Category: Minister’s Letters

PASTORAL LETTER.

Firstly let me say a very big thank you to everyone at Dalry Trinity who have given me a very warm welcome as your new Interim Moderator. When Gus McKay asked me to write this Pastoral Letter I thought no problem. I will write about the forthcoming union of St Margaret’s and Trinity, and then I read Gus’s letter in the Christmas Newsletter, and he has already covered this more eloquently than I could have done.

However, I have been asked what is an InterimModerator? In order to fully answer that question it is best that I quote directly from the Church of Scotland handbook; Dalry Trinity Church congregation is in vacancy: The previous ministry has ended and the Presbytery has appointed an Interim Moderator. This may be a disconcerting time in the life of a congregation. The end of a ministry, particularly as it has been a long, and successful one may bring deep sadness, and other emotions.

There may well be uncertainty or indeed fear, as the congregation contemplates the future. However it is also a time for reflection, prayer, growth, and opportunity if used well!

It is the task of the Kirk Session and Interim Moderator to lead the congregation in this period of transition. The task is twofold. Firstly, it must not be forgotten that the on going life and witness of the congregation continues. We often speak of a “Vacant Congregation”, but nothing can be further from the truth; there may be a ministry vacancy, but the life of God’s people continues as do the responsibilities of the Kirk Session. But secondly there are particular tasks for the Interim Moderator, and the Kirk Session as they lead, pastor, and equip the congregation through the vacancy, and seek to discern God’s calling for the next stage in the life of the people of God.

An Interim Moderator has a dual role to discharge. On the one hand, being the Presbytery’s appointee, the Interim Moderator is expected to help in representing the views of Presbytery to the congregation. On the other hand, as the congregation’s Minister for the time being, the Interim Moderator may be called to help representing the views of the congregation to the Presbytery. Fortunately at Dalry Trinity we are all blessed with a talented and committed Kirk Session, as well as Worship Leaders, and Sunday School Leaders, and therefore my role so far has been minimal.

My intention is to progress the union between Dalry Trinity, and St Margaret’s Dalry as rapidly as possible to allow us as a union to call for a Minister. I am sure everyone is aware that we are unable to proceed to call for a Minister until the union between the two churches is completed.

I am informed by those who have been through the process of uniting congregations that some Church Members leave the newly formed union for various reasons, but I strongly urge all Church Members to see this as an opportunity to form a strong worshipping community in Dalry, which can be a main spring within the Dalry community.

Now is not the time to become frustrated with change happening in a growing secular society; now is the time to pray for revival, which will come. When we read the Old Testament and realise sometimes how long it took for God to fulfil a plan then we must continue to plant the seeds, continue to pray for His Kingdom to come as it surely will.

As we read or listen to the news we realise that we live in what well may be a crucial time in world history, and everyone should be asking the question “What is God like?” And as we ask; we must make very sure of the answer.

We must know beyond a shadow of a doubt exactly who God is, and what He is capable of accomplishing. If we ask philosophers or scholars or multiple indivIduals they will come up with explanations, theories, and ideas, but by which of these self appointed authorities are we to be guided by?

We must be guided by the one who comes from God himself. In the Bible we have a revelation of God Himself, and fi we understand and believe that then our minds can be satisfied and our hearts completely filled. Then we can be sure we are on our way to knowing, and understanding the true nature of God.

First: the Bible declares God to be a Spirit. Jesus talking to the woman at the Well of Sychar (John 4 V24) made this straightforward statement about God; “God is Spirit.” Jesus knew”His mind was not limited as ours are limited. He knew full well the borderless. and endless reaches of the Spirit, and He came to try to give us some understanding of it’s wonders, it’s comfort, and its peace.

God is not limited to body or shape, or boundaries. He is immeasurable, and indiscernible by eyes that can only see physical things. Because He has no limitations He can hear all, see all, and know all.

Second: the Bible reveals Him as a person. Al through the Bible it says; “God says”, “God does”, “God loves.” Everything we attribute to a person is attributed to God. A person is one who feels, wishes, thinks, desires, and has all the expressions of personality. We understand this because we limit personality to the body, and yet we know at the moment of death our personality will leave our body to go on to the destination that awaits us.

Third: the Bible states that God is not only a Spirit and a Person, but God is a Holy and Righteous Being, and therefore our imperfection, and our iniquities have separated us from God, and it is only through Jesus Christ that we can again re-establish our fellowship with God.

These are the things we can feel certain about: God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchanging He is a Person. He isRighteous and the Most Holy Being.

Fourth: “God is love.” We are not always sure what we mean when we use the word love. We love to travel, we love to eat chocolate, we love our new car or decorated room, so we may not have a clear idea of what the Bible means when it says “God is love.”

Our sins have separated us from Him, because He is a Holy perfect God, and He has provided a way back to him through Jesus.

As we approach Easter know that God’s love provided the Cross of Jesus, by which we can have forgiveness and cleansing. It was the love of God which sent Jesus to the Cross!

Lord God, I know that in this life we will have troubles. But thank You that we know that we don’t have to lose heart, because You have overcome this world

Simon Young. (Interim Moderator)

PREACH THE WORD, DIE, BE FORGOTTEN

These words are attributed to Nikolaus von Zinzendorf who was a bishop of the Moravian church in the 18th century, perhaps remembered now for his hymn ‘Jesus, thy blood and righteousness’. Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten. It is said that Zinzendorf would give this sage advice to missionaries being sent out onto the mission field. At first glance, it doesn’t seem the most inspiring motivational speech ever given, but it certainly serves as a stark reminder that ‘it is not all about me’.

When I was ordained as a minister on 18th May 1988 in Wigtown Church, among the vows of ordination was one, which the ordinand is warned in advance, uniquely requires a response other than regular ‘I do’. It runs:

Are not zeal for the glory of God, love to the Lord Jesus Christ, and a desire for the salvation of all people, so far as you know your own heart, your great motives and chief inducements to enter into the office of the Holy Ministry?

The proper answer is, of course, ‘they are’. To the extent that these are the true motivations of any minister, then Zinzendorf’s stark advice holds true, because the ministry is not about us, it is about the Gospel that must be shared for God’s glory and for the salvation of souls. That being the case, the true measure of any work of God is written not in Parish statistics but in lives changed by the Spirit and lived for Christ.

Over these past 20 years in Dalry, I have been immensely privileged to be your minister, and have been delighted and encouraged to see lives changed in encounter with Jesus Christ, as his word is proclaimed. The manse family have been generously provided with a magnificent manse and richly blessed in a fellowship that has been supportive, responsive and caring. ‘Thank you’ seems hardly sufficient!

The Lord’s work in Dalry Trinity has been remarkably fruitful over many generations. It is a small Ayrshire town from which the Lord has sent countless people all over the world, and nurtured a fellowship ‘at home’ to support them. An important aspect of the work in Dalry has been our prayerful and financial support of a significant portfolio of missionaries, as well as our contact with a variety of ministries around our own land – many of whom have Dalry roots and contacts. It has been a significant feature of the Lord’s work in Trinity that key people have been ‘moved on’ to serve elsewhere. Our local fellowship may be relatively small, but the dispersion is enormous. At the same time, the Lord has been good to us in bringing people here from far flung places, enriching our fellowship, often with exactly the gifts needed.

