newsletter 2014 From the Minister...

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Sharon Watts
5 years ago
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We re on pilgrimage to worship him They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of his mother Mary. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him.

It wouldn't be proper to ask you what the greatest gift you have ever given anyone is - but I would like you to consider for a moment the greatest gift you have been given at Christmas.

When asked that question, how many of us would say Jesus without having to consider our response.

In our busy lives of endless engagements and pages of to do lists, it is so easy to get trapped in the material world that we forget there is a spiritual dimension in our lives.

1 newsletter 2014 From the Minister... After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signalled his birth. We re on pilgrimage to worship him They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of his mother Mary. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Christmas is a time for giving and a time for receiving. It wouldn't be proper to ask you what the greatest gift you have ever given anyone is - but I would like you to consider for a moment the greatest gift you have been given at Christmas. Perhaps it was a bicycle, a pram, a dolls house, Scalextric, engagement ring, iphone, tablet PC the list is endless and your response is often tinted with nostalgia. When asked that question, how many of us would say Jesus without having to consider our response. The commercialism of Christmas has become the reason for the season - rather than the celebration of God entering the world as a child. In our busy lives of endless engagements and pages of to do lists, it is so easy to get trapped in the material world that we forget there is a spiritual dimension in our lives. At this time of year we need to pause and remember that Jesus is the reason for the season. It is good for us to remember that the greatest gift that you and I have been given is Jesus Christ - God s one and only son, born in Bethlehem. We cannot minimise the significance of this event and the reason for his coming - it is the pivotal event in cosmic history. The famous hymn writer Charles Wesley captures the essence of the importance of Jesus birth in the Carol - Hark the Herald Angels Sing. Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth. Wesley may only have mentioned Man - but God is inclusive. The birth of Jesus provoked reactions - Angels came heralding praising his glory, shepherd s came out of curiosity to see the child that was creating all the excitement, Herod the wicked King responded with anger and the Magi came from afar bearing gifts. How do we react when we encounter Jesus? - Do we come before him with praise on our lips? Do we come before him with curiosity and a hunger to find out more about the saviour of the World. Or are we like King Herod the despot in the story that felt threatened by Jesus and made it his business to blot his name out of the story of the world. Or do we come bringing our gifts to offer our King. At St Andrews Lhanbryd and Urquhart - we hope that you will respond to Jesus - with praise in your heart, that you will come to worship with curiosity wanting to discover more about Jesus, that your hearts will be filled joy as you discover the presence of God in your life and you will offer the gifts you have each been given to bring glory to our God and Saviour Jesus Christ. May you experience great Joy this Christmas Blessings and Peace. Andrew 1 SC

What's on December Saturday 6th Messy mums - 10am- 11.

Carol concert SALU church 7pm Christmas Eve 5.

Christmas Day Service SALU Church 11am Sunday 4th January 2015 Messy church 4-6pm Sunday 15th February Souper Sunday 11am Where you

Carol Concert When - Friday 19th December 2014 Where - St Andrews Lhanbryd & Urquhart Parish Church Start Time - 7pm.

There will be plenty of opportunity for audience participation in the singing of the old favourites.

There will be no charge for the evening s entertainment, but any donations received will be added to Church Funds.

2 What's on December Saturday 6th Messy mums - 10am am SALU Church hall Saturday 13th Children's Fun morning - info Sunday 14th Messy Church 4-6pm Lhanbryde Community hall Friday 19th Carol concert SALU church 7pm Christmas Eve 5.30pm Carol singing and walk - meet at Urquhart war memorial and finishing in St Margaret's hall for refreshments. Christmas Day Service SALU Church 11am Sunday 4th January 2015 Messy church 4-6pm Sunday 15th February Souper Sunday 11am Where you see the letters SALU this is St Andrews Lhanbryd & Urquhart church. Carol Concert When - Friday 19th December 2014 Where - St Andrews Lhanbryd & Urquhart Parish Church Start Time - 7pm. The evening will be hosted by the Fellowship Group. There will be plenty of opportunity for audience participation in the singing of the old favourites. Festive refreshments will be on offer. There will be no charge for the evening s entertainment, but any donations received will be added to Church Funds. Children's fun morning. Saturday 13th December -12 md Lhanbryde Community Centre This will have a Christmas theme and is for primary school aged children. Booking forms for this event are available from Lhanbryde Primary school or from Sheila Silvestri. Just Being For this moment time and space I can be Apart from our human too fast race I choose to be In a moment of this day I can choose to be Time to think, listen, learn Perhaps to understand the other man Different but the same for He too just needs to be We are all blessed For in Jesus we can make the choice of how to truly be.' Liz Ashworth derekthecleric.com 2 2

Young Church and Tic Tacs It s amazing to think it s already December. It doesn t seem that long since the Tic Tacs were enjoying a great weekend at Abernethy.

