Bells  27 Sep 2020

Dear Friends,

Sunday’s worship

This first link provides worship service details for the Communion Service on Sunday 27^th September 2020.  The live service is due to start at 10.30am.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5sqivx4uayqbjrm/WorshipSheet_27Sep2020.pdf?dl=0

 

Please note that unfortunately with the new regulations there can be no mixed households but it we do hope that many people will manage to join this zoom service:

If you wish to join in the service you may wish to have actual proper wine, alongside cranberry juice, blackcurrant juice or grape juice.

Regarding bread you may want to go for Pitta to keep with the Unleavened bread theme of exodus,  or a roll, or a plain slice.

The zoom link is here… https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276

Password 504415
Meeting room is 830 0965 0276

There will also be a shorter Youtube going up for anyone who can’t make 10:30am on Sunday.  It will be at the usual channel which is here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

There will be an option to chat at the end and there will hopefully be a choice as to where you go to chat (hopefully there will be virtual Lawers Rooms, John Kyd halls, McDonald Rooms, Logierait back halls and Tenandry Church fronts, Glasgow room and chat room for those who don’t want to chat).

With warmest wishes and with the great privilege of being your ministers,

Neil

WorshipSheet_27Sep2020.pdf

Sunday Service

20 Sep 2020 Script

script 20 Sep 2020

Sunday Service traditional

20 Sep 2020

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial 01887 440446

Zoom service and after service chat

from 10:30am Sunday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

Sunday Service

13 Sep 2020 Script

script 130920

Sunday Service traditional

13 Sep 2020

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial 01887 440446

Zoom service and after service chat

from 10:30am Sunday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

Sunday Service

06 Sep 2020 Script

script 06sep20

Sunday Service traditional

06 Sep 2020

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial 01887 440446

Zoom service and after service chat

from 10:30am Sunday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9205989200?pwd=V0FTeVF4UmJtNDJFTWFXMlN6NWk5UT09

Meeting ID: 920 598 9200
Passcode: 316316

One tap mobile
+441314601196,,9205989200#,,,,,,0#,,316316# United Kingdom

Sunday Service

30 Aug 2020 Script

Script 30 August 2020

Sunday Service traditional

30 Aug 2020

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial 01887 440446

Zoom service and after service chat

from 10:30am Sunday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

Sunday Service

23 Aug 2020 Script

script 23 August 2020

Sunday Service traditional

23 Aug 2020

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial 01887 440446

Sunday Service

16 Aug 2020

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Zoom post service Chat

16 Aug 2020

 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9205989200

or Zoom from tablet or phone:
Zoom meeting room 920 598 9200

Text for Sunday’s Service

Moderator’s First Service – The Right Reverend Dr Martin Fair

 Let us worship God for this is the day that the Lord has made

 HYMN            Praise my soul the King of heaven

Praise my soul the King of heaven, to His feet thy tribute bring

Ransomed healed restored forgiven, who like me His praise should sing

Praise him praise Him, Praise Him praise Him Praise the everlasting King

Praise Him for His grace and favour, to our fathers in distress

Praise him still the same for ever, slow to chide and swift to bless

Praise Him praise Him, Praise Him praise Him, glorious in His faithfulness

Father like He tends and spares us, well our feeble frame He know

In his hands He gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes

Praise Him praise Him, Praise Him praise Him, widely as His mercy flows

Frail as summer’s flower we flourish, blows the wind and it is gone

But while mortals rise and perish, God endures unchanging on

Praise Him praise Him, Praise Him praise Him, Praise the high eternal One

Angels help us to adore Him, ye behold Him face to face

Sun and moon bow down before Him, dwellers all in time and space

Praise Him praise Him, Praise Him praise Him, Praise with us the God of grace

READING                 John 1:1-18 from The Message Translation  Read by the Rev Aftab Gohar

REFLECTION

This book Sophie’s World was in its day an international best seller. It’s really an introduction to philosophy which may not make it sound like a page turner but its set up as a novel and is a great read. Let me read a small section for you. What is the most important thing in life? If we ask someone living on the edge of starvation, the answer is food. If we ask someone dying of cold, the answer is warmth. If we put the same question to someone who feels lonely and isolated, the answer will probably be the company of other people. But when those basic needs have been satisfied, will there be something that everybody needs. Philosophers thinks so. The believe that man can not live by bread alone. Of course everyone needs food and everyone needs love and care. But there is something else apart from that which everyone needs and that is, to figure out who we care and why we are here.

