International day with Polish emphasis, to be held in the Crieff SDA church, Gwydyr Road, Crieff PH7 4BS.

• 10am Sabbath School (English and Polish Sabbath School classes);
• 11:15 Worship service – in Polish with English translation;
• Bring and share lunch;
• 3:00 Baptismal service.

Speaker Anna Radosh (Polish Ministries Coordinator, BUC)

BE PART OF THIS INNOVATIVE TRAINING DAY FOR ALL THOSE INVOLVED WITH CHILDREN!

This training day is a FREE 2-part Children’s Ministries Training course.   It is for:

• Sabbath School Teachers and Superintendents
• Mums and Dads
• Holiday Bible School Teams
• children’s Ministries leaders
• Kids in  Discipleship Ministry Leaders

The first wave of the course will be held in Crieff Church on 19th September 10am – 4pm. and is repeated in Glasgow church on 24 October, and Aberdeen church on 21 November.  The trainers vary slightly in each venue, but the content is the same – so if you can’t make the date in Crieff, you could join one of the other groups.

Topics to be covered:

• Child Development and Faith Growth
• Reaching every Child you teach
• Caring for the  Whole Child

The second part of the course will be early in 2011, when the following topics will be covered:

• Effective Leadership
• Successful child Evangelism
• Developing a Child’s Spiritual Life

The Presenters in Crieff will be Heather Haworth from the BUC, and Karen Holford and Jeniffer Oroko from the Scottish Mission.

Register your interest with your Pastor, local church Children’s Ministries leader, Muriel Logan, or Carole Peacock at the SM office.

Phone 01764 653257, or E-mail: office@sdascotland.com

Soup and roll lunch provided

The Scottish Mission is organizing a weekend retreat for women at the Atholl  Centre, Pitlochry, PH16 5BX, from Friday evening 12th November to Sunday after lunch on 14th November.

Malika Bediako, the  South England  Conference Women’s Ministries Leader will be the visiting speaker, and the theme for the weekend is “Daughters of God, Lavished with His love”.  Karen Holford will also lead out in some prayer sessions.

Accommodation is in twin-bedded or family rooms, fully catered for a Vegetarian diet.

Cost is £80 per person, with a discount of £10 for students, over 60’s and the unwaged.  Please send a deposit of £25 per person, the balance to be paid by 15th September.  Cheques payable to ‘Scottish Mission of SDA’,  send your booking form and non-returnable cheque to Carole Peacock, Scottish Mission Office, SDA Church, Gwydyr Road, Crieff PH7 4BZ.  Last date for applications is June 5th as we  need to know who is coming to enable us to book enough places.

Application forms available from the Mission Office (01764 653257 / Email: office@sdascotland.com)  or your local Women’s Ministries Leader, or pastor.

Bring your couple friends to this fun and marriage-building event with food and activities.  Cost £5 per couple – please contact Pr Holford to let him know if you plan to come.  Telephone 01764 653257

A Day of Fellowship is planned in Aberdeen at Cults Academy, Quarry Road, Cults, Aberdeen AB15 9TP on Sabbath 5th June.  10:00 Sabbath School, 11:15 Divine Service with guest speaker Pr Gifford Rhamie from Newbold college.  The theme is ‘the Church Family and the Community’.  2:30 Afternoon programme.  Churches from around  Scotland will be taking part in the service.  Please bring your own packed lunch and drinks.  Large dining area available.

Come and hear  Pastor Duane McKey. who is the Vice President for the Southwestern Union in the USA. He will take  a short programme following the morning service. He has a very exciting approach that will be especially interesting for our younger people. Please encourage everyone to attend!

The service today will be taken by Pastor Bernie Holford, and the title of his sermon is ‘What on Earth is going on!’

I believe we find our search for purpose  and meaning when we a have a common understanding of the purpose of life (the big picture or paradigm). In the service on Sabbath we will be discovering that the Great Conflict or Controversy theme runs throughout Scripture. It tells of a battle between good and evil, between Christ and the Devil. We will also discover the God’s grace is the answer to Devil’s accusations. The battle continues to be fought in our lives through faith in Jesus Christ.

Up Ben Vorlich, the other one – near Loch Lomond.  Dodgy start to the weather but things brightened up considerably as we approached the summit.

Mike, Scott, Steve L, Steve P, Wendy were the humans.  Stella and Tiny were the dogs.

More photos on Flickr…

The early morning Easter Service will take place at the top of the Knock of Crieff at 7:00am on Sunday4th April.  Pastor Bernie Holford will be leading in the morning message.  Don MacMillan will lead out with the praise in singing.

Breakfast will follow at the Adventist church in Gwydyr Road – all are welcome to join and enjoy food and fellowship together.

Spring, Resurrection and Eternal Life
Yesterday morning, outside the Crieff church, I saw the first spring daffodil opening to the sunshine. It was revealing fresh new life after the barrenness of winter. Then, after church, I had a conversation with a young man who has been coming to our church for a few months. ‘I would like to be baptised’ he said. I was so excited. He told me that he was not an Adventist and had been struggling with issues about why God allows suffering. ‘Then God revealed to me his love and I just accepted it.’ He is no longer spiritually dead, but alive and fresh in Christ.
On my way home from church I visited Pastor John Arthur in hospital. It was 7 days since he had suffered a severe stroke. The doctors had warned the family to be prepared for the worst! Yet John has experienced remarkable improvement. He now thanks God for the wonderful care he is receiving. The prayers of many people around the world are being answered. His broken body is being healed!
On Good Friday, the Christian world remembers in a special way how Christ died for our sins. With sadness we reflect on our failures that made it necessary for Him to die on our behalf. Experiencing the implications of our spiritual brokenness can be like a dark winter in our lives. Whether we feel it or not, during this black time in our lives, Christ’s love sustains us.
Christ rose from the dead on the first day of the week. Today and every day we experience the joy of his resurrection. The winter of separation from God is over. We too are raised from the dead and the promise of eternal life is ours – forever!
I thank God for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and continue to rejoice as I see the new life his passion now brings into the world.
What signs of new life are you seeing in nature, in those around you and in yourself?

Pastor Bernie