How could a fellowship in rural Ayrshire have known such blessing? The simple answer is that over successive ministries (not least the long and remarkably fruitful ministry of the late David Grant from 1969 till 2003) the key Gospel priorities of teaching in the Word of God and promoting congregational prayer in a church life that focussed on sharing the gospel with our community have been, by God’s grace, largely maintained.

When these priorities are maintained by his people, the Lord graciously maintains the rest. With staggering generosity, the Lord has provided materially for us over the years to facilitate the work, not least when we renovated the sanctuary in 2013, and later transformed the Biggart Hall with a new kitchen (and, incidentally, we are about to renew it again, this time with new windows), and then brought Sadoc and Vivi Chongo from South America to work with us. It is remarkable that all this was maintained without extravagant, distracting and inefficient ‘fund raising’. It all simply came out of the pockets of believers. Here is a very important lesson: The Lord’s people giving the Lord’s money is how the Lord’s work is materially sustained – depart from that and all manner of complications ensue.

The history of Dalry Trinity stretches back to the 18th century when a secession church was formed in 1779. Six years later, in 1785, a place of worship was built near Courthill Street (its remains now spread across some gardens in that street). Courthill church went through a couple of unions in the 19th century, in 1820 and then in 1847 when it became a member of the United Presbyterian Church. By that time the current building was deemed inadequate and our present church building was erected in 1857. In 1900 such UP churches became part of the new United Free Church which, in turn, united with the then Church of Scotland to form a new Church of Scotland in 1929. It is because of all these unions that we find ourselves with so many church buildings in communities across Scotland. Courthill Church ceased to be called ‘Courthill Church’ when it became part of a 3-way union with the former West Church and St Andrews churches to form Trinity in the 1960s, with Gavin McFadyen as the first minister. It is clear that the history of the church has known the challenge of unions, and another is imminent as a union is to take place with St Margaret’s.

As Lorna and I leave to venture into a new phase of our own lives, in which we will be seeking how we are to serve the Lord when we are living in St Andrews, we leave behind a fellowship and a people who will ever remain very precious to us. It has been an enormous privilege and blessing to serve among you, and I thank you for all your friendship, kindness and support.

One final thought. It is my conviction that the Lord has done remarkable things in, and through, many lives in Dalry over many generations. In the wider church, few may make reference to the church in Dalry Trinity, but from the standpoint of eternity, you and I have been privileged to be involved together in a work of some significance, which has connections worldwide. You and I think of ourselves as ‘ordinary’, and we are correct to do so. We do not appear as Christian celebrities in the media, perish the thought, but our ordinary lives are exactly what the Lord delights in, and fruitfully uses.
During the restrictions and lockdowns of the year 2020, we were in weekly contact with our eldest son, Philip, who until recently was teaching philosophy in China. In his extended and restricted leisure time, when he was not teaching online, he was reading his way through a great deal of 19th century literature. Among his regular recommendations was ‘Dad, you need to read Middlemarch. It is a masterpiece.’ I did. He was not wrong. The novel ends with a remarkable comment on an ordinary life well lived:

The effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.

When our zeal is for the glory of God, then our ordinary lives, by his grace, can have that diffusive good that lasts to eternity.

With much love
Martin Thomson

 

REV DAVID GRANT

It was with much sadness that we learned of the death of David Grant on 28th August. David was a much-loved minister in Dalry from 1969 until his illness in 2002. David’s faithful ministry was remarkably fruitful, with many lives knowing blessing and transformation through his insightful preaching and pastoral support. An extraordinary number of people were called into some form of full-time Christian service under him – into ministry, missionary work etc – and countless others knew their lives enriched and supported week by week as he so ably expounded the scriptures and led worship. A service of thanksgiving will take place on Saturday 28th September in Sandyford Henderson Church in Glasgow at 12 noon.

 

JAN HOUSTON: SESSION CLERK

Jan Houston is stepping down as Session Clerk in October. Jan has been a first-class Session Clerk and we owe her an immense debt of gratitude for the past 10 years as she has quietly and conscientiously carried out her duties on our behalf. The role of Session Clerk involves far more than is immediately visible. That individual is the minister’s ‘right hand man’ (even when a woman!) and the recipient of all manner of correspondence and is responsible for seemingly endless administrative tasks. Jan has proved to be an immense support to this minister and admirably efficient in all the tasks with which she has been burdened. Thank you!
The Kirk Session has elected Gus McKay to take over from Jan at our next meeting on 8th October.   

 

THE BEHAVIOUR OF DINOSAURS

I have a question. But first, let me indulge the boy in me and talk dinosaurs.

With the discovery of a fossilised jawbone on a beach in Somerset in 2016, and a similar discovery in 2020, scientists have recently concluded that they had found the largest marine reptile yet known. The giant ichthyosaur reptile would have been the length of two buses. It has been given the cumbersome name of Ichthyotitan severnensis, or giant fish lizard of the Severn. This beast would have been no less than 25m long (which is over 27 yards in old money). Can you imagine meeting a thing like that when paddling by the beach? (Fortunately, it died 202 million years ago)

It is not without reason that films featuring ancient dinosaurs, such as Jurassic Park, are scary. Most of us are behind the couch when T-Rex is on the rampage. Many of these monsters would swallow a mere human for a snack, with or without ketchup, and, in the movie, they tend to do just that! Yet a glance at the average wildlife programme reminds us that nature today, in a world without dinosaurs, is, to quote Tennyson, ‘red in tooth and claw’. There is always some poor creature getting hunted and eaten!  Tennyson wrote that line in a poem in which, among the questions he posed, was why it is that those fittest to survive are often the least attractive (cockroaches, for instance, or some Victorian industrialists, to the poet’s mind!) whereas the likes of his friend Hallam, whom he considered the best of men, faced extinction. He observed what we all know, which is that the world in which we live, and nature of which we are a part, is one in which the strong dominate the weak, and the weak are often too frail to survive and frequently become no more than prey to the strong.

Here is my question. Given that nature displays this principle, that the strong brutally dominate the weak, and given that we ourselves are undoubtedly an integral part of nature, why is it we refuse to accept this as an acceptable pattern for human behaviour? We revolt at any conduct which involves the strong exploiting, or simply destroying, the weak. For that reason, we are angered at the way Postmasters were treated so unjustly, appalled at the institutional cover up that victimised so many affected by the infected blood scandal, outraged at the plight of Ukrainians being attacked by Russia, shocked at the way Israelis were viciously brutalised, raped and tortured by Hamas fighters on October 7th, and no less appalled at how innocent Palestinians in Gaza, in their tens of thousands (many of them children), are seemingly being regarded as no more than ‘collateral damage’ whose lives are expendable. Our outrage is accompanied by an overwhelming desire to live in a world where the strong are not permitted to do as they please to the weak, simply because they can. We want laws and rules to be followed which offer protection, and what we regard as a more ‘civilised’ behaviour is prescribed.