So there we have 2 big questions. Who am I and why am I here? Philosophical questions yes, but deep theological questions for sure. Who am I and why am I here? The first of these questions is one of identity and the second is one of purpose. Today we are going to think on the first question who am I? This question of our identity and next week we’ll consider the second, why am I here? What’s the point of me being on earth? What is my purpose? The author of Sophie’s world offers us two thoughts as we begin this quest, of discovering our identity who I am. He begins by saying that we begin to discover who we are when we discover that we are not just ourselves. In other words that there are others around us and that it is in connecting with them, that we begin to discover who we are in terms of our connectedness to others. Maybe we can think of it this way. That it is impossible to understand ourselves without thinking about all those around us. Look for a moment at the pebbles on this stony beach. You can hardly think of one without the others. They somehow belong together. The second thing he suggests and this is a new addition to the original writing of the book. He says that we begin to understand who we are, when we realise that we are connected with the world in which we live. And he goes as far as to say, that we can’t understand who we are, we’ll never ever have a true sense of our identity, unless we understand that it somehow wrapped up in our connectedness with where we are. So two things as we begin to answer. First of all our identity is in our connectedness with other people and our connectedness with the environment.

As for our connectedness to the creation, right at the beginning the book of Genesis makes it abundantly clear that we are part of what God has made. We have a pleasant special place within that. We are set as stewards over creation. But none the less we are part of it and our connectedness to it, is vital to who we are. I wonder who you see when you look up close at yourself. Who are you? What is your identity? In recent years of course we have seen the rise in so called identity politics. We hear people saying all the time: ‘I identify as this or that or the next thing’. I guess as I think about myself, my Scottishness is important to me, but I also understand myself to be British. I identify I think about myself as a male, as a husband, as a father, as a son. There are so many aspects as how I might define myself. As I look to answer the question who am I? Everything that I have described so far is important to me. My connectedness to others, my connectedness to the creation and those other things that I have mentioned. My sense of who I am in relation to the place I come from, the people I’m part of and my understanding of myself in relation to family. Those who are immediately around me. All that is important as I think about my identity of who I am. But as a Christian there is something more. Of course there is something much more. Right there at the very start of John’s gospel in the first chapter we hear the phrase: ‘Children of God, children of God’. My friends, here is the key ultimately to who I am. Ultimately my identity is as a child of God.

Yes all those other things matter in terms of how I piece together my understanding of who I am. But they are all arranged underneath this key and crucial and most important conviction that first and foremost I am a child of God. This underpins everything else and without that, there is something essential missing. I am a child of God. That’s who I am. That’s who I identify as.  My relating to other people, my relating to this planet all flow out of the fact that first and foremost, I am related to a loving God who in His grace and through his son has declared me to be his child. It’s on this solid rock that I build this firm foundation of being a child of God and this is my identity. This is who I am.

But even then there is something else that must be said and it’s this. I am only a child of God because of what Jesus has done for me. Because Jesus came into the world for me, because Jesus has lived His life for me and in the end because Jesus gave His life for me. That’s why I can say with confidence in response to the question who am I? I am a child of God because of Jesus. Friends, let us never ever take that for granted. Let us never ever become blase about this truth, that Jesus gave Himself for us that we might be children of God. Let us then keep His cross ever before us as a reminder of this truth. Let us hold fast to His cross. By the cross we are children of God.

HYMN                        When I survey the wondrous cross

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died,

My richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God;

All the vain things that charm me most I sacrifice them to His blood.

See! from His head, His hands, His feet sorrow and love flow mingled down;

Did e’er such love and sorrow meet or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small;

Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

 

PRAYER OF INTERCESSION  The Reverend Rosie Frew Convenor of Faith Nurture Forum

Lord God,

We give thanks for all those who nurture faith – through work with children, in discipleship, in the leading of worship, in outreach to the world around.

We give thanks and pray for those who engage with children and young people in Sunday schools and Messy Church, mid-week activities and holiday clubs, youth groups and school chaplaincies. Inspire them as they keep our young people involved in different ways. Encourage them as, in faith, they plant seeds in hearts and minds.

We give thanks and pray for those who lead Bible studies and discussion groups, wrestling with the issues of the day, seeking to open minds and mature faith.

We give thanks and pray for those who are leading worship at this time, challenged to adapt to new ways of engaging. We give thanks for new opportunities to touch hearts and minds. We pray for discernment as we move forward – what to take with us, what to leave behind.

We give thanks and pray for those in the ministries of the church – parish ministers, Ordained Local Ministers, Chaplains and specialist ministries, Deacons, Readers and Locums. Grant them strength and wisdom in these difficult days; imagination and openness as they seek your guiding.

We pray for those discerning a call to ministry, those in training, those seeking their first charge. Be their light, their support, their assurance in their questioning, in their formation.

We give thanks and pray for the members of the new Faith Nurture Forum and for the staff working from their homes – for their commitment to the life and work of the church in these uncertain times – supporting, resourcing, enabling, encouraging, responding to change, working alongside congregations, concerned for the poorest and most marginalised.

