From the Manse. TIC TACS Christmas movie night (Secondary school age) Helen & Nicks house 7pm. CAROL SERVICE 7pm St Margarets Hall, Urquhart

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1 What s on Sun 8 th Dec Messy Church 4 6 pm Lhanbryde Community Centre From the Manse Christmas Day for many people is a deadline to have everything organised, the food bought, the house tidied, decorations up, table set and the presents wrapped. When you think about it - it s such a contrast to the first Christmas - with all its smells and dirt. So often the Christmas story is neatly packaged like an advent play - 20 minutes of story once a year telling of the significance of Jesus Birth. It s easy to forget this neatly packaged story spread over several years and several countries. From the Angelic announcement - it draws shepherds form the neighbourhood and wise men travelling. It shows us how God works with people on the edge - a pregnant teenager rather than the rich and famous types. It s interesting to think if Jesus was to be born in our parish - Where would he show up? I rather think it would be with ordinary people that live on the edge of society. Among people like the teenage Mary, the bewildered Joseph and the ordinary people trying to make a living and provide for their families, people just like the Shepherds who were the first people to be told about Jesus birth. Perhaps we try to have everything too perfect for Christmas day the wrapping paper strewn across the floor, the sound of cheerful well-wishers, the arrival of unexpected guests, the crumbs below the dinner table and the dirty dishes piled in the kitchen - reflects a truer picture of the scene around the manger in Bethlehem. The true spirit of Christmas events is indeed Messy - because that s the way that God intended it. Jesus is God s Messiah. He has come to engage in our lives - amongst all the mess and the mire we so often find ourselves confronted by. Jesus is there to help us through the disarray we find ourselves in and to give us a fresh start. Mary and Joseph were ordinary people just like you and I, and they remind us that Jesus was born to ordinary people - who had hopes and fears just like the rest of us. Enjoy Christmas - experience Jesus in your homes and remember not to pack away the Saviour of the world when you take the decorations down - He might be your unexpected guest this Christmas - so invite him to stay and take you on a journey with Him. Blessings and Peace Your friend and minister Andrew Sat 14 th Dec Stars & Angels Crafts 10am- 12noon (Primary school age) Lhanbryde Community Centre TIC TACS Christmas movie night (Secondary school age) Helen & Nicks house 7pm Sun 15 th Dec Rehearsal for NATIVITY SERVICE We ll be re-telling the Christmas story in a new way and everyone can be involved, just come along 11am -12noon to Lhanbryd & Urquhart church. CAROL SERVICE 7pm St Margarets Hall, Urquhart Sun 22 nd Dec NATIVITY SERVICE Come along, bring your family & friends and take part. 11am 12noon St Andrews Lhanbryd & Urquhart Church Tues 24 th Dec CHRISTMAS EVE WALK Walk in the footsteps of those who first met baby Jesus pm Urquhart Village. Wed 25 th CHRISTMAS DAY FAMILY SERVICE 10.30am Jan 12 th 2014 Messy Church 4-6pm Lhanbryde Community centre

2 Young church Since the summer the young people in Tic Tacs have been exploring a variety of topics from a Christian perspective, including Sport, YOLO (you only live once), Modern Idolatry and Unbelief. They are now moving into a series of bible studies on the book of James. While the teens were in deep discussion in the purple room, the younger ones have been doing various games, stories & creative sessions in the hall bringing Jesus parables to life. We ve also watched some Veggie Tales, meeting Bob the talking tomato & Larry the cucumber who tell bible stories from a different perspective. The youngest members are growing up fast, but continue to enjoy crèche where an enthusiastic team are available to play with them. OUTING TO HOPEMAN PANTOMIME Beauty & the Beast starring our own Iain Lunan! Sat 18 th 1.30pm in Hopeman We ll be booking tickets soon, so please let me know if you are able to come. Contact Fiona Cumming Tic Tacs trip to Abernethy This last September saw the latest of four very successful annual trips to Abernethy for Tic Tacs, our church youth group for teens. With eleven young people attending we were privileged to have our largest group yet. As before this weekend has proved highly valuable for providing support to, helping the cohesion of our teens group and having an enormous amount of fun all within the context an adventurous and vibrant Christian community. During the day activities seemed to involve getting as wet as possible in the shortest possible time. In the morning (supposedly the dry part of the programme) we were challenged to carry a full bucket of water round the adventure course and deliver as much as possible to the end. This proved an excellent team building activity and after one or two minor mishaps and a certain amount of luck a creditable amount of water was delivered to the end (minus the portion being wrung from clothing). The afternoon proved an even better chance to get soaked starting with canoeing and then raft building on (or was that in?) the centre s large pond. Raft building in particular threw up some interesting designs, some more successful than others. In the evening we were challenged as a group during the Time Out session led by a small team from the outdoor centre. This proved a great time to reflect on aspects of our faith. The rest of the evening was given over to great hilarity when we attempted to amuse ourselves by playing various silly games to see who could embarrass themselves the most. The record for Chubby Bunnies stands at fourteen marshmallows set by Well you guess who has the biggest mouth! Once again we are indebted to the Kirk Session for appreciating how important our youth work is and what a vital part the Abernethy weekend plays in that. In particular we are extremely grateful for the financial support we have received to help with the cost.