The pattern of the strong dominating the weak, which we see in nature, is one that we wish to reject as entirely unacceptable in human relations. That raises a question: Is this not an appeal to a supernatural standard, that somehow lies beyond nature? If the ‘normal’ pattern of nature is brutal, and we are part of that brutal nature, on what basis do we seek a more humane world? The American author Annie Dillard perfectly sums this up when she observes how she wants to live according to rules which are very different from the wider world of nature in which we live, and of which we are a part: ‘Either this world, my mother, is a monster, or I am a freak.’ She is capturing the point that we instinctively don’t approve of a world where human beings behave like the rest of nature, where violence and strength can run amok. Most of us want to be different from that. Yet, on what basis do we wish to stand apart from nature? We make grand appeals to human rights, but nature (of which we are a part) does not respect such rights.

It is conservatively estimated that domestic cats kill around 27 million birds during Spring and Summer each year in the UK. Those cats don’t debate the rights of birds, they just kill and eat. Why should we be different?

Most people in our land believe in human rights. But if this is not a belief in an illusion, and things like the holocaust and the callous disregard for human life we find reported day by day is indeed wrong, then are we not conceding the existence of moral absolutes which are beyond the natural world – that are indeed supernatural?

There is more to the world than what we see, and our instinctive longing for peace and justice and fairness strongly suggests so. Taking another angle on the same issue: C.S. Lewis reflected on the time when he was an atheist, and how his argument against believing in God rested on his own outrage that the world was so unjust and cruel. Then he asked the question ‘Where did I get this idea of fairness and the idea of justice in the first place?’ In his own words:

‘A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the whole show was bad and senseless from A to Z, so to speak, why did I, who was supposed to be part of the show, find myself in such a violent reaction against it?

It is the Christian worldview derived from the Biblical revelation that helps us make sense of this broken world, and of our broken selves, and gives us hope in God who entered into it in Christ in order to save it (and us). The next time someone says to you ‘I don’t believe in God because the world is so full of injustice,’ you might ask ‘And where do you get that notion of justice?’

Yours thoughtfully
Martin Thomson
……………………………..

 

NEW MEMBERS

We warmly welcome Tom and Diana Cherukara to membership with us. It has been a blessing to have them amongst us for some time now as they have become a valued part of our church fellowship.
Scones at the Manse

We plan another ‘scones at the Manse’ event some Saturday, probably in late June. Rather than set a date too far in advance we hope to keep an eagle eye on the weather and announce a Saturday accordingly. We held such an event last August when we were forced indoors into the Manse which was fun but led to rather ‘close’ fellowship given the numbers.

MINISTER’S RETIREMENT

Martin has formally intimated to presbytery his intention to retire in October this year. The date of his final Sunday is yet to be finally fixed but the most likely candidate is the second Sunday of that month.

VISITING MISSIONARIES

We are hugely privileged in Dalry to support, through our mission fund, a wide number of missionaries who serve in different parts of the world. It is a great encouragement to receive visits from so many of them. In April we enjoyed catching up with the Chongos, visiting us from Southampton where they serve in a large Anglican Church. At the beginning of May we welcomed Alan McLaren of ‘Christians against Poverty’ to the midweek. Later in May we caught up with Andrew and Maria Hyde at the midweek, home now after many years serving among Kurdish people and now, based in Rosyth, helping the UK church reach out to minority groups in their vicinity.
We also welcomed Gerard and Sarah Charles to worship one Sunday, sharing something of their work with OMF in the north of England.
Here are some other visits coming up:
Ruth Jack, serving with ‘Mission Aviation Fellowship’ in Uganda, on Wednesday 19th June.
Anne Bothamley, in her ninth decade and still serving in India, will visit us sometime in June.
Steve and Rhona Morris will be with us on Wednesday 10th July, to help us catch up with their varied ministries – including Steve’s rammed-earth teaching workshops in India and his ministry among bikers.

SUMMER SUNDAY SCHOOL ROTA 2024

7th July Liz Airlie and Ann Lamont
14th July Liz Airlie and Jenny Mewes
21st July Bill McKay and Margaret Caldwell
21st July Bill McKay and Margaret Caldwell
11th August Carol Gardiner and Jenny Darroch
18th August Carol Gardiner and Jenny Darroch
25th August Jan Houston and Margaret Menzies
1st September Jan Houston and Margaret Menzies

Thank you all for being so willing to help.  If you are unable to do it when allocated, please could you swap with someone else.

 

Forgiveness

On the steps of the Court, after the conclusion of the trial and the serial killer sent off to jail, a tearful couple speak of the searing and ongoing pain of the loss of their child at the hands of the convicted murderer. But they also speak words of forgiveness. Later, on social media, they are heavily criticised for encouraging criminals and abusers by their talk of forgiveness.

Meanwhile another couple, victims of the same convicted murderer, stand on the same steps outside the Court, announcing that they can never forgive him for what he has done to their family, that he has condemned them to a life of loss, and that they hope he ‘burns in hell.’ Social media fills with words of sympathy and support.

We live in days when there is a great deal of confusion about what Christian forgiveness actually means. In particular, the first couple above were criticised by those who thought that forgiveness meant injustice, and who were understandably perplexed at any notion of letting the perpetrator of murder go ‘scot free’, without ‘paying the price’. They see forgiveness as a betrayal of justice. They are wrong. In fact, the Christian offer of forgiveness includes an understanding of the cost of forgiveness (obvious at the cross of Christ) and is received upon repentance (which includes an acknowledgement of wrongdoing). In this sense, forgiveness is never ‘cheap’, and significantly, when the offer of forgiveness meets with repentance, relationships can be rebuilt.

I would commend to you Timothy Keller’s final book, ‘Forgive’, which more than helps clear the fog surrounding forgiveness in our modern era. He begins his book with a modern version of the parable of the unforgiving servant. In the parable, a servant owes the king 10,000 talents. A talent would have been a year’s salary to the servant, and so the debt described by Jesus is mind-numbingly large – a sum that would dwarf even the earnings of Elon Musk. It would be impossible to repay such a debt. That is the point. So, the servant asks for mercy and the king cancels the debt.

This is a picture of forgiveness. When you are wronged by someone, forgiving them involves cancelling their debt, so that you no longer hold it against them.

The parable does not end with this debt forgiveness. The forgiven servant subsequently refuses to show the same mercy when he meets a fellow servant who owes him a trivial amount. Instead he attacks him and then has him cast in a debtors’ prison. When the king learns about this, he has the unforgiving servant locked up.

The lesson is not that we must earn forgiveness by being forgiving (that is not the order of events here). The lesson is that forgiveness is only truly understood and received when it changes us into forgiving people. True forgiveness is transformative.

Keller helpfully defines forgiveness as involving four components, by summarising four actions that constitute forgiveness:
1. It is to name the trespass truthfully as wrong and punishable, rather than merely excusing it.
2. It is to identify with the perpetrator as a fellow sinner rather than thinking how different from you he or she is. It is to do their good.
3. It is to release the wrongdoer from liability by absorbing the debt oneself rather than seeking revenge and paying them back.
4. It is to aim for reconciliation rather than breaking off the relationship forever.