We give thanks and pray for each other. For the assurance of you love and care; for your peace in our lives; for hearts on fire with the good news of Jesus; for imagination and courage in mission and fresh expressions of faith; for willingness to embrace the challenges of the changing days ahead.

In Jesus name we pray

Amen

HYMN            I stand amazed in the Presence

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
And wonder how He could love me a sinner, condemned, unclean
How marvellous! how wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! how wonderful! Is my Saviour’s love for me!

For me it was in the garden He prayed not my will but Thine

He had no tears for His own griefs but sweat drops of blood for mine

How marvellous! how wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! how wonderful! Is my Saviour’s love for me!

He took my sins and my sorrows, and made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone
How marvellous! how wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! how wonderful! Is my Saviour’s love for me!

When with the ransomed in glory His face I at last shall see
It will be my joy through the ages to sing of His love for me

How marvellous! how wonderful! And my song shall ever be:
How marvellous! how wonderful! Is my Saviour’s love for me!

BENEDICTION  May the blessing of God Almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you all today and forever more. Amen

Zoom Service

10:30am Sunday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

Dial in

Really sorry, with Jamie being off, this is not going to be a possibility.

If you are someone who uses this, my sincerely apologies.  Next week we’ll be back.

Traditional service

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

WrittenService_9August

Traditional YouTube

Sunday morning 02nd Aug 2020 on wards

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial 01887 440446

script 2 August 2020

Sunday morning 26th July 2020

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Traditional YouTube

Sunday morning onwards

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Traditional Dial-In

Dial 01887 440446

Contemporary YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Contemporary Zoom

10.30 am Sunday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

script service 19 July 2020

Traditional YouTube

Sunday Morning

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial 01887 440446

Contemporary

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

script july 12th 2020

The Bells rang out again at Logierait today

05th July 2020

script 5 July 2020

Traditional YouTube

Sunday Morning

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial 01887 440446

Traditional  Sunday morning

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial in 01887 440446

Contemporary 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Contemporary Zoom  10.30 am Sunday

 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

script service 28 June 2020

Traditional service Sunday morning onwards

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Traditional Dial-In   Dial 01887 440446

Contemporary  Sunday morning onwards

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Contemporary Zoom   10.30 am Sunday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83009650276

Meeting ID: 830 0965 0276

Password: 504415

The Bells ring out again at Logierait.

The bells also ring for the memory of the victims and their families of The Grenfell tower 3 years on.

script service 14 June 2020

A tribute to Frank Cruickshank

https://youtu.be/ceNoY-kHIeM

Traditional YouTube Service

You will be able to view the service by going to the Churches’ YouTube Channel here

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial in – 01887 440446

7 June 2020 service script

The Bells continue to ring out at Logierait 31 May 2020

https://stream1.churchofscotland.org.uk/worship/weekly-worship/pentecost.

And, we also have an evening service, led by Geoff Davis:  The link is –  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial in – 01887 440446.

The Bells are still ringing out at Logierait Church 24th May 2020

GLS christian life week challenge May 2020

Sunday Service 24th May 2020

Please follow the links below

The link is –  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

Dial in – 01887 440446

script 24 May

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

sunday service script 17 May 2020

Love…bears all things, believes all things, hope’s all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

Corinthians 13:7-8

Thank you for being with us on Christian Aid Sunday.

Christian Aid Week in Scotland

Love never fails. Corona virus impacts all of us. But love unites us all.

Sunday 10th May- This link provides an introduction to the broad work of Christian Aid and was made available in February this year prior to the impact of the Corona virus.  It is a well made thought provoking short film, a reminder of the importance of this charity. Worth watching.

https://www.christianaid.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-02/CAW20%20Churches%20film%20with%20voiceover.mp4_.zip

or dial 01887 440446

script for 10th May 2020

    Zoom Web Address: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/9205989200
or Meeting ID: 920 598 920
or One Touch Dial from mobile: +441314601196,,9205989200#
Or Dial from Landline or Mobile: 0131 460 1196 and then enter meeting room code 920 598 9200

https://videos.files.wordpress.com/SdPWQImq/20200503_201300_326060977706320-bell-ringing-03-05-2020_dvd.mp4

youtu.be/Vc1QjrC3Jy0

Church service 3 May2020 Script GLS

Service script 26 April 20[64203]