In Young Church we re making puppets to tell the stories of Jesus first disciples and in the hall you will see some of the pictures the youngsters have produced as they ve learned about Samuel.

3 Young Church and Tic Tacs It s amazing to think it s already December. It doesn t seem that long since the Tic Tacs were enjoying a great weekend at Abernethy. As well as the usual aerial & water based challenges, Glow-in-the-dark Frisbee with Chris was a game like no other! We ll hope to show you some of the pictures sometime soon. In Young Church we re making puppets to tell the stories of Jesus first disciples and in the hall you will see some of the pictures the youngsters have produced as they ve learned about Samuel. Tic Tacs are delving into the book of Mark and discussing things like miracles, what is compassion and being a hypocrite. They have also continued to keep up-to-date with the work of the Street Pastors. Being December now we re looking forward to contributing to the Christmas celebration of the wider church. Some of our young people are bringing their singing and musical abilities to the Carol Concert on 19 th Dec. We are looking for more youngsters to join the group, so do speak to Fiona it you d like to come along. We hope that everyone will be able to take part in the Nativity Service on 21 st December. There will be some special treats on offer for all the youngsters in the hall afterwards. The Sunday before (14 th Dec ) we ll be having a run through, so if you can come along then we d love to see you like each New Year brings challenges to all our young people starting school, leaving school, looking for work, finding your feet in a new place. We pray that God will continue to guide us as we encourage our young people to grow in faith, during their group times on Sunday mornings, by being involved in Messy Church (both participating and as helpers) and in the social times we enjoy together. We are encourage by the commitment of many of our regular attenders whose children we have seen grow from babies in pushchairs to toddlers becoming involved with the various aspects of Messy church. It is a joy to see them being able to participate with their parents in the crafts, stories and songs and learning about Jesus. Our kitchen team have served soup and pudding for the past couple of months and this has been popular and well received by everyone. Tic Tacs have also been along to help and have proved to be very popular with everyone. Looking forward to a busy December when on the 5th we will be having an information table at Lhanbryde school Fayre and on Saturday 6th when our first get together of Messy Mums will meet in the church hall. The Messy Christmas celebration is on the 14th from 4-6pm in the community hall where we will hear the Christmas story and have games, crafts, singing and of course food! Come along and enjoy the celebrations. All children need to be accompanied by an adult as we enjoy time together. Messy church 2015 dates will be easy to remember as we meet on the first Sunday of the month. 3 3

Christmas", which will provide maternal healthcare in Kenya. In Kenya, 44% of women give birth without the assistance of a health care professional.

4 Christian Aid Christmas Appeal 2014 As you will be aware, half the proceeds of the Thrift Shop go towards Christian Aid. The amount raised has been building up over the last two years and I am delighted to announce that I was able to send a cheque for 6,500 towards their 2014 Christmas Appeal, "Deliver Hope this Christmas", which will provide maternal healthcare in Kenya. In Kenya, 44% of women give birth without the assistance of a health care professional. Sometimes, there is a long journey to health facilities and transport to the hospital can be expensive. Men often control the main source of income and sometimes women do not get to decide whether to give birth at home or in the hospital. Women used to deliver in the bush so that people did not hear their cries. Now, thanks to Christian Aid being involved, they have established a father-to-father group. By educating the men, they now realise the importance of babies being delivered in hospital and encourage their wives to do so. Here is the best part: thanks to UK Aid Match, our donation will make double the difference as for every pound donated, the UK Government will give a pound more to help Christian Aid transform lives. For further details go to John Third We have 3 active members in our church on the street pastors team, Margaret, Barry and Dittmar who along with Sarah Johnson led the service on the 23rd November. We were encouraged by their testimonies and Sarah's insight into the work of Street pastors in Elgin. Margaret has been inspired to write the following poem about her experience as a Street pastor. What we do by Margaret Murray We meet at 9.30 for a prayer and a chat then we pack up the bags and we pull on our hats At 10 o'clock we hit the streets we never know who we re going to meet. teams of four head out the door then split into twos to gather the news. We pick up bottles and broken glass and pick up people who've fallen on their bottoms Everybody knows we all have flip flops but most popular by far are the fruit lollipops We listen we help and we care and stories people will share sometimes they re good, sometimes they're bad but to have someone to listen I m sure they are glad By half past twelve everyone s in the pub So we ll head back for a drink and some grub After a break we re back on our feet You've never seen so many folk on the street By half past three everywhere s shut everyone should be going home but some folk love to hang around and some folk want to sleep on the ground By quarter past four the street s quite dead so we shuffle off home and fall into bed. If Jesus was here He d be on the streets not holed up in a church doing the meet and greet Above all else we have great fun Would I recommend it? Yes to everyone 4 4