Thus understood, Christian forgiveness guards against two prevalent obstacles to forgiveness. The first of these obstacles is what has been called ‘therapeutic forgiveness’, an understanding of forgiveness as a private emotional strategy done for the benefit of the one forgiving. Often the advice is given that if we learn to forgive then we can ‘move on’ and we will ‘feel better’. True as this may be, it is a truncated form of forgiveness that focusses only on the wronged individual and offers no hope of repaired relationships, and no path to transformation. Christian forgiveness involves absorbing the debt and refraining from revenge. It aims for reconciliation and isn’t merely a private emotional strategy helping us to ‘move on’ with life (helpful as that may be). Without such true forgiveness there is no wider healing of relationships such as was achieved (at its best) in the ‘truth and reconciliation’ strategy of post-apartheid South Africa.

The second obstacle to Christian forgiveness is that of a new “shame-and-honour culture,” which is what our ‘cancel culture’ has become. In the cancel culture whenever someone is deemed to have acted outside the bounds of what is popularly accepted, then there follows a clamour to boycott, ostracise and shun the identified individual. Sadly, this is often used as a disproportionate weapon against people with whom there is disagreement – witness the shameful treatment of J.K. Rowling for disagreeing with the Scottish government’s gender recognition Bill. Someone of her wealth and stature was able to withstand the attempts at boycotting her work, although the disproportionate viciousness of the attacks on her must surely have hurt at an emotional level; all the finance in the world can’t shield an individual from that!

In this new shame-and-honour culture, being a victim grants status: “The further down the existing social ladder one is, the greater honour is possible” (Keller). This cancel culture lays great store by maintaining outrage and so there is no incentive towards forgiveness. Forgiveness would remove the outrage and so remove the victim status, which to the modern mindset seems unjust because it removes a valued status.  The net result of all this is irreparably broken relationships with no way back towards reconciliation.

Easter is a time to ponder afresh the transforming power of forgiveness, and its enormous cost at the Cross. It is a time to meditate afresh on the One who, even whilst he was being tortured to death on the Cross, called for those abusing him to be forgiven and held out the offer of peace to them.

Your minister

Martin Thomson

P.S. I am indebted to the insights of Timothy Keller in his book, ‘Forgive: why should I and how can I?’ in the writing of this newsletter

EASTER 2024 SERVICES:
Wednesday 27th March 7.30pm: Taizé service at St Peter’s
Thursday 28th March 7.30pm: Maundy Thursday Communion at Trinity
Friday 29th March 7.30pm: Good Friday service at St Margarets
Easter Sunday 30th March: 8.30am Open Air service at Cross followed by bacon butties in St Margarets (If weather is inclement, we will be in St Margarets Hall).
Churches have their usual services thereafter.

Our midweek service will take place on Tuesday 26th March at 7.15pm.

Please note: Clocks move forward one hour on Easter weekend.

Prodigal God
In January we began this series of six Friday evening meetings studying Timothy Keller’s book of the same name, based on the parable of the Two sons (commonly miscalled ‘the parable of the prodigal son’). No fewer than 46 people signed up to attend, and even with illness and holidays we usually welcomed around 40 to each meeting. If you didn’t manage along, you will find the book very helpful. The minister still has some spare copies which are free to a good home!

Roof Repairs
At the time of the Christmas newsletter, we were in the midst of dealing with a serious water penetration problem, which was assumed to be caused by faulty gutters. There was concern at the possible damage to the roof. In fact, the roof was confirmed later to be ‘as dry as a bone’ by the contractors and the gutters as being good for ‘many more years’. The problem lay in choked downpipes, an issue which was only apparent once they could be examined from scaffolding height. These have now been replaced. Whilst the scaffolding was around the church, the roof was given something of a ‘service’ with cracked or broken slates being replaced. The total cost was a few thousand pounds less than first anticipated. (just short of £19,000 ex VAT)
However, it has become clear that some of the stonework around the church requires some attention, and the Board is currently investigating how to address these issues.
Once again, any gifts to the fabric fund would be most welcome.

Christmas Concealed

 Is your Christmas tree up yet? How about adding a Quality Street purple-sweet glass bauble to your collection, or any of the other Quality Street collection in glass for that matter? Alternatively, do you have a green balloon dog bauble to adorn your tree? Perhaps a cottage post box bauble, or even a glass pizza bauble would complete your decorations. Interested?

I happened to be in Glasgow City centre and wandered into a well-known Department Store where I found myself diverted by a myriad of weird Christmas decorations which have no direct relevance to anything remotely ‘Christmas’ (in the sense of relating to the birth of Christ). As you will have concluded, I spent an entertaining time exploring an entire section devoted to themed baubles. There is nothing new in this, but I was struck by just how vast has become the selection of, what may be termed, non-Christmas, Christmas decorations. At the same time, I looked in vain for any reference to the birth of Christ. I could not even find a nativity set.

I should hold my hands up and say we have our own Christmas decorations that have little to do with anything Christian (tree baubles, of a more pedestrian globe variety, for a start, with associated tinsel dangling on an artificial tree). However, the distracting time I spent exploring the Christmas decorations section of the department store, puzzling over such oddities as a Christmas snowman snow globe, fluffy penguins and even a life size Pheasant decoration(!), to name but a few, reminded me that there are really two different celebrations being observed at this time of year – we might even say, two different Christmases.

Increasingly the more public celebrations have little or no reference to the Christian origins of Christmas. It is probably the most important secular holiday in our calendar (certainly in commercial terms) and, as such, has taken on a life of its own. It seems that, as the years pass, the origins of Christmas are becoming less and less well known. Before the pandemic we would run a 2-hour event for Primary 6 pupils from the local school entitled ‘Bubblegum and Fluff’ which, through drama and storytelling, related the events of the first Christmas in a straightforward way. It soon became apparent that these actual Christmas events were entirely new to many of the children. On one occasion, an attending child provided us with the benefit of his family wisdom ‘My dad says this is just made-up stories’. I expect he believes in Santa Claus!

Let me be clear: I am happy to share in many of the good things of the Christmas season that my non-Christian neighbours enjoy. Christmas has become a festival of lights, and as I write this the annual Dalry community Tinsel and Torchlight event is fast approaching, the centre-piece of which involves the formal switching on of the Christmas lights. The idea of light banishing the darkness echoes the profound Christian conviction that an outside intervention brings hope to our dark world.

Christmas is a time of gift giving and generosity, which for believers is a natural response to the extraordinary self-giving of Jesus, as he left behind the glories of heaven and embraced our humanity to go to the cross for our forgiveness. God didn’t send a message about salvation, he came in person as a saviour, come to die for us.

Christmas is a time of year when attention is given to those in greatest need. Apparently charitable giving in the UK is highest in December. Obviously, the concern for the needy is reflected in the way our Lord entered this world into abject poverty and obscurity and in his early years lived as a refugee in Egypt.

