Sunday Service for 18 April 2021

The year is 1949.  The congregation in the village of Barvas on the Isle of Lewis is in a poor state.  Not a single young person  attended church.  Two old women, one of them 84, the other 82 and blind, were greatly concerned, and made this a matter of special prayer. A verse gripped them:…

Desmond Tutu used to say that if people told him that politics and religion didn’t go together, he wondered what Bible they were reading, because the Bible he read was full of politics. Today we find that politics is at the heart of our praying, because if “your kingdom come” has any meaning at all,…

In social media there is a trend for moaning about trivial things. In the last few years, in recognition of our triviality in the west in comparison with the problems of the developing world, it has now become a new trend: when people post about a trivial irk of theirs they follow it up with…

Exodus 24:9-18 2 Peter 1:16-21 Psalm 99 Matthew 17:1-9 I expect some of you are wondering why you’re here!  The Westminster Shorter Catechism is one of the historical statements of our faith.  I’m sure you all know it well, but just to remind you, it begins by saying that, “man’s chief end is to glorify…

I never cease to be amazed at the names that people give to their children nowadays. In primary schools today you’ll find children called Woody, and Riley used as a first name. Of course, people are entitled to choose whatever name they wish, and perhaps it’s old tick-in-the-muds like me that struggle to understand that…

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17 On that crowded bus from the gate to the place, you have to stand firm and hold tight. Crowded onto that tube train rush hour, you have to stand firm and hold tight. On that narrow mountain path when it gets a bit windy, you have to stand firm and hold tight….