This week’s Discovery prayer…
“Sovereign God, we pray for our MPs, MSPs, Local Councillors, and all those involved in government. May their decision making be open to your guidance and in keeping with your principles. May they be faithful to all members of the communities they serve.”
This week’s Discovery prayer…
“Loving God, we thank you that you are the God of work, who is at work in the world.
We pray for all those in our community who will be at work in the week to come, asking that you encourage and protect them in all they do.
We pray to for those who are looking for work, that you would open the right doors for them; and for those who are resting from work, that they would know your refreshment and strength.”
This is the Discovery Prayer and card for this week you will be able to pick up a hard copy of the pillars and guide at the services tomorrow.
After a long wait and much prayer, Holly Grace Elizabeth Bull arrived at 11.52am on Monday 23rd December weighing 7lbs and 11oz. Lucy and Niven had come round to the manse first thing, on their way to the hospital, and Lindsay had gone along with them to help. I still had my watch night sermon to work on, and I was just finishing when the phone rang. I picked it up to hear Lindsay’s voice. All she said was ‘It’s a girl!’
It’s astonishing how much a grandchild can change your life. All the young people now take great delight in calling me ‘Grandpa John!’ I carry Holly’s photos on my phone and have mastered the art of how to find them so I can show her off to the many people who ask (and often to the people who don’t ask too). My conversations, whether with the neighbours next door or the local head teacher, now generally start with a discussion of how she is, and a conversation about babies in general.
Our days are now divided into ordinary days and ‘Holly days’. Our lives are taken up with the smallest details of her life. Is she feeding properly? Did she sleep last night? Is she putting on weight? Not to mention her first bath, her first time out in the pram, her first time on a bus, her first time on a train. All these events have to be shared and discussed.
Our house is slowly being invaded by Holly’s things. These range from a spare changing mat and blankets, to a spare bouncy chair and buggy which was donated by a friend – ‘for the times when she is staying over’. We have been overwhelmed by cards and gifts, acting as a staging post for them on their way to the Bull family home in Mewadowbank. Every day she seems to be wearing a different outfit. I had no idea babies had such an eye for fashion. She even has her own Manchester United team shirt (size one), so that she and her daddy can sit and watch the match together.
And all of this began just a few short hours before we, at Liberton and across the world, gathered to celebrate the birth of another child – one who has changed countless lives over the years. Christmas Day has come and gone, but God’s gift of children remains, a constant reminder of God’s love and grace.
Much love,
John
Loving Father,
We pray for families throughout the world, as they share in the joy of watching children grow. We pray especially for those who are finding it hard just now – the poor, the refugee, and those who have little support.
Open our eyes to ways in which we can make a difference in the lives of others, sharing in the love you have made real to us in Jesus.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen
Back in February, Lindsay and I went to Yorkshire Dales for the weekend to celebrate our wedding anniversary (hard to believe it’s been 34 years!), and on the Sunday we went along to join the worship at the local parish church. This is a lovely old country church where we had worshipped many times before. On the way in we got chatting to a relative newcomer to the area, and he asked us where we were from. When we said Scotland, he paused for a moment, thinking hard, and then said, “Are you Episcopalians?”
It was a question that gave me much cause for thought during the service that followed. Am I an Episcopalian or am I a Presbyterian? In the course of my life and ministry I have been both. In Pakistan, we served under the local Bishop, and followed the set liturgy in our Sunday services. In Edinburgh I am a member of the local Presbytery, and, at Liberton, we have a pattern of worship which is flexible, to say the least. Over the years I have also enjoyed sharing in the worship and ministry of Roman Catholic, Methodist, Brethren, Baptist, Pentecostal and Independent churches. What does this make me?
Let me tell you about our worship experience that day in the Yorkshire Dales. We came out of the rain into a warm church where we were welcomed by a smiling man who handed us a couple of books and a notice sheet. We found our way to a pew and no one asked us to move. One of the books contained the day’s liturgy, (a set of prayers and responses which was simple and easy to follow). We sang hymns together and said the prayers together, and then listened to a very thought provoking sermon on Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. We then stood and said the Christian Creed together, and were invited to the front to share in communion along with everyone else. After a closing hymn we were offered cups of tea by several of the more regular worshippers. We left feeling loved and nourished – both physically and spiritually.
One of the real strengths of the Christian Church is that what we share far exceeds where we differ. In my experience the different ‘denominations’ that exist are simply the labels on the packaging. What really matters is what you find inside. As a church we are called to be Christ’s body on earth, meeting together to celebrate our faith, to be challenged by his word and to be strengthened by his Spirit, so that we can go out and carry on the work he has begun. As long as this is happening, our form of worship or church government is of little importance. So, if you meet a stranger walking up the path to join us for Sunday worship, please don’t ask them if they are a ‘Presbyterian’.
Much love
John
There is no worse feeling than that of being falsely accused. We are falsely accused when, groundlessly, we are criticised or accused for doing something wrong. If it’s ever happened to you, you’ll know that it really hurts.
My very first day at school was a memorable one for all the wrong reasons. I had joined the class late – three months into their term. I can still remember my eldest sister, Ella, dropping me off at the door of the classroom, and the teacher looking up and pointing to a desk by the window. I obediently sat down and waited. She gave out some instructions to the class as a whole, but I didn’t understand what she meant so I carried on waiting.
Forty minutes passed, and still no one told me what to do. Eventually the teacher looked up from her desk, but instead of helping me out, she started to shout at me at the top of her voice. “You’ve been sitting there doing nothing for the last forty minutes”, she said. “If you didn’t know what to do you should have come out and asked.” I can still remember that feeling of shock and helplessness. Is this what school was meant to be like? If so, I didn’t like it one bit.
Being falsely accused happens to us all. Only recently I was given an angry earful by someone for something that was nothing to do with me. I spent the next hour trying to carry on unperturbed, while inside I was seething. Eventually I had to ask God for help on the matter. “Oh God”, I said. “Please help me to get over this before it begins to effect things too much.” And God did help. He reminded me that hurt I was feeling is how he himself feels when he, too, is wrongly accused by people every day. Because, when things go wrong in people’s lives, then, more often than not, it’s God who gets the blame. And when that happens, he too feels that hurt.
Over the next few weeks, on Sunday mornings, we are looking at the character of what Jesus calls ‘the Kingdom of God’. Through the eyes of his disciples we hope to see how his ways are different from the ways of the world. So, how does he respond to being falsely accused? Does he lash out in judgement? Does he keep quiet at the time, and then moan about it when he’s with his friends? Does he bottle it all up and take it out on the cat?
Jesus response to being falsely accused is summed up by his words from the cross – “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” He responds to the hurt with something the Bible calls ‘grace’. Grace is the gift you offer which is not deserved, but given freely all the same. Grace reflects a love that is unconditional.
A false accusation is something that can cause great hurt, and it happens to us all. But the next time you feel that hurt, how are you going to respond? Are you going to offer hurt in return? There is an alternative. The way of grace is far more difficult, but it is the only way to healing.
Much love
John
