus Appears to Thomas

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Remembrance Sunday

One of the great challenges which a newly ordained minister has to come to terms with, and continually live with, is coping with funerals.

They are a necessary part of the vocation.

Their occurrence is unpredictable and so they can’t be planned for.

• Who knows how many funerals will come, in any one particular week?
• Will the minister be burying a stranger, a parishioner, an acquaintance or a good friend?

There is much work that needs to be done in visiting and preparation as well as managing the pressures of the service itself and any required follow-up.

How foolish the minister who does not pause to reflect on the impact of this work because it has the potential to bring emotional and spiritual challenges that can enrich a ministry or destroy it.

I have visited the cemetery in Lossiemouth about two hundred times in the past five years.

I have watched it steadily expand and I often reflect that as more and more land is claimed for sacred use so more lives are impacted by the blow of loss and the journey of mourning. [Read more…]