Yet each of these themes, when more fully understood, is deeply challenging and provocative. To truly embrace the New Testament theme of darkness and light we must see ourselves as spiritually blind, lost, and helpless, desperately needing the light of Christ to rescue us from our hopeless predicament. Jesus came into the poverty of Bethlehem, and amidst a poor family, not simply to identify with the poor, but because we are all so spiritually poor that there was no other way for us to be forgiven. And when it comes to gift giving, Jesus gives himself to us, but our response to that gift must be a wholehearted and sacrificial giving of ourselves to him.

To many people, all of this is a bit less ‘warm and fluffy.’

Christmas, by which I mean the advent of our Lord, is truly wondrous, but it is also deeply challenging. Indeed, when the message of Christmas is genuinely embraced then it is profoundly threatening to our instinctive, proud and self-assertive autonomy. The great hope Jesus offers cannot be enjoyed and received unless we admit that we cannot save ourselves and that unless the light of his unmerited grace shines into our lives then we are lost. Our natural condition is spiritual poverty until we receive his riches. Yet when we grasp how costly it was for Jesus to give himself up to the cross, plunging into an impenetrable darkness unlike any anyone has known as he took our sin to himself, then we can surely respond by trusting him and giving our lives to him.

Jesus comes to human hearts with gentle tenderness. He beckons us to receive Him, knowing that in Him there is a fullness of life only experienced in knowing Him and in discovering the joyous liberty of bowing to His Lordship over our lives. Then the true joy of Christmas remains long after the baubles are gone.

Your minister

  Martin Thomson

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHRISTMAS SERVICES:

Saturday 16^th December 10.30am St Peter’s episcopal church: Interchurch carol service

Sunday 17^th December 10.30am: Joint festival of lessons & carols in St Margarets Church

Sunday 24^th December (Christmas eve): 

                            Traditional carols by candlelight 6.30pm in Trinity

Christmas Day: 10.30am Family service in Trinity

Sunday 31^st December Watchnight service 11.30pm St Margarets

 

 

Barnabas Fund

Once again, this year during advent, we shall give opportunity to help and support Christians throughout the world who are persecuted and in need, through Barnabas Aid. Should you wish to give a gift please place it in a clearly marked envelope and place it in the offering plate. The official website states: Barnabas Aid works to provide hope and aid for suffering Christians. As part of the family of God, Barnabas Aid stands with our Christian brothers and sisters around the world, wherever they suffer discrimination or oppression as a result of their faith. In this way we witness to the love of Christ and build His Kingdom.

 

 

Roof repairs

You may have noticed the water penetration problems in the stairwell to the balcony at the front of the church. Rectifying this problem requires emergency roof repairs which will probably have begun by the time you are reading this. The initial costs are estimated to be around £25,0000, which will leave us with a much-depleted fabric fund.

Any gifts, or monthly standing orders, to the fabric fund would be most welcome and can be organised through Bill Mackay, our treasurer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Prodigal God

Fortnightly, beginning Friday 12^th January 7pm

Based on the so-called parable of the prodigal son, the material from Timothy Keller shows how the Gospel is neither religion nor irreligion, morality nor immorality but something entirely different.

The Prodigal God is for both curious outsiders and established insiders of the faith as it is meant to lay out the essentials of the Christian message, the gospel. If the teaching of Jesus is likened to a lake, this famous parable would be one of the clearest spots where we can see all the way down to the bottom. – Timothy Keller       

This is a 6-week study following Keller’s short book ‘Prodigal God’ and will be an opportunity to discuss together after a shared meal and brief video.

The meetings will be fortnightly on 12^th, 26^th January, 9^th, 23^rd February and 8^th, 22^nd March.

For the purposes of catering and organisation it would be helpful to have an indication of numbers. Either fill out one of the cards which will be available in church, or email the minister on MThomson@churchofscotland.org.uk

 

 

 

‘Not Just another Christmas’ by Dave Gobbett

Most of us know what to expect when it comes to Christmas: the lights, the food, the tree, the traditions. But it’s possible to be so familiar with the trimmings that we walk right past the main act: Jesus.

This small booklet, based on John 1:14, explains why Jesus’ message is one that you don’t want to miss, and how he can turn “just another Christmas” into something altogether more memorable.

Over the festive period we will be distributing copies of this booklet together with invitations to Christmas services.

Showing and telling

Eric Liddell is well known as the Scottish Olympic runner who, at the Paris Olympics in 1924, declined to run in the heats for his favoured 100m because they were held on a Sunday. He then went on to win Olympic Gold in the 400m, whilst breaking the Olympic and World records. His story was made famous in the 1981 film ‘Chariots of Fire’. He is celebrated for his achievements, although it is conveniently forgotten that he was heavily criticised at the time by many in the British press for ‘letting his country down’ by refusing to run in a race in which he seemed certain to secure gold.

Even less well known is that he was born of missionary parents in Tientsin in China and died in a Japanese internment camp at Weihsien a few months before the end of the second world war, in February 1945. Whilst ‘Chariots of fire’ portrays him as the World Class athlete he certainly was (he also played rugby for Scotland), the plot line doesn’t develop his later life in which he turned his back on further athletic success and renown and devoted his life to serve in China as a missionary teacher.

I find it fascinating how so many people admire Liddell’s principled stance about not running on a Sunday, yet who would not share either his principles nor his Christian faith. His life was (and is) attractive and commendable to many who admire his courage and winsomeness, without necessarily sharing his views. Accounts of Liddell’s life make clear that those who knew him were deeply impressed by the attractive integrity of his life and his clear devotion to Christ. I think the distinguishing feature of his life was that he clearly lived the principles he espoused. Whilst he was keen to encourage others to share his own faith in Christ and adopt the same principles by which he lived, he only did so as one who clearly lived consistently by them himself.  Let me share a quote about him:

            ‘….those who knew Eric best understood that he could hold himself to the highest ideals he proclaimed while never looking down on those who did not share his beliefs. It was conviction, not fanaticism – the same unique blend of integrity and magnanimity that enabled Eric to congratulate his Olympic teammates who competed on Sunday while standing firm on his own conviction not to run.’

Notice the author’s distinction between fanaticism and conviction. The fanatic not only holds to certain key beliefs but will go to any length to force others to conform (Think Taliban or the wilder fringes of some Christian groups) whereas the Christ-honouring believer stands firmly by their Christian principles and faith, but is chiefly concerned, not to compel others, but to compel themselves and to ensure their own life conforms to that faith.

Far from bemoaning the reality that we live in a culture where the Christian faith is marginalised and ignored, we ought to ask ourselves why our lives are not more winsome. We are to both speak the message of the kingdom, and at the same time live more and more as Christ-like members of that Kingdom, under the reign of King Jesus. Looking back, Eric Liddell seems to have been a good example to us.

Have we learned to show as well as tell, to be more distinctively and consistently Christian in our daily lives and characters? At the same time have we taken the courage to tell the message of Jesus? We need to do both. I wonder if the temptation in the church today is to do all manner of things under the banner of ‘mission’, commendably determined to show the compassion of Christ, but by our silence fail to explain why we do it. And ‘showing’ is chiefly about the Christlike characters we are called to become, of which acts of compassion follow as a consequent part.

