Pastoral Reflection for Thursday, 7th May
A Reflection on Psalm 121
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved: He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper: the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and in from this time forth and forevermore.” Psalm 121
This is a psalm that is all about being Kept. I am sure that is something we all want for our lives-to be kept. Kept safe. Kept from danger. Kept from falling. Kept from hurt and harm. Kept from being lost. Kept from shame. Kept close to the Lord. We live in such a dangerous, deceptive and uncertain world. A world that is constantly threatening us spiritually, morally, physically, mentally at every turn; so the theme of being kept is really precious to us.
Read more about 'Pastoral Reflection for Thursday, 7th May'...Pastoral Reflection for Thursday, April 23rd
Part two of a two part series on the Lord's Prayer
“Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Matthew Chap 6v10-13
Prayer is the most amazing privilege and blessing given to us. Jesus gave a short model of prayer to help us as we approach God. We looked at the first part of the prayer. We saw who it is we pray to-“Our Father”. Although His presence fills the whole earth, yet heaven is His home-“In Heaven”. We also saw the attitude and spirit of awe, respect and reverence we should have as we come into His presence-“Hallowed Be Your Name.” Finally we saw that before presenting our own personal requests, we must seek the extension and growth of God’s kingdom-“Your Kingdom Come.”
Read more about 'Pastoral Reflection for Thursday, April 23rd'...Pastoral Reflection for Thursday, April 9th
Part 1 of a two part series reflecting on the Lord's Prayer.
“Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as is it is heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” Matthew Chap 6v 9-13
Prayer is at the very centre of our Christian lives, and along with the reading of His Word, is the most wonderful privilege God has given to us. Jesus has a lot to say to us regarding prayer; both by example and exhortation. In Matthew Chapter 6, before He gives us a great example of prayer, in what has become known as the ‘Lord’s prayer’, He emphasises the importance of getting alone with God. Secret prayer should be part of our lives. Of course we should pray with others, but being alone with God in prayer is essential for our own spiritual health, and the good of the church and society at large. Private secret prayer is at the heart of what we become as Christians. Our spiritual growth is largely determined by the amount of time you spend alone with the Lord. All the great giants of faith in the Bible were men and women who spent a lot of time in the presence of the Lord. The expression, “You get like those you live with,” can equally be applied to our quiet times in the presence of the Lord. The more time we spend with Him the more like Him we become. When Moses spent a long period on top of the mountain alone with the Lord, His face shone so brightly when he returned that he had to cover his face with a veil when speaking to the Israelites.
Read more about 'Pastoral Reflection for Thursday, April 9th'...Pastoral Reflection from Rev KI Macleod
Reflection for the Week of 29th March
“Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord, from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.” 2 Chronicles Chapter 20v3-4
We want our journey through life to be as smooth and trouble free as possible. Unfortunately a life without its share of worries, troubles, problems and fears is virtually impossible to find. Jesus,before He left this world said to the disciples, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” God uses the troubles that come into our lives to achieve different things. Some people who have had no thought of God whatsoever, have found that troubles brought them to come to know personally the God of heaven and earth. God’s people down through the generations have, through their personal troubles, found that God is working in them. God uses hard providences to test us; to draw us closer to Himself; to wean us away from certain sins; to strengthen our faith: to be a means of help and encouragement to others-indeed there are many reasons.
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Reflection for the Week of 22nd March 2020 from Rev Kenneth I Macleod
“The Lord sits enthroned forever: He has established His throne for justice, and He judges the world with righteousness; He judges the peoples with uprightness. The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. ” Psalm 9:7-9
One of the themes of this Psalm is God’s rule over everything and everyone. We see that it’s a kingly rule because the Lord sits on a throne - v4 “You have sat on the throne giving righteous judgement.” V7 “The Lord sits enthroned.” “He has established His throne for justice.” What a comfort that is to us, in our ever changing, fragile, threatening world, where fear and uncertainty lay hold upon us; where an unseen enemy threatens our very life, to know that God sits upon His throne, not as a disinterested observer, but Someone who is actively involved in all that is happening. We also see that this throne is like the Lord Himself-eternal. We cannot separate the Lord from His throne as it’s an everlasting throne. The Lord’s rule is forever.
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On Sunday evening, 2nd June, Rev James Maciver preached on Amos 7:7 – end, ‘God’s Plumbline.
Who would want to be a prophet of God in Amos’s time? It was a period of great decline and apostasy in Israel. Many had adopted the awful lifestyle of the Canaanites which, despite the fact that it was so characterised by idolatry and departure from righteousness, they believed to still be serving the Lord.
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On Sunday 26th May, Rev James Maciver completed his study series, ‘Through Many Tribulations’, with a focus upon the conclusion of tribulation forever, as laid out for us in Revelation 7: 9 – 17.
Believers frequently muse upon whether we will recognise one another in heaven – the answer to which is surely that we will. However, Mr Maciver posed what is a much more pertinent and pressing question: will everyone gathered to hear this sermon meet again in heaven?
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