‘God have pity on me, a sinner…’ (Luke 18:13)
No matter how good our intentions or motives, the harsh reality is that we all fall short of God’s standards and succumb to sinful temptations. We might not wish to or choose to, nevertheless, we are only human and it happens. So take time now to come the Lord seeking His forgiveness.
‘Cast all your worries upon the Lord…’ (1 Peter 5:7)
As we go about our busy lives we are continually faced with circumstances which cause us to be anxious, concerned and worried. When those moments come take time to reflect on these words from 1 Peter and hand all our worries over to the Lord. They may nor suddenly disappear, but sharing them with the Lord removes so much of the burden from our own shoulders and knowing that He is sharing them with us helps us to face them with new hope and confidence.
‘I believe; help my unbelief…’ (Mark 9:24)
Pray that the Lord will increase your faith, no matter what comes your way, and that in this faith you will find the strength, inspiration and encouragement that you need in all things.
‘God is our shelter and strength always ready to help in times of trouble…’ (Psalm 46:1)
As we begin another year and look to the weeks and months ahead, take comfort and reassurance from these words of the Psalmist and know that the Lord is with you every step of the way, every single day.
It is with great sadness that the Kirk Session have regrettably decided to cancel the planned Christmas Eve Service. This is not a decision that was taken lightly, but following Scottish Government advice in the wake of an exponential increase in cases caused by Omicron, the Session felt it was the right thing to do to keep everyone safe. Sunday worship, however, will continue as normal in both churches. Sunday services continue as normal, however, we have reinstated a 2m spacing between households which means that in Bendochy we can accommodate up to 13 households and in the Abbey Church 47 people.
During the season of Advent I would encourage you to visit the Advent Calendar on the Church of Scotland website, click on the relevant day and use this for your Daily Reflections. It can be accessed via this link:-
‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you…’ (John 15:12)
In a world where we hear so much about disharmony, hostility and conflict, pray that we might all seek to obey the words of our Lord here.
Read Luke 21:1-4 then take time to reflect and give thanks for those who have given and still give so much of themselves to enrich our lives in so many ways.
On this Remembrance Day read Micah 4:1-4, then take time to reflect upon these words and pray that they might become a reality in our world today.
This coming Sunday, the 14th of November, is Remembrance Sunday. There will be a short Act of Remembrance at Bendochy Church at the usual time of 10.00am. This will be followed by a Service of Remembrance in the Abbey Church at 10.45am – please note the change of time for this service.