It is one of the striking features of Jesus ministry that those who saw and heard him were struck by his teaching authority (Matthew 7:29; Mark 1:27). That authority was, at least in part, the product of a life perfectly and beautifully lived, and that was utterly consistent with all he taught. Jesus did not speak like the run-of-the-mill teachers of the day who tried to impress by quoting what others had taught. Jesus spoke by saying ‘I say to you….’ and reinforcing what he taught in a life that shone with all the beauty of a life conformed to all he said. It was vital to Jesus to tell people the truth by proclaiming the kingdom of God, but only as the one who perfectly exemplified that truth, being the true king in his kingdom.

If we tell the truth without showing the truth, we risk becoming shouty fanatics whose actions contradict our message. If we try to show without telling then we risk leaving people puzzled over what the message of the gospel actually is, and we may be seen as no more than eccentric misfits. The Christian life is about showing and telling.

Your minister

Martin Thomson

The quote comes from the book ‘Eric Liddell – Pure Gold’ by David McCasland p.165. This excellent book traces all of Liddell’s life including his early life before he was famous and his later life in China till his death.

The Chongos: Scones at the Manse and final Sunday

 

Sadoc and Vivi Chongo arrived in Scotland 7 years ago, coming to Dalry from Guatemala in August 2016. Their time among us has hugely enriched our fellowship, and Sadoc helped establish and lead outreach work among young people. We will miss them desperately when they leave us next month, as Sadoc takes up a full-time post with Holy Saviour Church in Southampton. They arrived as Vivi and Sadoc and leave us as Vivi, Sadoc, Olivia and ‘wee’ Sadoc.

To give opportunity to spend time with them, as a fellowship, before they leave, we plan to have a ‘Scones at the Manse’ event in the Manse Garden from 1pm on Saturday 19^th August. Please come! This year’s crop of fruit from the Manse Garden has been turned into jam! Your task is to eat it.

Sunday 20^th August will be the Chongos final Sunday with us, as they plan to move in the early part of the following week. We will be joined at morning worship by both Martin Haworth, former Scottish secretary of Latin Link who helped bring the Chongos here, and also Mike Fernandez the current Scottish Secretary of Latin Link.

Goodbyes are important, because they honour the relationships with which God has blessed us – so that weekend we will be saying goodbye.

        Shared services at St Margarets 10^th, 17^th September

St Margarets celebrate the 150^th anniversary of their Church building in September. They have invited us to join them for the two services marking this occasion on 10^th September, when the Moderator of the General Assembly will lead worship, and on 17^th September which is their anniversary date (after which there will be a light lunch). Please note the time is 10.30am.

SUMMER 2023 PASTORAL LETTER

What we are all longing for

As a student in St Andrews, no more than 20 years of age, I took ill. This was headline news in a life otherwise marked by robust good health. I came down with something which laid me low for a couple of weeks. The illness led me to introduce myself to a stranger called ‘The University Doctor’, who explained that I had been struck by some kind of virus (That’s a medical term for ‘Don’t know what’s wrong with you, can’t do anything for you’). I found myself utterly exhausted, the least exertion leaving me helplessly fatigued.

When my parents heard of this, they made haste to visit the following Saturday. After a week spent confined to my room, I was left feeling somewhat miserable, made worse by a growing anxiety at being behind in my studies. My parents duly whisked me away down the Fife coast, where I remember walking on the beach, enjoying the fresh air, listening to the sound of the sea and enjoying a meal out. I remember this very vividly as a turning point. In every way, I felt considerably better. The experience of the beauty and sounds of nature at the sea shore seemed to neutralise my anxieties and, above all, the kindness and unconditional love of my parents left me feeling strengthened to return to St Andrews and get on with life.

I am sure you will have had a similar experience. You are haunted by fears but then someone’s encouragement, their unconditional love for you, helps you through it all. Or in the midst of suffering, the gentle compassion and love of someone helps you face and deal with that suffering.  Or time spent quietly in the beauty of the world around helps still a troubled heart. This tells us something about our humanity and the healing goodness of experiencing unconditional love, of enjoying beauty in what someone else has made or what God has made in the world around us.

Let me now turn your attention to worship. This seems like changing the channel, but in fact it isn’t. In worshipping together, we are coming into the presence of the one who is certainly the Almighty and Holy Creator of all things; but he is also the shepherd of his people who displays the most exquisite unconditional love for us in Jesus. Meeting the Lord in worshipping him is exactly what we were made for.

The Christian church worldwide recently lost one of God’s great gifts to us in the minister and writer Timothy Keller, who died after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He once wrote

‘worship is a preview of the thing that all of our hearts are longing for, whether we know it or not. We seek it in art, in romance, in the arms of our lovers, in our family.’ Keller then goes on to quote C.S. Lewis from a famous essay entitled ‘the weight of glory’

‘The sense that in this universe we are treated as strangers, the longing to be acknowledged, to meet with some response, to bridge some chasm that yawns between us and reality, is part of our inconsolable secret. And surely from this point of view the promise of glory becomes highly relevant to our deepest desire. For glory means good (rapport) with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgement, and welcome into the heart of things. The door on which we have been knocking all our lives will open at last …. Then our lifelong nostalgia, our longing to be reunited with something in the universe from which we now feel cut off, to be on the inside of some door which we have always seen from the outside, is no mere neurotic fancy but the truest index of our real situation … At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door … but all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Someday, God willing, we shall get IN.’

I suspect that there are believers who think that the essence of being a Christian is about no more than having declared faith. It is certainly not less than that and, of course, believers declare Christ to be their Saviour and Lord. When people profess faith, they give their assent to key beliefs and commitments. However, the implication of that profession moves from what goes on in our heads, and what we say with our lips, into what we experience as human beings in worship. In worship we ought to anticipate (and pray for!) that sense of the presence of the Lord enveloping our lives. In itself this is a foretaste of what Lewis insists we are all longing for; and what we long for is the ‘very face and embrace of God.’ (Keller)

When we worship, we can experience the touch of God on our lives, experience afresh his unconditional love, sense anew the great blessings we have in him and glimpse again something of what awaits us beyond resurrection. Above all the Holy Spirit probes the Word of God into the farthest reaches of our beings, accomplishing transformation which is the progress of new life.

Looking forward to seeing you in worship.

Your minister,

Martin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New members

 

We are delighted to welcome new members to the fellowship. Okezi and Eucharia join us, having moved from Nigeria with their girls Ruvie and Kovie.

 

Funerals

28/4/23 :     Margaret Aird :     Lynn Cottage

5/5/23   :      Kay Boreland  :     West Kirklands Place

11/5/23  :      Joe Smith         :      Thistle Knowe Care Home

(formerly Vennel Street)

16/5/23   :     Mary Steele              Friars Lawn, Kilwinning

 

 

 

The providence of a chance meeting

If you live in China, and some surrounding countries, this is now the year of the Rabbit, or more specifically of the Water Rabbit. 22nd January was New Year’s Day in that part of the world.  Tens of millions of Chinese people take the opportunity of this holiday to return home. It is said to be the largest annual mass migration of human beings on the planet. Vast numbers leave the cities where they work and return to the country villages and towns of their birth. A few years ago, our eldest son Philip, who works in China, sent us a photograph of himself on a deserted four lane motorway. Instead of the customary congestion, it was eerily empty, like a scene from
a post-apocalyptic movie. No disaster had struck. They had just all gone home for New Year.

