Training day for all those working with the children in our churches throughout Scotland. Accreditation Training levels I & II will be offered as a one-day course to be held in the Glasgow SDA Church, 18/20 Turriff Street, Glasgow G5 9SB.
A light lunch will be provided. Booking essential. Contact Carole at the SM Office Tel: 01764 653257 or E-mail: office@sdascotland.com
To be held at Crieff SDA church, Gwydyr Road, Crieff PH7 4BS.
This training day is open to all members in the Scottish Mission. Members in new church officers are urged to attend, and those already familiar with their church office are also urged to attend, as new ideas and approaches will be discussed. A light lunch will be provided – bring extra is you wish.
Training will be given In the following church offices:
Children’s Ministries – presenter Mrs Jeniffer Oroko assisted by Muriel Logan and Karen Holford;
Youth/Pathfinders – presenter Pastor Des Boldeau;
Women’s Ministries – Presenter Mrs Judith Martin;
Personal Ministries & Church Growth – guest presenter Pastor Eglan Brooks;
Communication – guest presenter Pastor Victor Hulbert;
Prayer Ministries – presenter Pastor Lorance Johnson;
Health ministries – presenter Pastor David Hatch;
Elders and Deacons – presenter Pastor Bernie Holford;
Family ministries – presenter Pastor Clifford Herman;
The ABC will be visiting some of the Scottish churches during this coming week. Their desire and mission is to make available to the members as many products as they can – tools that will enable each person to fulfil the gospel commission as given to us by Jesus in Matthew 28:19,20.
It’s been a while since we posted pics from a walk. Mainly this is because we didn’t actually go out much – the weather hasn’t been too good on the days we set aside for a hill walk.
Anyway – the weather today was superb. Cold and clear. We set off for Glencoe without a clear idea of where we’d go. We ended up atop Stob Na Doire, the middle peak of the Buachaille Etive Mòr ridge.
Here’s a video…
(Mike L, Steve L, Scott B but, sadly, no Tiny the Dog – too cold for her…)
Dear friends,
It’s been snowing for a few days in Auchtermuchty, but we have a warm dry house, thanks to the good insulation in our newly renovated home and a useful connection to the national power grid. Fortunately our family is protected from the winter elements. Five decades ago life would have been much colder and damper in our old whinstone home. In 2004 we visited a reconstructed Scottish black house (taigh dubh) in the highlands. These single storey, stone-and-thatch buildings were the homes of rural Scots for hundreds of years. In the winter, the open peat fire burned around the clock to keep the home from freezing. There was no chimney, so the acrid smoke drifted up to the rafters and eventually through the straw of the thatched roof. There was a peat fire burning when we visited and I found myself bending down to avoid the thickest smoke. When it was cold, the cattle where brought into the byre or barn in the lowest part of the house and their body heat provided an early and very eco-friendly form of central heating! Their manure added another potent smell to the heavy, stifling atmosphere, and a degree or two of extra heat as a bonus.
The byre where Jesus was born was possibly as dark and smelly as an old black house. Can you begin to imagine what it was like for Jesus, the Son of God, to take his first breath in a place like this? Can you imagine what it was like for Mary to give birth in an animal shed? It is unlikely that Jesus was born in December, as the sheep were still in Bethlehem’s fields, but the barn could well have been chilly and damp.
Jesus chose to come and experience the normal hardships of traditional rural societies. Our Lord could have chosen a more comfortable and attractive birthplace, but he wanted to identify with needy, homeless and deprived people, throughout the world and down through the centuries.
The poor matter to God. At this time of year we are reminded of God’s generosity in giving up so much to save our world. Living in a time and place where we experience relative riches and comfort, it is our responsibility and privilege to reach out and share what we have with those who have less than us. When we connect with God’s heart for hurting, hungry and homeless people, he gives us compassion, and inspires our creative generosity. Through his love, we are called to give our money to the poor, our time to the lonely and our worship to the Saviour of the world. Paul says, ‘As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.’ Col 3:12
When we sit in our warm houses with our plates of food and water in the tap, we can thank God for all the blessings he has provided for us. List them all. Count them one by one, and it will surprise you what the Lord has done, and what he will continue to do.
May God be with you as you enter into a very blessed new year!
Many of us for most of the time, take light for granted. It is not until we are stuck in the dark, or lose our sight that we suddenly realise how important it is to us.
Jesus said that He is the Light of the World. Today we will celebrate what that means for us, especially in the middle of the darkness of winter.
Today’s service will be led by retired pastor Robin Riches, former president of the Southeast Asia Union Mission. Robin has recently come to live in Crieff with his wife, Lamorna, to be nearer to family members ~ Lamorna’s brother is Pastor Bob Rodd, retired pastor of Crieff SDA church, and Mission President.
Pastor Riches’ sermon title is ‘Come out with your hands up!’
I do get frustrated when journalists use words like ‘unprecedented’ to describe unusual weather conditions. It wonder if they think that just because they can’t remember a similar situation then this is a sign that things are far worse than ever! As a teenager, I remember hearing preachers using examples from the news to illustrate that life on earth is about to come to an end.
As many young people, I was a sceptic and an optimist. So much of life was getting better than it was when my parents were children during World War II. Are things really getting worse?
Just because the floods in Cumbria knocked out some bridges, does this really mean that the rainfall is much worse than on other occasions? Scientists are talking about the potentially disastrous effects of global warming. Perhaps they can be treated with the same scepticism that we have for reporters using exaggerated language to try to wake us up inevitable trajectory for our society.
Film makers are cashing in on our current uncertainty. ‘2012’ is a new film that predicts the end of the world in 2012 and worried teenagers are reported to be contemplating suicide as there is no point in living.
Christians have some great news at this time. First, Christmas is about commemorating the centre of earthly history, the coming of Jesus Christ, the love gift from God, to save the world and give us hope. When Jesus died and rose again, he proved that there is a God who can make meaning out of our life on earth. This same Jesus promised to return to save us all from the impending disaster.
So ~ was the rainfall last week really unprecedented? Philip Eden, the author of ‘Great British Weather Disasters’ says “The rains which hit the Cumbrian mountains last week were most certainly without precedent in the instrumental record, and that goes back to 1844 in this particular part of the UK.”
Global warming is pointing to a cataclysmic end for our civilisation. Am I overstating the case? We as Seventh-day Adventist Christians can say without reservation, that we are living in unprecedented times. And we can have hope that God will intervene as he has promised – just in time for us to be saved by his second coming. Let’s pray that this great day will come soon and all the suffering will be over.
May God bless you as you celebrate the first advent and look forward to the certainty of God’s unprecedented second coming.
Family service Christmas day evening at 5:00pm. All welcome. Mince pies and refreshments to follow. Pastor Martin Bell will lead the thoughts. Come and enjoy the experience – all welcome.