Or you can dial

01887 440446

see the new digital newsletter click on link in our Newsletters and magazines

also see there for church magazine link

UPPER TAY COVID-19 CHURCH OF SCOTLAND COMMUNITY NEWSLETTER
A note from Neil Glover…
Dear friends,
Welcome to the first edition of the Upper Tay Community Newsletter.
This is a first attempt at sharing stories, pictures, information about
services, and ideas for us to support each other through these unique
times.
The beginnings of this idea came from a group of folk from local Churches
but it is hoped that this will belong to our whole community. I’m delighted
that we have had the encouragement of Dull & Weem, Aberfeldy and
Mid-Atholl, Strathtay and Ballinluig Community Councils. We also are
aware of similar newsletters around Kenmore and in Ballinluig.
At two community engagement days in 2018 and 2019 in Aberfeldy
Church, participants from many different parts of our community
talked about the need for us to be better at sharing what is going
on. There are so many incredible initiatives happening in our area,
but often we don’t know about them. Hopefully this newsletter will be one
part of us spreading the word. There is an ancient Jewish word,
Shalom, which is often translated as “Peace”. It’s very similar to
the Arabic word “Salaam”. Both words have the idea that peace
happens, not just when there isn’t war, but above all when people are
connected to each other, in good relationships. Even though we are
socially distanced, I hope that this newsletter alongside countless other
acts of neighbourliness, will build up the friendships between us all, that
we will be a community whose peace runs deep. With every good wish,
Neil Glover, Minister
You can visit each parish church’s website
for the latest sermons shared online:
Aberfeldy: http://www.aberfeldyparishchurch.org
Dull and Weem: http://www.dullandweemparish.org
Grantully, Logierait & Strathtay:
http://www.glschurchofscotland.org

The Bell rang out again at Logierait today at 12:00 pm

see below

The contemporary service 19 Apr 2020 available from 10:30 am

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpA-Ianua69JOCtTV2zBDxw

script service 19 April 2020[64031]

Let the Bells Ring Out for Easter.

All the Church of Scotland Churches from Fortingall to Strathtay and Logierait were to Ring their bells for Easter at 12 noon today.  Logierait Church used hand held bells to take part.  Here is the bell ringing on video.

Churches in Scotland join together in prayer at 7pm this Easter Sunday

For the third week running, and this time coinciding with Easter Sunday, thousands of people across Scotland will be answering the call to pray at the same time in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Rt Rev Colin Sinclair, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, said:

“Sunday at 7pm has become increasingly a valued time for Christians as they pause to pray, conscious that many others will be sharing the same prayer at the same time.

A Prayer for Easter Sunday

Lord, it feels as if we’ve been walking in the Good Friday shadow of the cross;

feeling disorientated, concerned and filled with heartache;

praying for healing for those poorly,
whether government leader or more personally known;
and comfort for those bereaved;

expressing thanks for the selfless dedication of NHS staff,
those delivering social care,
and everyone ensuring that essential services and supplies are maintained,
in company with those who volunteer.

Lord, as we journey on,
help us now to embrace the dawning Easter joy of the cross;

encountering,
like the first disciples,
the transforming wonder of Christ’s resurrection;

accepting,
like the first disciples,
that it may take time to comprehend the reality of Easter;

reflecting new life through words and deeds.
Hear us, and journey with us,
in the name of the risen Christ.
Amen.

Easter Service 12 Apr 2020

 

Transcript of the Service

EASTER SUNDAY  12^th April 2020

Easter Affirmation    The Lord is risen!  He is risen indeed!

Hymn    In Christ Alone

Prayer :  Living God, who brings light out of darkness, hope out of anguish, birth out of death, we adore You for Your Easter Glory.  Mighty God, who overcomes the power of hatred and evil, who has the key of life, we adore You for Your Easter victory.  Eternal God, who promises us abundant life, who has promised never to leave us, we adore You for Your Easter presence.

 Glorious God, who wills that the world be filled with Your goodness, who calls nations to worship You, we adore You for Your Easter splendour.

 Loving God, who knows and understands our grief, who knows our loneliness and guilt, we adore You for Your Easter forgiveness

 Jesus, our living Lord, we greet You this joyful day.

                                                                                            Amen

Prayers of Confession:  The Lord’s Prayer

 Bible Reading    John 20: 1 – 18

 Sermon      ‘God is in our midst’

 Response   (time of quiet reflection)

 Prayers of Intercession

 Hymn     Thine be the glory

 Blessing

 GOD IS IN OUR MIDST

It was the first Easter morning, and Mary Magdalene, driven by her love and devotion, had gone to the tomb where Jesus was laid, and got the shock of her life.  The large stone at the entrance to the tomb was rolled away and the tomb was empty.  She ran off to tell Peter and John, who both dashed off to see what had happened.  True enough, Jesus’ body wasn’t there.  The burial clothes were, but no Jesus.  The disciples, puzzled by the unexpected turn of events left and went home.  Mary stayed behind and met the Risen Jesus.  It started a sequence of events during which the disciples came to realize that Jesus’ prediction of his death and resurrection (Lk9:22) had come true.