2,000 years ago, there was an annual migration of Jewish people to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover festival. The numbers were hardly of modern Chinese standards, but people came in their thousands from all parts of the Mediterranean World, and converged on Jerusalem. Among their number was a man called Simon, who was from Cyrene, which is modern day Libya.

Have you ever wondered what kind of day he thought he was going to have that Friday, as he made his way into the city? Without warning, the Roman soldiers conscripted him to carry a cross, on which one of three prisoners was to be crucified. The condemned man seemed to have been beaten so badly that he simply could not carry it for himself. Simon would have carried, not the whole cross, but the crossbeam, the upright being firmly in position at the place of execution.

So here we have this man arriving in the city from a distant country, presumably to celebrate Passover, and he finds himself walking to Calvary in the footsteps of Jesus. I wonder if he found himself complaining about the turn of events, and how he seemed to be in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time.

I suggest you take a picture in your mind’s eye of this scene. What do you see? You see a man carrying a cross whilst following Jesus. It is a dramatic illustration of what Jesus said of being a Christian:

Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27

Simon provides us with a visual representation of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. We must die to the world and throw our lives into following Jesus. Hope is found, not in investing our lives in the world, but in committing our lives to Christ. To do that we must die to self and die to the world.

Mark provides us with extra detail about Simon of Cyrene. He tells us that he was the father of Alexander and Rufus. It is a fascinating detail. Clearly Mark expected his first readers (possibly believers in Rome) to know those brothers. This may well be the same Rufus mentioned by Paul in his letter to the Romans whom he describes as ‘chosen in the Lord’ and whose mother, Paul says, was ‘a mother to me as well.’ (Romans 16:13).

This holds out the possibility that this Simon who, in a seemingly chance encounter on the road out of Jerusalem, was compelled to carry the cross of Jesus, was a man whose family came to faith in Jesus. Simon may have initially thought he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but in the providence of God he was in exactly the right place and at exactly the right time.

Amidst all the turmoil that is sweeping our Church in these days, all the changes that are coming down the line, we must remember that the important thing is that Jesus is building his church. He often does it in ways that we might find overly challenging. But if God can build his church through the unwelcome imposition placed on a man to carry the cross of Jesus, because he seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, then we can face the future with confidence that our Lord can take the impositions of our day and build his kingdom. And it is for the growth of the kingdom that we must pray.

Your minister

Martin

 

Easter Services
Wednesday 5th April 7.30pm: Taize service in St Peter’s
Thursday 6th April 7.30pm: Maundy Thursday communion service in Trinity
Friday 7th April 7.30pm: Good Friday service in St Margarets
Easter Sunday 9th April: 8.30am outdoor service at the Cross followed by light breakfast in the Biggart Hall.
Our midweek will be held on the Tuesday evening of that week (4th April)

Chongos
Sadoc and Vivi have been with us since Autumn 2016 (and are now a foursome with Olivia and young Sadoc!) They have led our youth work and enriched our fellowship during that time, but are now looking for a new church in which to serve. Whilst nothing definite has yet been arranged, the expectation is that they may well leave us over the summer months.
For much of the time they have been with us, they have been staying on St Palladius Terrace, due to the generosity of Gary and Pamela Caldwell allowing them the use of their house. We are deeply grateful for their help in this! Currently, the Chongos are staying in a house on Reid Avenue.
More news of the Chongos future when we know it!

New members
We are delighted to welcome new members to the congregation: Louise Campbell, and David and Jenny Mewes.

Funerals
We have lost a number of folk from among us over recent months:
21/12/22 Hugh Fairlie Greenbank
22/12/22 Mary McInnes Kilwinning (formerly of Regal Court)
23/12/22 Gilbert Pepper St Palladius Tce
24/2/23 Elizabeth Pattison Mugdock Care Home

Pastoral letter Easter 2023.

The perfect gift

 Christmas is a time of gift giving and gift receiving. I wonder what your perfect gift would be? For years I have been dropping heavy hints about the ‘Lego Death Star’, a replica of the planet-destroying space weapon which features in Star Wars movies. The Lego version has around 4000 pieces. I am sure it must look fabulous. What boy would not want a Lego Death Star?

It does cost around £600.

To my horror, I see from the official Lego website that it is now a retired product. Nooooo! Those who give me gifts have waited too long!!! However, I notice, with mounting excitement, that the clever people at Lego have a new set called ‘The Razor Crest’, being the space ship used by the Mandalorian – a new Star Wars character. The kit has 6187 pieces. Wow! Can you imagine the fun building it? It does cost £519.99. But what price love? It is, after all, cheaper than the Lego Imperial Star Destroyer which is retailing at £614.99, or the All-Terrain Armoured Transport (AT-AT) at £734.99. I am thoughtfully not selecting the most expensive sets. Are you reading this, Lorna?

Let’s return to reality. Christmas. All our gift giving, however extravagant, is but a pale echo of the most wonderful gift ever given, the gift of Jesus Christ, whose entry into the world as a human being we mark at this time of year. The sad truth is that recognising Jesus as the perfect gift, to meet our deepest needs, is something we instinctively resist, whether we admit it or not. Sometimes we resist him as a gift by reducing him to an example. Martin Luther saw the problem 500 years ago. He wrote a little booklet entitled ‘What to expect from the gospels’ in which he wrote:

‘Before you take Christ as an example…..accept and recognise him as a gift’

We have a twisted tendency to view Jesus as no more than an example, in our controlling efforts to live a life that will somehow merit God’s love. This is an attitude born of a determination not to admit our need (far less our sin). We prefer gifts which are like Lego. They please us and perhaps entertain us, but we don’t really need them, and we can ‘put them down’ when it suits us. Reducing Jesus to no more than an example is an attempt to tame him. Yet if we truly try to follow Jesus as an example, then our enterprise will end in abject failure. We won’t succeed. We can’t succeed. That is the bleak route of human religiosity.

 It is not that Jesus is not an example to us, but he is far more than an example. He is a gift. He has accomplished what we could never accomplish and gifts to us the fruit of what he achieved. Freely.

 When we read through the Gospel accounts we read of how, as Jesus began his ministry, he embarked on a career whereby he champions our cause. Immediately he goes into the wilderness and confronts evil by struggling against the temptations of satan. Continue reading and we discover that he exercises authority over sickness, and over the wild forces of nature, and even over death itself. He heals the sick; he calms storms; he raises the dead. Of course, it is at the Cross that these enemies of sin and death and evil are comprehensively conquered, as our Lord turns aside the wrath of God against sin onto himself. This is why the Gospel records focus so heavily on the Easter events (to the extent that Mark’s Gospel has been described as a ‘passion narrative with a long introduction’). The victory is secured at Easter, at the Cross and the empty tomb.

