Lossiemouth Church of Scotland

Continuing our journey through Luke’s Gospel, Rev. Geoff McKee discusses Luke 13:10-17, where Jesus’ healing act of love and compassion was criticised because it was the ‘wrong’ day of the week. The scripture follows immediately below, followed by the text of the sermon. You can download this article as a pdf (85kB; download begins immediately) by clicking here.

Jesus Heals a Crippled Woman on the Sabbath
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”

15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”

17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.

[Read more…]

Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for 14 August 2016 is again based on scripture from Luke’s Gospel (Luke 12:49-56). The text follows below and, after that, the sermon itself.  You can download the sermon as a pdf by clicking here (87kB; download begins immediately).

Not Peace but Division
49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! 50 But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! 51 Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. 52 From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Times
54 He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. 55 And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. 56 Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

I’m faced with preaching from a text in Luke’s Gospel this morning that surely all preachers would happily ignore.

Can’t we just miss this one out and go on to a passage a wee bit less disturbing, please? [Read more…]

We look at another passage from Luke’s Gospel in Rev. Geoff McKee’s sermon for 07 August 2016. You’ll find the Scripture reading first of all, below (Luke 12:32-40), followed by the sermon itself – discussing the meaning and the importance of the Kingdom of God, including what Steve Jobs can teach us about it.  You can also download this article as a pdf document (87kB; download begins immediately).

32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Watchfulness
35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

How worried are you this morning?

After all, there is much to fear, isn’t there? [Read more…]

Rev. Geoff McKee discusses another passage from Luke’s Gospel, looking at the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12: 13-21). The scripture appears immediately below, followed by the sermon (31 July 2016). You can download the sermon in pdf format by clicking here (download begins immediately; 85kB).

The Parable of the Rich Fool
13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”

14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’

18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’

20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

The following brief article appeared on the BBC news website last month:

Fifty years ago this week, Barclaycard issued the first credit cards in the UK.

Half a century on, consumers are used to a range of convenient ways to pay but, back in 1966, there was a feeling of change when people tried to brandish their exciting new plastic cards. [Read more…]

We look at what Jesus taught about Prayer in this latest in Rev. Geoff McKee’s series on stories from Luke’s Gospel.  The scripture (Luke 11:1-13) – The Lord’s Prayer – is followed by Geoff’s sermon from 24 July 2016. If you would like to download the text of the sermon as a pdf document, you can do so by clicking here.

Jesus’ Teaching on Prayer
11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:

“‘Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.’”
5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.

9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Attendance at the weekly prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings was expected of all keen Christians. That was the way it was in one church I attended a good number of years ago.

There were plenty of other things that were more attractive than the prayer meeting but other enjoyments tended to be spoiled a bit by the knowledge that one really should be with the faithful in the church hall on a Wednesday evening. [Read more…]