A worship service was held at 10.30am in the church building on Sunday 28 June. The service was simultaneously broadcast on the Church Facebook page.  For the next four weeks, you can catch up here.

The Bible passage is Philippians 4:1-9. Duncan MacPherson led the service and preached.

It’s the end of another season for the Youth Group Nitelife, and Elaine described their activities since last summer.  About 25 young people from Hilton and St Columba churches meet regularly on Sunday evenings in the small hall, led by Elaine and by Ian Gunn and Scott McRoberts from St Columba Church. Chris also helped out. They’ve been looking at issues relating to Christian faith, ranging from the theological (such as ‘where is God in war?’) and the practical (‘How can I talk to my friends about my faith). Elaine also explained that each of young people is part of a small group who regularly meet with an adult ‘mentor’ who gets to know them, spends time with them, and encourages them.

Three of the young people from Hilton – Alice, Cara and Erica – have now left school and come to an end of their time in Nitelife. Duncan presented each of them with a Bible, and Shona prayed for them.

Elaine was presented with a bouquet, expressing our gratitude for her work with Nitelife.  She will be continuing this next session, with David Sim also joining the Nitelife leadership team.

Duncan’s sermon was on Philippians 4:1-9 He spoke about letter-writing, and mentioned his gradmother’s voluminous correspondence with her sisters – a collection of the four sisters’ letters running from 1904 to 1959 is now cared for by the Highland Archive Centre in Inverness – you can find about more about these letters in this ‘Learn with Lorna’ video.

 Duncan then mentioned the Apostle Paul’s letter -writing and we focussed on the last chapter of what was one of Paul’s final letters written to a church which he loved, while he was a prisoner in Rome. (The sermon starts at about 55:12 in the video)

In the first verse, Paul urges his readers to ‘Stand Firm’, and Duncan used these words to explore the passage:  how, according to Paul, can we ‘stand firm’ as a church? What does a life which is faithful to Jesus look like?

He looked first at the major disagreement (vv2-3) between two women in the congregation who worked with Paul when he was in their city. He pleads with them to ‘be of the same mind in the Lord’. Said Duncan, ‘Paul is teaching that if we cannot demonstrate unity and loving relationships within our churches, then anything else we seek to do or to say won’t amount to anything of significance.’ We are, Paul urges ‘to be peace-makers and reconcilers’.

And then Paul ‘gives some rapid-fire advice on how to live the Christian life’.

Be joyful  (v4)  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!  Joy, Duncan said, is not dependent on our emotions – ‘joy is a deep-seated confidence in the goodness of God.’

Be gentle  (v5) Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.

Be prayerful (v6-7)     Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Duncan said ‘Paul’s prescription for the challenges and anxious times we all experience is to turn it into prayer, and ask others to pray for you too..  This is the pathway to God’s peace in our hearts and minds.

Be careful (v8) Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

Duncan told us ‘It is what we fill our mind with, what we think about, that will ultimately determine who we are and what we become.  We need to be careful. We need to guard our minds.’

 Ultimately, this letter is pointing us to Jesus. We are to fill our minds with Jesus and his life and example.  Because he perfectly exemplifies all that is good, true, lovely and admirable.’

In his powerful prayer  which included remembering the current suffering in Venezuela Duncan reminded us that we bear many wounds, that joy is often something chosen rather than felt, an expression of faith in a fundamental reality of love which is deeper than the pain and numbness of our current  experiences.  Here’s part of this prayer:

We pray for those who are crushed by their responsibilities at work

and we pray for those looking for work.

 

God our Father,  bless those who are lonely,

those who are grown old,

and whom the passing years have taken

all their friends and contemporaries.

 

Bless those who are shy,

who find it hard to initiate conversation

and struggle to form friendships.

 

We pray for strangers in a foreign land,

for asylum seekers and refugees,

separated by language and culture

from familiar ways and much loved customs.

 

Help us we pray,

to be a people and a place of acceptance and belonging,

a place of welcome and inclusion,

where all can find a home,

a listening ear, a friendly smile and a helping hand.

 

We take our sorrows to you our God,

who binds the broken-hearted

and comforts those who mourn.

 

Bless those whose hearts are sore today.

Be very close to those whose family circle has been darkened by death.

 

We remember those who have lost loved ones

for whom they have cared,

whose needs they have met

whose lives have been so intertwined

that they still listen for a voice

they will not hear again.

 

We remember wives who have lost husbands

and husbands who have lost wives;

parents who have lost children,

and children who have lost parents.

 

Though the fig tree does not blossom

and no fruit is on the vines;

though the produce of the olive fails

and the fields yield no fruit;

though the flock is cut off from the fold

and there is no herd in the stalls,

 yet we will rejoice in the Lord.

                                                     (Habakkuk 3:17-18)