3 Messy Church celebrated harvest in October with the story of how Jesus fed 5000 people from just 5 loaves and 2 fish! November saw us exploring the story of Joshua when everyone had great fun. We made musical instruments and then did a lot of marching quietly round the wall of Jericho 6 times and then on our 7 th time we made a LOT of noise and knocked the wall down. Our story time let us know that nothing is impossible for God and that when it looks as though there is no way through a problem we can ask God for help. Messy Church dates for 2014: January 12th February 9th March 9th April 20th Easter Sunday May 18th June 15th July 13th August 17th September 14th October 5th November 9th December 14th All take place on a Sunday afternoon from 4-6pm in Lhanbryde Community Centre. Sara s Activities After a very successful craft morning based on the theme of Harvest in October, Sara is planning another for primary aged children on Sat 14 th of Dec. It will take place in the village hall and is called Stars and Angels. Baking, art, storytelling and crafts are planned. Come and be part of a fun morning! Sara s Thurs morning craft group at the village hall have spent nearly a year in the planning and making of a community quilt. Twelve different groups who use the hall were invited to decorate a square they were given. All were pleased to do so and the finished result is a delight. On 14 th November it was unveiled by Mrs Fiona Birse BEM. It was an exciting occasion attended by a large turnout of the twelve organisations and recorded for posterity by the Northern Scot photographer! They were all treated to a soft drink and cake. This craft group is growing and more volunteers are needed to help with the crèche. Speak to Sheila Silvestri if you think you can help with this very important part of our church s outreach work. After the craft group Sara and another member of the group are now opening the café on Thursdays between 12 and 2 for soup, teas, coffees and home bakes. Do come for some lovely homemade soup and admire the variety and intricacy of the community quilt. In Lhanbryde Primary Sara has been running a knitting group on Monday lunchtimes which makes teddies, scarves, hats and mitts to go in shoe boxes for the Blythswood charity. Every child in school has had a hand in making or buying things or packing the boxes, and staff are also supportive. To date over 50 boxes have been completed. What a lot of happy children will have a hand knitted teddy in its own hand made little drawstring bag.

4 salucofs.wordpress.com SALU website went live in April 2013 and since then we have had 9000plus pages viewed with people from 42 countries looking at it. Below is an excerpt from one of the pages of the SALU website under the heading of Meeting Together: The Power of Tea and Coffee Our tea and coffee time is not an unimportant tag on, but rather an integral part of what we do as a church. For this reason, we encourage you, if at all possible, to stay at the end of a service. We encourage you to make the most of the opportunity that tea and coffee (and a biscuit or two) brings to talk to others, to show concern for others, and to encourage one another. This time to talk is a time when we can ask others, how was your week? And we can be more honest and open that just saying, fine, how was yours? We can share the issues at work, the problem with our neighbours, the joy of exam results. It s a time when we offer to pray for each other. It s a time for saying, what did you make of the sermon, then and talking about something other than the weather! And it s a time when no one should feel left out or alone. I encourage everyone who has access to the internet and an address to sign up to follow the SALU website by clicking the Follow box on the bottom left on any SALU webpage and then submitting your when asked. You will then be kept up to date with new information added to the site as it happens. Grant Cumming SALU mug SALU (St Andrews Lhanbryd & Urquhart) mugs are available for sale at a cost of 6 each or 10 for two. The mug was designed by one of our Young Church members, Kirsty Cumming. Profits from sale of the mugs will go to the current Guild projects: Mary's Meals and Passage to India. To buy mugs, please contact Jane Rossetter ( ; ; rossetter.jane@gmail.com) or any member of our Guild