5 Discussion Group - Everything is Spiritual On Saturday Mornings we had been looking at Bruxy Cavey s Book the end of religion. After we had finished we decided to look at Rob Bell s everything is spiritual lecture. The following is adapted from Jim Fleming s piece (who is a member of a Baptist church In Tennessee) on Rob Bell s everything is Spiritual lecture. Do you think what you are doing right now is spiritual? What about yesterday? Did you do anything spiritual yesterday? If, when I asked if you did anything spiritual yesterday, you answered in your head, No, I would say, the issue is not whether or not we think things are spiritual, it s whether or not our eyes are open and we are aware of it. You cannot deny what is central to your makeup as a human being. In the Hebrew language, there is no word for spiritual. There was no distinction between the spiritual and the nonspiritual. If you were to ask Jesus, How are you doing in your spiritual life? He would have said, What do you mean? To label one area of your life as spiritual and to label other areas not spiritual is foreign to the world of the Scriptures and the worldview of Jesus. Humans are the fusion of two realms. We occupy a unique status in the universe. How you handle your money, relationships, sexuality, forgiveness, reconciliation, business, school, work, play, recreation - everything we do we do as integrated beings - 100% physical and 100% spiritual. The first Christians (specifically Paul) latched on to this by saying, Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). What were they saying? Everything can be done for God s glory - everything. And if everything can be done for God, then everything has a spiritual dynamic. The purpose of our lives isn't to see how much we can get away with and still be Christians - it is to glorify God. Colossians 3:17 tells us that everything can be done in Jesus name, which implies there is a spirit filled action/solution to every situation. There are some people that adamantly insist that the physical world is all that there is - that there is nothing else; that there is no higher law, no greater power, no spiritual dynamic to life - this physical is it. And then there are others that keep insisting that there is more, there is something beyond the physical - something else. There is conflict between these two world views. Most of us had someone who assisted in the opening of our eyes to see that there is more than the physical - that the spiritual world is real. Who in your life helped you to understand that, this isn t all there is. I have learned that what you look through, you will find. If you want to put on your cynic glasses, you will see the world cynically. If you want to put on your sceptic glasses, you will see the world sceptically. What you look through, you will find. If you want to see things accurately, you will put on your spiritual glasses (the Bible) and see that every action, every situation, every scenario, every thing is spiritual. Psalm 14:1 says, The fool has said in his heart, There is no God. Now, this is fascinating, because you and I would say that someone who rejects the divine has made an intellectual decision - this is someone 5 5

6 who has looked at the data, weighed the evidence and made a decision that there is no God. But the psalmist says that this is not a cognitive decision, but rather a posture of the heart. The decision to reject God is always a heart decision - it is a spiritual decision, not a cognitive or emotional or even rational - it is spiritual. The fool looks at the story of creation and says, I reject it - there is no God. And that rejection is not in the brain, but in the heart. The fool looks at the biblical accounts and says, I reject it - there is no God. Now, I ll grant you that there are some amazing accounts in Scripture - some that are hard to believe. What Biblical accounts would you liked to have seen? There are some days that I would have loved to have been around. One of my favourites is the day that Adam named the animals. I picture God saying, Hey Adam. Or maybe just, Hey (because there s no one else there). OK, here s the deal. We re going to bring these animals in, we re going to bring them in one by one (we ll bring them in two by two later) and you re going to name them - just name them whatever you want to name them. So you picture Adam, and he s like, OK. So they bring in the first animal and Adam goes, Uhhhh... ok... hippopotamus. Picture God like, Yeah, OK... hippopotamus. And there s a database angel and he says, How do you spell that? Anyway, the fool looks at things and says, I reject that - there is no God. And I fear that we mimic the fool when we compartmentalise our lives into the spiritual and the practical. Or the spiritual and the unspiritual. Or the spiritual and the physical. What we are saying, in effect, is, God, I am denying your influence in this part of my life. I am excluding you from this aspect of my life. In effect, we are saying, There is no God (for this part). God has a place in every aspect of our lives. We are to acknowledge him in all things (remember, Proverbs 3:6?). Proverbs 3:6 doesn t say, In all your spiritual ways, acknowledge Him. It says, In all your ways, acknowledge Him. Can we expect His blessing if we compartmentalise Him out of our existence? We are both 100% spiritual and 100% physical at the same time. Everything has a spiritual aspect to it and we must be aware of everything we do in order to have a proper relationship with God. When you listen young church and Tic Tacs - that s spiritual. When you refuse to pray for those prayer requests - that s spiritual. When we close in prayer - that s spiritual. When we walk out of the room - that s spiritual. When you meet someone in the hallway going in to the sanctuary - that s spiritual. When you partake in communion during the service - that s spiritual. When you drive home - that s spiritual. Everything is spiritual. As we as a church consider our time, talents and gifts over the next 10 months -how does the above change our approach to our life both within the church and outside of the church?- See the stewardship site on the church website for more background PS if you want to delve deeper- see the everything is spiritual section on the church website. PPPS -look out for the next topic for discussion on Sat mornings - will be announced in the New Year. Grant Cumming 6 6

Together on a Friday morning TOFM continues to meet from 10 am to 11.30 am every Friday morning. (Syllabus at the back of the church).

