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

This is the service materials for 08 October 2023.

Below, you will find the main scripture reading for today and the video recording of today’s service.

Main Bible Reading for today

Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20 (The Message Bible Translation)
20 1-2 God spoke all these words:

I am God, your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
out of a life of slavery.

3 No other gods, only me.

4-6 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God, punishing the children for any sins their parents pass on to them to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation of those who hate me. But I’m unswervingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.

7 No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name.

8-11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work—not you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maid, nor your animals, not even the foreign guest visiting in your town. For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day.

12 Honour your father and mother so that you’ll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.

13 No murder.

14 No adultery.

15 No stealing.

16 No lies about your neighbour.

17 No lusting after your neighbour’s house—or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don’t set your heart on anything that is your neighbour’s.

18-19 All the people, experiencing the thunder and lightning, the trumpet blast and the smoking mountain, were afraid—they pulled back and stood at a distance. They said to Moses, “You speak to us and we’ll listen, but don’t have God speak to us or we’ll die.”

20 Moses spoke to the people: “Don’t be afraid. God has come to test you and instill a deep and reverent awe within you so that you won’t sin.”

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Sunday 01 October 2023 is the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost and it is also Harvest Thanksgiving.

You can access the current weekly intimations for the Church here.

Rev. Geoff McKee asks us to consider what the harvest from our own lives will be and how we can take steps to leave a lasting and meaningful legacy for the benefit of others – even if there is no “harvest” during our own lifetimes.

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Sunday 24 September is the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. The main Bible reading today is Exodus 16:2-15. The story of God reponding to the grumbling of the Israelites in the wilderness – helping out the Israelites’ leaders, Moses and Aaron, in the face of their disgruntled people.

Rev. Geoff McKee discusses how God hears and answers prayer but how, to His glory, he often confounds our expectations in that regard.

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Sunday 03 September 2023 is the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The main Bible text today is from the Old Testament – the Book of Exodus – and it’s the story of Moses encountering God as a Burning Bush (which nevertheless did not burn up). God tasks Moses with a mission which seems almost absurd in its hugeness – and we can all relate to the doubts and fears he expresses to God.

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Sunday 27 August 2023 is the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The main reading today is from the Old Testament – the book of Exodus. We hear of the Birth of Moses, one of the central figures in the Bible. His survival depended on various people – from Hebrew midwives to Paraoh’s daughter – disobeying the laws of the land.

Below, you will find the Exodus text and the video of today’s service from St. James’ Church.

Main Scripture for today

Exodus 1:8-2:10 (from The Message Bible Translation)
“A New King . . . Who Didn’t Know Joseph”
8-10 A new king came to power in Egypt who didn’t know Joseph. He spoke to his people with alarm, “There are way too many of these Israelites for us to handle. We’ve got to do something: Let’s devise a plan to contain them, lest if there’s a war they should join our enemies, or just walk off and leave us.”

11-14 So they organized them into work-gangs and put them to hard labor under gang-foremen. They built the storage cities Pithom and Rameses for Pharaoh. But the harder the Egyptians worked them the more children the Israelites had—children everywhere! The Egyptians got so they couldn’t stand the Israelites and treated them worse than ever, crushing them with slave labor. They made them miserable with hard labor—making bricks and mortar and back-breaking work in the fields. They piled on the work, crushing them under the cruel workload.

15-16 The king of Egypt had a talk with the two Hebrew midwives; one was named Shiphrah and the other Puah. He said, “When you deliver the Hebrew women, look at the sex of the baby. If it’s a boy, kill him; if it’s a girl, let her live.”

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