Jesus is on our side. He takes our place. He shoulders our burden. He lives our life and dies our death and brings us victory. He offers that victory as a gift, with himself.

The Christian gospel is not providing us with good advice (do this, do that, accomplish this, accomplish that, try hard, try harder, try even harder!!!.) On the contrary, it is delivering to us GOOD NEWS. The good news is that Jesus has already secured the victory. He gives it with himself as a gift. He is the perfect gift because he perfectly meets my deepest needs. Such a gift does not lie forgotten on Boxing Day, but, precisely because it meets our deepest needs, alters our life thereafter. When I receive this gift by faith, then I will want to follow Jesus, and out of love for him, and gratitude to him, and by his grace alone, make him my example.

With warmest best wishes for Christmas

Martin Thomson

 

Christmas services

Saturday 10^th December 10.30am: Inter-church Carol Service in Trinity Church

Sunday 18^th December 3pm festival of Lessons & Carols

Christmas Eve 6.30pm: Traditional carols by candlelight

Watchnight service St Margarets 11.30pm

Christmas Day 10.30am joint service with St Margarets in St Margarets

When talking to yourself is good

 We joke about talking to ourselves. There are those who quip that it is the only intelligent conversation they ever have. For others it may be a mark of isolation, even loneliness, that they need to hear the sound of a voice, any voice, even their own. Some of us are just plain eccentric!

For Christians, there is a healthy way we need to talk to ourselves. The 20th century Welsh preacher, Martin Lloyd-Jones wrote a helpful and insightful book entitled ‘Spiritual depression’, in which he commented:

Most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself.

He points to an important distinction. Too often we listen to ourselves instead of giving ourselves a good talking-to! We allow ourselves to be preoccupied with our woes, or our fears, or our bewildered perplexity at what is happening around us. In this sense we are ‘listening’ too much to ourselves. Instead, we need to give ourselves a good talking-to, by reminding ourselves of all we know for certain about God.

The Book of Habakkuk is a little-read book towards the end of the Old Testament. Habakkuk is not so much bringing a message from God as entering into dialogue with God. The prophet is utterly perplexed because it seems that God is sitting on his hands whilst his people are in such a spiritual and moral mess (1:1-4). To make matters worse, when Habakkuk brings this ‘complaint’ to God, the divine response leaves the man utterly thunder-struck. God explains that, actually, he is not sitting on his hands, but is raising up the fiercest, most violent and brutal killing machine of its day, the Babylonians, to judge wickedness, and (mysteriously) carry forward his good purposes (1:5-11). This raises all kinds of dilemmas for Habakkuk. But the manner in which he deals with his concerns is instructive. Instead of immediately launching forth in objection to what God is doing, he begins by reminding himself of what he knows God is like:

Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgement, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof. 1:12

In other words, he talks to himself before he listens to himself. Do you recognise the difference? Before he listens to his own anxious questions about what (and why) God is allowing or doing (about which he has a very incomplete picture), he frames everything with a talk to himself about the things that are more certain – how God is reliable in his eternity, and how God is faithfully committed to his people (O Lord my God, my Holy One), and how he is working out his plans and purposes as he always has, and those plans and purposes are the same, and (we know) lead ultimately to Christ.

We may have perplexing questions about recent events such as ‘Why did God allow a pandemic?’ or ‘Why did God allow my relative/ friend to die of Covid-19?’ or ‘Why is there so much change coming to the Church?’ When we ask these questions, and allow ourselves to be distracted by the issues behind them, we risk ‘listening’ to ourselves too much. On that path lies despair, and endless doubt. Let’s be clear: these are questions we often need to ask. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with asking them (which is one of the lessons of Habakkuk). We ought to bring them with honesty before God. But we must give ourselves a talking-to first, by starting with what we already know about God. Deal with the perplexities of the life of faith and the bewildering unknowns against the background of what is known.

Let me put this another way: What we know about God is far more important than what we don’t know. We need to tell ourselves that in the midst of the hard things of life.

Your minister
Martin



Visit of Gerard Charles 9th October

 We have supported the Charles’s family for many years. Gerard is OMF’s North England representative. Gerard will be speaking during morning worship on 9th October.

Afternoon Services

The Kirk Session is aware that there are a number of our folk who, either because of their own health or that of a loved one, find it difficult to attend worship either in the morning or the evening. We will therefore begin occasional afternoon services. On those Sundays there will be no evening service. The dates we have provisionally fixed for this are: October 2nd, November 6th and December 4th at 3pm.

Communion

 The next communion service will be on the morning of Sunday 6th November.
The resumption of communion services has been tentative, given the concerns surrounding infection control. For many people these concerns are ongoing, and so we will continue to simplify the conduct of communion, taking care to minimise risks. Given the added care and preparation necessary, we will only celebrate communion on the morning of the 6th November.

Farmers in Nepal: Harvest Sunday 25th September

This year we plan to support Tearfund’s work in Nepal. Their information pack describes how:

The climate crisis is forcing families in Nepal to shrink back from their dreams. Trapped by hunger and poverty, communities are withering away. Most farmers in Nepal are subsistence farmers – meaning they plant enough to feed their families. When crops fail, families go hungry. Young people are forced to move away from once thriving villages to find work elsewhere and communities perish.
On Harvest Sunday 25th September we will learn about Mahima who lives with her husband and 3 children in a remote area of Nepal. Their community relies on monsoon rains for a successful harvest. However hard she and her family work, the impacts of climate change over the last 10 years has meant that rains are now erratic and crops only yield enough to last 4 months.

 What is Tearfund doing? Tearfund has been working in Nepal for more than 50 years. This means they have established relationships with local authorities and communities, so able to partner with them effectively to transform lives. Through their local partners they are:
training farmers in new techniques to help them produce more crops in this changing climate setting up irrigation systems to make people less dependent on the rains teaching communities how to farm sustainably so they can protect the land for generations to come
£41 could train a farmer like Mahima in new farming techniques so they can free themselves from poverty.
£88 could help set up a new water irrigation system, enabling local farmers like Mahima to adapt to the climate crisis.
£184 could provide a farmer like Mahima with materials to launch a new business in struggling communities, investing in them for the future.
Please place your gifts in an envelope clearly marked ‘Harvest’ and place it in the offering basket.
Tins for Foodbank: In addition, we will receive and pass on tins of food for the Foodbank, which may be brought during morning worship.

Heating Hospitality

 A number of churches throughout the land are planning to open their buildings to allow people to find a warm place to sit and enjoy company, without having to heat their own homes.

We plan to do this through the Open Door which meets on Thursday mornings. Once we are all updated regarding hygiene certificates (which lapsed during pandemic) we will be able to reinstate Home Baking.

Keswick Ayrshire: Confident Christianity: 1st October

Many enjoyed Keswick Ayrshire earlier this year. This is to be followed up by a day conference in West Kilbride Parish Church on 1st October. All the details and tickets can be booked at keswickayrshire.com