The other month, there was a knock at my door on a Monday afternoon.  I opened the door and a woman was standing there.  “Hello Geoff,” she said, “Good to see you.”  I was completely dumbfounded.  I couldn’t for the life of me think who she was.  I had a vague idea I might have seen her somewhere before but couldn’t remember where.  She spoke as though she knew me, but I didn’t know her.  It wasn’t until my brother came up the drive that I knew the lady was my sister-in-law.  My brother and his wife live in Bournemouth and we don’t get to meet up very often.  They were the last people I expected to see on my doorstep.  Because I didn’t expect to see my sister-in-law on my doorstep on a Monday afternoon, I didn’t know who she was.  On that first Easter Sunday morning, Mary didn’t expect to meet Jesus, and didn’t recognise him, although he may have looked slightly different.

 Are our expectations of the Lord’s presence similarly limited?  Are there situations and occasions when we don’t expect Jesus to be there?  We expect Jesus to be in church with us on a Sunday, but what about the rest of the day, 24 hours a day, every day?  For us as believing Christians, resurrection is part of our everyday experience.  When we wake in the morning, we thank Jesus that he’s with us, and we look forward to sharing the say with Him.  Resurrection is new every morning.  Each and every day we are being changed into the likeness of Jesus (2Cor3:18).

 One of the lovely episodes in the story of Jesus meeting Mary is when, in her confused and uncertain state, Jesus calls her by name, ‘Mary.’  She recognised his voice, the voice of her Lord.  It was important for Mary and so it is for us.  We’ve all had embarrassing moments when we can’t remember someone’s name.  We’ve all had moments when someone, who knows us well, can’t remember our name.  There’s something about knowing someone’s name that really matters.  And it points up a crucial reality about faith.  Faith isn’t made up of a whole series of doctrinal statements but a personal and intimate relationship between Jesus and his people.  It involves being known, accepted and loved.  It means the Lord knows us, each one of us, .  Not for Jesus any agonising about names, or having a guess and getting it wrong.  Jesus knows us and values us for who we are.  He always seeks the deepest of relationships with us.

 Surely Mary was filled with joy when she realised the one she spoke to outside the empty tomb was Jesus.  “She turned towards him and cried out in Aramaic ‘Rabboni'(which means teacher).  She went to the disciples and told them “I have seen the Lord.”  That first Easter morning heralded a new reality for Mary.  In a few moments her whole ‘world picture’ changed.  Her Lord, far from being lost for ever, was now at the centre of her world.  She comes to see that only Jesus, as the risen Lord, can make sense if her world and explain it to her.

 We, too, rejoice in the Risen Lord.  We see from Mary’s encounter with the Risen Jesus that he’s present, with us, every day, that he knows our names, that he is our personal Lord.  Although we make a special point of celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday, the reality is he is always alive for evermore, hallelujah!  Resurrection is a daily event for us.  There’s always new life coming out of old, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

 In many ways, our lives right now can feel like we imagine it might have done for the disciples between the crucifixion and the resurrection.  They could meet together but felt lost and devastated.   That can be our feeling because we don’t have the personal contact that we enjoyed just a few weeks ago.  Yes, I know that technology has come to our rescue with face time, texts, e-mails, skype, WhatsAp, and Zoom.  Zoom is a wonderful facility and I’ve been involved in coffee mornings and house groups using Zoom. In fact I’ve had some days when I’ve been ‘Zoomed Out,’ with too many Zoom sessions in one day.  But lovely though it is, there’s nothing like the human touch.

 For Jesus’ followers, it all changed with the Resurrection.  In the midst of their doubts fears and anxieties, worries about their future, and what would happen to them, suddenly, unexpectedly, Jesus was there.  God was in their midst.  The promise of Jesus, “I am with you always to the very end of the age,” (Mt28:20) was true.  Now everything was different.  The promise of Immanuel, ‘God with us,’ shaped the future.  The disciples discovered that in the times when doom and gloom, when bad news is an ever-present, when things are dark and foreboding, God meets us.  This is an essential comfort for us in such times as we’re living through now.  It’s a message of hope, of strength, of light, of encouragement, of optimism, of promise.  Jesus is with each one of us each and every day, 24 hours a day.  As God has not abandoned us, so we do not abandon one another.

In the Queen’s broadcast to the nation last Sunday evening, which not only was a national broadcast but also went global, she emphasised that together we will get through this crisis in the same way that the country came through the threatening challenges of WW2.  She even evoked memories of Dame Vera Lynn by talking about ‘We’ll meet again.’  I almost felt like breaking into song at that point.

The Irish Franciscan monk, Brother Richard Hendrick, wrote a poem about Covid-19.  It was read at the start of a session of the Scottish Parliament.  At the end of the poem it says, “What really matters is to love.  So, we pray and we remember that yes there is fear.  But there does not have to be hate.  Yes, there is isolation.  But there does not have to be loneliness.  Yes, there is panic buying.  But there does not have to be meanness.  Yes, there is sickness.  But there does not have to be disease of the soul.

