Notices - Sunday 8th January
Creche: 11.00am in the upper hall for children up to age 2.
Volunteers Today: Elaine, Christine Smith, Chris and Annmarie.
Volunteers 15th January: Christine Ann, Maighread, Donna and Emma.
Holiday Tweenies: 11.00am in the main hall for children aged 2-7.
Volunteers today: Elizabeth, Karen and Lydia.
Volunteers 15th January: Johan, Kay, Aileen and Kirsty.
Sunday School and Bible Class arrive in church at 11.00 with family, then go into M.A. Hall after children’s address.
Everyone is welcome to a time of fellowship in the M. A. Hall following the morning service.
Marten and Kathleen will be serving today.
Monday 9th January1.00pm
3.00pm Toddler Group in MA. Hall.
Monday 9th January 7.00pm
Deacons’ Court meet in the Kenneth St Session Room.
Wednesday 11th January 7.30pm
English Prayer Meeting in the Seminary and on Zoom led by Rev Calum M. Smith.
Thursday 12th January 7.30pm
Gaelic Prayer Meeting in the Seminary led by Rev James Maciver.
Thursday 12th January - Explorers meet in M.A. Hall.
6.00pm-7.00pm: P1-P3 and 7.00pm-8.15pm: P4-P7.
Saturday 14th January 7.30pm
English Prayer Meeting in the Seminary.
Services next Sunday – 15th January
11.00am – English Service (Church) Mr Scott Macleod.
11.00am – Gaelic Service (Seminary) Rev D.A. Macdonald.
6.30pm – English Service (Church) Rev James Maciver.
Congregational Fellowship.
This will be in the M.A. Hall after the evening service. Catherine from the charity ‘Safe Families Scotland’ will speak.
Annual LDOS Prayer Meeting – Sunday 8th January
The annual LDOS/DayOne Prayer Meeting will take place at the Stornoway APC Church tonight at 8.30pm. All are warmly invited to attend.
Deaths:
We were sorry to hear of the following deaths in the congregation and we pray that God will comfort their sorrowing families.
Mrs Anne Campbell, Berisay Place, aged 76.
We express our condolences to her husband Norman, sister-in-law Etta and her husband Donald Roddy, sister-in-law Catherine and her husband Norman, and all nephews and nieces.
Mrs Catherine Macleod, Ranish, aged 94.
We express our sincere condolences to her daughter Barbara and her husband Calum, grandchildren Iain and Domhnall, and Domhnall’s wife Pauline, and great grandchildren Calum and Eimhir.
Mrs Anne Macdonald, Columbia Place, aged 88.
We express our sincere condolences to her husband John, daughter Florence with her partner Ronnie, and grandson Logan. We also remember Anne’s sisters, Isobel who is resident in a care home in America, and Eleanor with her husband John. We also remember her brother Innes with his wife Ann, together will all nephews, nieces and members of the extended family.
Safe Families Scotland - Tuesday 10th January 8.00-9.00pm.
Safe Families Scotland will hold a vision night online. This is open to any who may be interested in being a part of this work.
Safe Families aim is to bring hope, support and belonging to families by making them feel seen, heard and understood.
More information can be found on www.safefamilies.uk or Safe Families Scotland Facebook page. All are welcome to attend this meeting by booking online, please contact Scott Macleod on 07500 844587 if you require the link.
55+ Fellowship – Advance Notice
Happy New Year to you all. The next meeting of the fellowship will be on Friday 20th January, 2.30pm to 4pm in the M.A. Hall. We hope to have Rev David Macleod from the North Harris congregation as our guest speaker and Murdie "Parkend" Macleod leading the singing.
Newcomers are warmly invited. If you have not been before, please come along and join us. You will be made very welcome.
If you need help with transport to or from the fellowship please phone Duncan Norman on 860 418 or 07787973802 and transport will be arranged.
Amazing Grace
John Newton’s world-famous hymn, Amazing Grace, was first publicly read aloud 250 years ago on New Year’s Day.
The Church of England minister and abolitionist penned the hymn to accompany his sermon on 1 Chronicles 17:16 at St Peter and St Paul Church in Olney, Buckinghamshire on 1 January 1773.
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: ‘Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?’ 1 Chronicles 17:16.
The words of Amazing Grace reflect John Newton’s journey to faith.
Born in 1725, he became the captain of a slave ship which was caught in a severe storm in 1748 on its journey back to England. During that time, he was struck by Thomas à Kempis’s quote on the “uncertain continuance of life”, and Proverbs 1:23-26 which states “since you rejected me when I called…I in turn will laugh at your disaster”.
Newton later marked the event as the start of his turning to Christ.
After returning to live in England, he was ordained in the Church of England in 1764 and appointed curate in Olney, Buckinghamshire. In 1767, the poet William Cowper also settled in the town and together they published The Olney Hymns in 1779, where Amazing Grace first appeared in print under the title ‘Faith’s Review and Expectation’.
In 1796, Newton wrote to his friend and campaigner William Wilberforce to urge him not to give up his campaign against slavery and stay in Parliament to accomplish the will of God. Newton continued to preach until his death in 1807, nine months after Parliament abolished the slave trade in the British Empire.
His world-renowned hymn, now well-known to a 19th century tune, continues to be sung as a testament to God’s mercy in bringing countless people from across the world back to him.