7 Together on a Friday morning TOFM continues to meet from 10 am to am every Friday morning. (Syllabus at the back of the church). Our last get-together this year is on Friday 5 th December at Christies, in Fochabers a good chance for a blether and some shopping as well as a coffee and scone! In the new year have a happy one, by the way our first coffee and chat is at Evelyn s on 9 th January. Then on the 16 th you can join us at the Church hall for a morning of well-being ; that particular morning a massage. In St Margaret s Hall on the 23 rd we are sharing Good Advice. Now make sure you don t miss that one! (that s my advice!!) Last meeting in January on the 30 th we meet at June s to meet Martha and Mary, a discussion led by Yvonne. One last thing if you want to join us for our annual two nights at Kincraig, please let Carol know, telephone Dates for 2015 are Tuesday 29 th September to Thursday 1 st October. If you haven t been, you DON T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING!! fun, faith, fellowship and fantastic food! Parish Church Register We welcome to our congregation Mr Ken and Mrs Elspeth Jackson Rev. Morris and Mrs Jan Smith Marriages Miss Emma Dunbar to Mr Ian Carpenter Miss Susan Gillies to Mr Daniel McRobbie Miss Kelly Milliken to Mr Leon SIm Miss Sharon Gillan to Mr Kenneth McConnachie Admission to Kirk Session Mr Pete Fett-Worsfold Funerals - Jesus said I am the Resurrection and the Life Mr David Jones Elgin Mrs Ella Sinclair Lhanbryde

December Quiz 1. What common garden flower gets its name from the Latin word for a small sword? 2. Which children s charity was launched in 1986 by Esther Rantzen? 3.

8 December Quiz 1. What common garden flower gets its name from the Latin word for a small sword? 2. Which children s charity was launched in 1986 by Esther Rantzen? 3. Which Gilbert & Sullivan operetta is set in the Tower of London? 4. By what name is the first day of Lent known? 5. Which Hebridean island was purchased in a community buyout in 2001? 6. What is the title of the first musical on which Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice collaborated? 7. What is the name of the annual fire festival in Shetland, held in Lerwick on the last Tuesday of January? 8. Which spice is obtained from the stigmas of the crocus? 9. What is a magnus hitch? 10. What are the names of the three wise men? 11. Which former Sussex/England cricket captain was appointed Bishop of Liverpool in 1975? 12. Which pop singer s first No 1 hit, in 1959, was Living Doll? 13. Which veteran BBC rugby union commentator retired in 2002 after 50 years at the microphone? 14. In Shakespeare s A Midsummer Night s Dream, who was the Queen of the Fairies? 15. Of which of the Channel Islands is St Anne the capital and only town? 16. What is the more common name for the medical condition known as insolation? 17. Who wrote the hymn Eternal Father, Strong to Save in 1869? 18. Who is the last of the story-tellers in Chaucer s The Canterbury Tales? 19. What is the most abundant mineral in the human body? 20. On which Hebridean island are the Standing Stones of Calanais? 21. In mobile telephony, for what do the letters SMS stand? 22. The newspaper of which organisation, first published in 1879, is the War Cry? 23. Which bird is the symbol of peace? 24. By what name is the pop singer Marvin Lee Aday, whose album Bat Out of Hell (1977) was one of the best-selling albums, better known? 25. In which island prison, off the coast of South Africa, was Nelson Mandela jailed for treason? ANSWERS TO MARCH QUIZ - 1 Aaron 2 Fanfare 3 Apennines 4 Sea of Galilee 5 Purple/Violet 6 Elvis Presley 7 Ruth and Esther 8 Day before Thursday 9 In the ankle 10 Love of money 11 The Pink Panther 12 Honshu Island 13 Snaefell 14 C S Lewis 15 3 nights and 3 days hours 17 Harold Macmillan 18 Matthew 19 Wren 20 Palace of Holyrood House Hospital Visits - If you know of anyone in our congregation who is in hospital and would like a visit, please contact our pastoral visitor Donna Grant Minister Rev Andrew J Robertson 39 St Andrews Road Lhanbryde IV30 8PU Tel rev.a.robertson@btinternet.com

From our Minister Expect Answered Prayer.

From our Minister Expect Answered Prayer. From our Minister... Communication is something we take seriously at St Andrews Lhanbryd and Urquhart. We have an up to the minute website, a Facebook page, we have prayer diaries and have a well- developed