 When Mary Magdalene went to the tomb where Jesus’ body had been put, the stone was rolled away.  Jesus is alive.  Now life can take on an expansive element.  Now all things are possible because Jesus is in all places.  He’s now longer confined to human form.  Now he works in us, in other people, through us and through other people, in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Easter has the promise of new beginnings.  Whatever stone or barrier is blocking our lives needs to be rolled away.  The message of the Resurrection is that it can.  Hope is a reality in Jesus. Sacrifice and effort aren’t worthless.  From such struggles new beginnings come.

 The Lord is risen!  He is risen indeed!  I always love the opportunity to make that proclamation and affirmation.  It’s the bedrock of our faith.  Jesus’ opponents, of which there were many and most of them powerful and influential, tried to silence him, tried to stop his ministry to the sick, the needy, the downcast and the fearful, but they could not.  Why? Because he defeated sin and death by rising to new life as the Risen and Ascended Lord.  Jesus is alive and with us, in love and power, for evermore. Amen?

 Transcript  Good Friday Service

10 Apr 2020

Good Friday Service from Rev. Harry Mowbray                         Easter Friday: 10 April 2020

Call to Worship

Surely, he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows;

Yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, brought us peace,

And with his wounds, we are healed.

Isaiah 53:4-5

Hymn 380

1       There is a green hill far away,

outside a city wall,

where the dear Lord was crucified,

who died to save us all.

2       We may not know, we cannot tell

what pains he had to bear;

what pains he had to bear;

but we believe it was for us

he hung and suffered there.

3       He died that we might be forgiven,

he died to make us good.

that we might go at last to heaven,

saved by his precious blood.

4       There was no other good enough

to pay the price of sin;

he only could unlock the gate

of heaven, and let us in.

5       Oh, dearly, dearly has he loved,

and we must love him too,

and trust in his redeeming blood,

and try his works to do.

Scripture Reading –   Matthew 27:45-54

 The Death of Jesus:     (Mark 15.33-41; Luke 23.44-49; John 19.28-30)

⁴⁵ At noon, the whole country was covered with darkness, which lasted for three hours.

At about three o’clock Jesus cried out with a loud shout, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why did you abandon me?”

⁴⁷ Some of the people standing there heard him and said, “He is calling for Elijah!”

One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine, put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make him drink it.

⁴⁹ But the others said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah is coming to save him!”

⁵⁰ Jesus again gave a loud cry and breathed his last.

Then the curtain hanging in the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split apart, ⁵² the graves broke open, and many of God’s people who had died were raised to life.

⁵³ They left the graves, and after Jesus rose from death, they went into the Holy City, where many people saw them.

⁵⁴ When the army officer and the soldiers with him who were watching Jesus saw the earthquake and everything else that happened, they were terrified and said, “He really was the Son of God!”

John 19:38-42 

The Burial of Jesus (Matthew 27.57-61; Mark 15.42-47; Luke 23.50-56) 38 After this, Joseph, who was from the town of Arimathea, asked Pilate if he could take Jesus’ body. (Joseph was a follower of Jesus, but in secret, because he was afraid of the Jewish authorities.) Pilate told him he could have the body, so Joseph went and took it away. Nicodemus, who at first had gone to see Jesus at night, went with Joseph, taking with him about one hundred pounds of spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes. 40 The two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the spices according to the Jewish custom of preparing a body for burial. 41 There was a garden in the place where Jesus had been put to death, and in it there was a new tomb where no one had ever been buried. 42 Since it was the day before the Sabbath and because the tomb was close by, they placed Jesus’ body there.

Hymn 549

1          How deep the Father’s love for us,
how vast beyond all measure,
that he should give his only Son
to make a wretch his treasure.

How great the pain of searing loss;
the Father turns his face away,
as wounds which mar the chosen One
bring many souls to glory.

2          Behold the man upon a cross,
my sin upon his shoulders;
ashamed I hear my mocking voice
call out among the scoffers.

It was my sin that held him there,

my pardon he accomplished;
his dying breath has brought me life –
I know that “it is finished”.

3          I will not boast in anything,
no gifts, no power, no wisdom;
but I will boast in Jesus Christ,
his death and resurrection.

Why should I gain from all of this?
I cannot give an answer;
but this I know with all my heart,
his wounds have paid my ransom.

Good Friday Thoughts

The death of Jesus changed the world forever, even before the glory, new life and new hope brought by resurrection.   Matthew tells us that The Temple veil was rent from top to bottom.

That was the veil, which covered the Holy of Holies;

that was the veil beyond which no one could penetrate, except the high priest on the Day of Atonement;

That was the veil, behind which the Spirit of God dwelt.

