Queen's Park Govanhill Parish Church

17/06/2026

Whoops of joy! — Psalm 100

(You can listen to this Daily Worship post at: sanctuaryfirst.org.uk/daily-worship/whoops-of-joy)

What makes you cheer, whoop, and cry out? What are you glad for? What shining lights are you celebrating? There is only one answer to that question: God is our shining light! He is the light of our lives. He is the salt that gives us flavour.

‘The Message’ version of Psalm 100 says, “On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift. of laughter; sing yourself into his presence.”

I now know what it means to be invited into someone’s presence with laughter.

Last week, I visited some of my longest-standing friends. If you were a fly on the wall, you would have heard laughter all afternoon. In fact, I think we laughed together for hours. Story after story about serious and benign topics all merged together to create a commentary that resulted in a cacophony of laughter and tears, expressing our joy as we remembered our friendships and our experiences over the years. When we left, we applauded each other by sending texts to say how much we enjoyed each other’s company.

Now, that is just a pale shadow of what it means to whoop for joy in the presence of God. To bask in his friendship. You see, a certain kind of laughter is a language that says we are enjoying the company we are in. It is always an encounter with grace. I think that is why “Amazing Grace” is the most popular hymn in all the world. It speaks of the real joy we experience when we find we have been welcomed home. And we see God for who he really is - our loving father. It is a joy that transcends earthly experiences — a joy that comes from applauding God for all His grace and compassion towards us. It is holy laughter on the round!

Prayer:

Lord,
I’m standing
Clapping
Whooping
Yelling
Laughing

It’s a strange feeling
To be laughing with God

It’s your presence
The realisation that the expectation has come
God is in the house
God is here
It’s absolutely True
God is
God has always been
And will always be
Laughing with us
Bringing to life the past
The present
The future
Healing our hurts
Turning them into garments of praise

I can’t stop laughing!

Albert Bogle, Sanctuary First

17/06/2026

17/06/2026

Words drip from us all day long.
Across kitchen tables.
Through car windows.
Over garden fences.
Into phones glowing in the dark.

Some fall like stones.
Sharp-edged.
Carelessly thrown.
Landing harder than we meant.

And some stay.
Years later
we can still hear them.

The teacher who said we’d never manage.
The parent who couldn’t see the gift.
The voice that named every failure
and missed every grace.

Those words build hives of sorrow
inside the heart.

But pleasant words,
the proverb says,
are honey.
Golden.
Slow.
Gathered patiently.

A sweetness made
from thousands of small visits
to beauty.
A honeycomb.

Not a feast for crowds,
just enough sweetness
for today’s journey.

Just enough.

A word of encouragement.
A blessing spoken aloud.
A thank you.
An I believe in you.
An I’m glad you’re here.

Drops of gold.

Healing travelling quietly
through bone and marrow,
through tired hearts
and weary minds.

The bees know this secret.

What they gather
they do not keep.
Flower by flower,
field by field,
they carry sweetness home.

Perhaps we’re called
to do the same.
To gather grace
where we find it.
To carry kindness
on our tongues.
To leave behind us
trails of honey
in a world
that has tasted
far too much bitterness.

© E Hamilton 2026

16/06/2026

16/06/2026

'Trust in the Lord with all your heart… In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.’
Proverbs 3: 5-6

16/06/2026

Rt Rev Gordon Kennedy, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, has shared a message of solidarity with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine after Kyiv's Dormition Cathedral was damaged in a Russian attack.

The early medieval cathedral suffered what has been described as significant damage during a wave of Russian strikes on the Ukrainian capital which resulted in 11 deaths.

Mr Kennedy said:
On behalf of the Church of Scotland, may I express our solidarity with the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and condemn the wholly unjustified attack on the Dormition Cathedral in Kyiv, which has damaged a sacred sanctuary and a place that lies at the heart of the spiritual identity of the people of Ukraine.

The Dormition Cathedral has been a place of worship since the 11th Century and is recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage site for its universal spiritual significance.

To deliberately attack such a place is to violate the sacred bond between the Maker of heaven and earth and those who bear the image of God; a bond that lies at the heart of what it is to be part of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

We pray:
Almighty and Eternal God.

Grant peace in our time, and an end to war,
in Ukraine, and in all the places of our world ravaged by conflict.

Grant protection to places of sanctuary and worship,
that bonds may be forged and reconciliation flourish,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

16/06/2026

Nervous Laughter — Exodus 19:2-8

(You can listen to this Daily Worship post at: sanctuaryfirst.org.uk/daily-worship/nervous-laughter)

The nervous laugh is seldom about flippancy or insincerity. It is often the very opposite. I recall a wedding I conducted where the bride was unable to say her vows due to fits of laughter. The laughter was an expression of her inner sense of the enormity of the covenant she was making, and her internal anxiety about the solemnity and significance of the occasion.

Let’s humanise Moses in the moment referred to in our reading today. Imagine his nervous laughter as the enormity of the moment sinks in — the covenant that he is charged to communicate to Israel. We know that Moses was not enamoured with public speaking. He had a complicated relationship with leadership, and now God was suggesting no help from Aaron; this was a task he had to do on his own.

As we reflect on this call for the Israelites to be a people of salt and light, it is a beautiful expectation that God lays before this ragbag of refugees. They are to become a kingdom of holy priests to God. And it is worth a smile to think that God is going to use a man with a speech impediment and a fear of leadership to inspire such a diverse group of people to receive the covenant.

Today, God is calling the Church into a similar relationship. We are being invited to be a kingdom of salt and light. And the same is true when it comes to leadership: often God calls the leader with a nervous laugh to be the one to lead, because God understands nervous laughs. It is too often the outward expression of our inward fears. God chooses to use the seemingly weak things of the world to confound the mighty.

Prayer:

Lord,
I laugh nervously
And make the suggestion
To my listeners
In such a way — that they know
I know it is not possible
Just a joke

I do this to protect myself from ridicule
But the thing is deep down
I know it is very possible

Lord
Give me the courage of Moses
To speak out the vision
And give your people ears to hear
And receive their calling
Even through a nervous laugh.

Albert Bogle, Sanctuary First

16/06/2026

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