5 Out n About met on Friday 30 th November for a fun-filled evening with Aberlour artist Sally Charlesworth who showed us how to make Christmassy wreaths and trees out of fabric and felt flowers as well as a landscape using paint and different materials (for those who felt more daring). It was not only a very creative evening but also a very chatty and fun-filled one at the end of which we all very proudly took home a piece of (very personal) artwork. THRIFT SHOP The shop will close on 12th December 2013 for the Christmas break and reopen on 13th January Thank-you for your donations and custom throughout Please do not leave donations at shop door during this time. BLYTHSWOOD SHOE BOX APPEAL 168 Boxes have been delivered to the charity this year collectively from our church Lhanbryde Primary school and Thrift Shop. Thank-you to everyone who donated or filled boxes and to George & Helen for organising this project. Midwife in Nepal is back home again. I m back!! For those of you who are able and have so far not found the time, I urge you to read my story via the blog just type it into the address bar on your computer (NOT into Google) but remember to start the story at the bottom... It will explain EVERYTHING! But for those of you who can t there simply isn t enough time, paper or ink in the whole world to tell you what Nepal is like! It s amazing, fantastic and incredible! It s scary and dark and unpleasant! It s light and warm and gentle! And so much more so very much more! Having admitted to the fact that my I had very few preconceived expectations and confessed to my naivety, I was still overwhelmed by the experience. Just the short journey from the airport to the hotel left me reeling. It was just as amazing 26 days later when I made the same journey back to the airport! And as for all the stuff that happened in between... Here are just a few of my observations. The conditions in the hospitals were dreadful. I hated the food. I ve decided that cockroaches are NOT my friends (and neither are mosquitoes) but I like geckos. I can t speak Nepalese (I tried). Landslides should be cleared from the roads when they happen and not driven over. Cars should have MOT s and everyone should drive on one side of the road and stick to it. Cows should not be allowed on the main highway or to walk the wrong way round roundabouts. The Hospice at Kathmandu should change its name to Forsake all hope (and dignity). On the plus side, I like food proper food like fish and chips. I like being able to rinse my toothbrush under the tap without worrying about catching something dreadful. I like not having to dodge the desperate every time I set foot on the street. I love pavements and the way tarmac in this country goes from one side of the road to the other in a continuous way, without holes. We have SO much to be grateful for. We are so VERY blessed. Let us Thank God Every Day... Angie Laverty

6 QUIZ- DECEMBER Which writer was once known as the Great Unknown? 2. According to Genesis 4:16, to which land was Cain exiled after killing his brother Abel? 3. What kind of animal is a cachalot? 4. What is the name of the galaxy in which our solar system lies? 5. In which city did Joshua command the sun to stand still and condemn its inhabitants to be hewers of wood and drawers of water? 6. Which breed of dog was Greyfriars Bobby whose statue stands opposite Greyfriars Kirk in Candlemaker Row, Edinburgh? 7. In which 1960 film did Elvis Presley sing Wooden Heart? 8. What is the familiar name for the series of 8 Banacie Locks on the Caledonian Canal near Fort William? 9. Where in the human body is the pisiform bone? 10. In text messaging, what does PCB mean? 11. What are the wynds in Edinburgh and other Scottish towns? 12. Which is the only one of New York s five boroughs to be on the mainland? 13. In a children s book, who gave directions to his home as second to the right and straight on till morning? 14. What was the occupation of a bummaree? 15. What in music is a paradiddle? 16. What colour is produced by mixing red and green together? 17. In classical mythology, which god was father of the divine winged horse Pegasus? 18. Who was the first black player to play for (and win) a Wimbledon Singles Title? 19. In Australia, what name is given to a backwater channel which forms a long, narrow lagoon? 20. The newspaper of which organisation, first published in 1879, is The War Cry? ANSWERS TO SEPTEMBER 2013 QUIZ 1 Venezuela 2 John Humphrys 3 Humerus 4 Zebedee 5 Titania 6 Ewe 7 Fred Perry and Andy Murray 8 All for one and one for all 9 Doncaster J K Rowling 12 Panama Canal 13 Mount Nebo 14 Macbeth 15 Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark 16 Silverstone 17 Nellie, the elephant 18 Prague 19 Amsterdam 20 Moses and Aaron 21 Spaniel 22 Charm He gave a blind man sight 25 A small antelope.

7 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Jesus Is Born Sermons4Kids.com

8 Minister Revd. Andrew J. Robertson The Manse (Belmont) 39 St Andrews Road Lhanbryde IV30 8PU Tel: SALU Magazine Editor Shirley Robertson Where to find us:- St Andrews-Lhanbryd & Urquhart Church Sheriffston Elgin IV30 8LA At Lhanbryde off the A96 on the road to Lossiemouth St Margarets Hall Urquhart Registered Scottish Charity SC008850

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