Up to this time, God had been hidden and remote, and no one knew what he was truly like.  But in the death of Jesus we see the hidden love of God, and the way to the presence of God – once barred to everyone  – is now opened to all.  The life and the death of Jesus show us what God is really like and remove forever the veil, which concealed him from men and women.

Judgment has been hanging over the Temple for several chapters now in Matthew; the priests have themselves finally rejected Jesus; now their power base, the centre of their world, receives a symbolic destruction as potent as the action of Jesus himself a few days earlier.

Jesus’ death is the beginning of the end for the system that had opposed him, that had refused to heed his summons that had denied its vocation to be the light of the world, the city set on a hill to which the nations would flock.

Instead, the nations will now flock to a different hill: to the hill called Calvary, outside the city walls, where the king of the Jews has died a cruel and shameful death.

As a sign of what is to come

Looking back to

• the wise men of Matthew 2:1-12,
• the centurion of 8:5-13,
• the Canaanite woman of 15:2 1-28,

we see another centurion, standing guard at the foot of the cross, giving voice to the confession of faith that millions more would make, in shocked surprise at the sudden revelation of God’s truth where one would least expect it: ‘He really was God’s son!’
That is what Matthew intends and expects his readers to say

There is the beginning here of the realisation that Jesus showed God’s love for the whole world, not just those who believed that they alone were chosen.  We see the transforming world too in those who took Jesus from the Cross and laid him in the tomb.   Jesus died, and what had to be done now must be done quickly, for the Sabbath was almost begun and, on the Sabbath, no work could be done.  The friends of Jesus were poor and could not have given him a fitting burial; but two people came forward. Joseph of Arimathaea was one.  He had always been a disciple of Jesus; he was a great man and a member of the Sanhedrin, and up to now he had kept his discipleship secret for he was afraid to make it known.  Nicodemus was the other. It was the Jewish custom to wrap the bodies of the dead in linen clothes and to put sweet spices between the folds of the linen. Nicodemus brought enough spices for the burial of a king.  Joseph gave to Jesus a tomb; and Nicodemus gave him the clothes to wear within the tomb.

There is both tragedy and glory here.

There is tragedy.  Both Nicodemus and Joseph were members of the Sanhedrin, but they were secret disciples of Jesus. Either they had absented themselves from the meeting of the Sanhedrin, which examined him and formulated the charge against him, or they had sat silent through it all.  What a difference it would have made to Jesus, if, among these condemning, hectoring voices, one voice had been raised in his support.  What a difference it would have made to see loyalty on one face amid that sea of bleak, venomous and hostile faces.  But Nicodemus and Joseph were Afraid.  But there is glory here, too.  The death of Jesus had done for Joseph and Nicodemus what not even Jesus’ life could do.  No sooner had Jesus died on the cross than Joseph forgot his fear and confronted the Roman governor with a request for the body.

No sooner had Jesus died on the cross than Nicodemus was there to bring a tribute that everyone could see. The cowardice, the hesitation, the prudent concealment were gone. Those who had been afraid when Jesus was alive declared for him in a way that all could see as soon as he was dead.  Jesus had not been dead an hour when his own prophecy came true: ‘And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself’ (John 12:32).   Already the power of the cross had begun to operate, and already it was drawing all people to him. The power of the cross was even then turning the coward into the hero, and the waverer into the man who took an irrevocable decision for Christ.

Year by year, we come to services in Holy Week

Year by Year, we hear the same wonderful story

Yet every year, we are challenged by something new

Joseph and Nicodemus had been challenged by Jesus during his life – something in Jesus teaching and healing resonated with their own spirituality, their sense of God

It was the power of the cross that brought them to realisation of who Jesus was and the implications of it in terms of God’s love for the world – the whole world

John’s Gospel is a gospel of love, designed and written to show Gods’ love for the world

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son

That Son commended that His followers spread that love

John 13:34            Just as I have loved you – you also are to love one another

Year by year we come to hear the story

Year by year – on Good Friday especially – the power of Jesus’ Cross to change the world affirms us in our faith and we are sent out to take that faith and that love to the world we meet  – now  – wherever and whenever we can

In these difficult days for our world, that love is needed more than ever.

Day by day we are seeing and hearing of examples of that love in action as people put aside their own needs, and sometimes safety, to help others, the most vulnerable members of our society.

The power of the Jesus’ cross transformed the world and continues to transform the world.

May we all be transformed and inspired to love one another as Jesus has loved us.

Amen

Prayer and Lord’s Prayer

[1]Lord Jesus Christ,
living as we do in the light of Easter
we can lose sight sometimes of the darkness of Good Friday.

But for those who were part of it there could be no mistake,
no escaping the awfulness of seeing you
hanging there upon that cross.

For them it was their darkest hour,
what seemed like the end of all their dreams,
and for a time their faith swung in the balance.

Yet even there, especially there, you were at work,

bringing your love to all.

Lord Jesus Christ,
teach us that even when life seems dark,
your light continues to shine.

Lord Jesus Christ,
we praise you for your ministry,
your love, your faithfulness to your calling.
We thank you for your willingness to face even death itself so that we might find the true meaning of life.
We thank you for that sense of purpose,
that inner courage, that deep faith
which gave you the strength to continue on your chosen path to the very end.

Lord Jesus Christ, forgive us
that having received so much we give so little in return.  Forgive us that we shy away from sacrifice and self-denial.

Forgive us for taking the easy and less costly way
rather than the way of the cross.
Help us to deny ourselves and so to find life in all its fullness.

Loving God,
we recall with gratitude the faithfulness of Jesus – his faithfulness to the last,
his willingness to take the way of the Cross,
his courage in the face of opposition, suffering and death.
Help us to respond, consecrating our lives to his service.

Help us to be truly thankful for all he has done and continues to do.

Help us to acknowledge him as our Lord and Saviour,
and to live today as his disciples.

Lord Jesus Christ,
you lived for others,
you died for others
and you rose for all.
Help us to live in turn as your people,
seeking to serve rather than be served,
to give rather than to receive.
Teach us to reach out in love
and so to make real your compassion
to represent your body here on earth.

You came as the man for others:
come again to our world today.
We ask it in your name.

And in your name we pray together, as you taught,

Our father, which Art in Heaven

Hallowed be thy name

Thy Kingdom come

thy will be done

On Earth as it is in heaven

Give us this day your daily bread

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors

And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

for thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory for ever
Amen.

 

 

Hymn 392

         1       When I survey the wondrous cross

on which the Prince of Glory died,

my richest gain I count but loss,

and pour contempt on all my pride.

2       Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,

save in the death of Christ, my God;

all the vain things that charm me most,

I sacrifice them to his blood.

3       See! from his head, his hands, his feet,

sorrow and love flow mingled down;

did e’er such love and sorrow meet,

or thorns compose so rich a crown?

4       Were the whole realm of nature mine,

that were an offering far too small;

love so amazing, so divine,

demands my soul, my life, my all.

Benediction

The guarding of the God of life be on you,

the guarding of the loving Christ be on you,

the guarding of the Holy Spirit be on you

to aid you and enfold you

each day and night of your lives. Amen.

[1] Nick Fawcett. No Ordinary Man, Good Friday p166 etc

Sunday Service 05th Apr 2020

https://youtu.be/3tczjg9rZHE

Sunday Service 29th Mar 2020

                  https://youtu.be/G9sNJf8OdmA

Sunday Service 22nd Mar 2020

https://youtu.be/LtPIv44b-YE

Letter from Rev.N Glover

Aberfeldy, Dull and Weem, Grantully, Logierait and Strathtay Churches of Scotland

 12^th August 2018

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you to bring you up to date with the decision relating to our service times.  On 29^th July each of our Kirk Sessions met and agreed that from Sunday 2^nd September, our new service times would be:

Dull and Weem                                                 9:30am

Grantully, Logierait and Strathtay             10:30am

Aberfeldy                                                            11:15am

The overwhelming result of the consultation was support for these times, but there were a few points which were noted.

• There were a number in Dull & Weem who said they would prefer meeting at 10:30am, and a number in Grantully, Logierait and Strathtay who gave a preference for 9:30am.
• There are issues with bus times and the proposed new time for GLS, we are going to bring in a new transport rota in GLS to address this
• There were some responses stating a preference for an 11:30am service at Aberfeldy but the majority preferred 11:15am.
• It was pointed out that those in supported accommodation in Aberfeldy would be prepared to change their lunch time. However it was also noted that there is value in simply keeping service times away from the middle of the day – allowing people the chance on a Sunday to meet with friends and family, and also a time which may be more attractive to potential new members.
• It was suggested that the Kirk Sessions review the new arrangements after there has been a chance to bed in. The Kirk Sessions agreed very much with this and we will do this in March of the coming year – please do update me or your elder if you experience any unexpected benefits or difficulties with the new times.

I do very much hope that these new times support the building up of our fellowships and our mission as a Church,

With a very good wish, and in Christ,

Neil Glover

Minister

Rota for Forthcoming Church Services 2019

Please Note

Future Church  Service Dates:

GLS Church services are due to take place at 10.30am,

August 2019               Strathtay Church

September 2019        Logierait Church

October 2019            Strathtay Church

November 2019        Logierait Church

December 2019         Strathtay Church

For specific weekly service details please see our events page or our facebook page

Generally coffee and biscuits served after services.  All Welcome.

General Rota:

Please note Communion is held at least twice a year, dates to be confirmed.