Wrangholm Kirk Church of Scotland

10/04/2023

Happy Monday!

10/04/2023

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10/04/2023

Thought for Monday 10 April 2023

Psalm 147:1, 4 and 5

Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how right! He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!


Firstly, could I wish you all a very happy, peaceful and meaningful Easter.

When we had a minister, I really enjoyed the Holy Week Services. I found that if you really open your heart and mind to the Easter story, it can be an incredibly touching and emotional experience. This year I attended Holy Week services at three different reasonably local churches. Normally few of us venture far from the church and congregation that we have an attachment to which means most of us are unaware of the Christian activities that go on in other churches that sit under the banner of ‘Church of Scotland’.

My main observations were that each of them were attended by folks in the same age group of our own congregation and there weren’t many younger folks present. They were all very welcoming. There was a few hymns chosen from CH4 that I was unfamiliar with but most were well-known and traditional. Over the course of the week there were a few hymns that I heard more than once but I found that singing them in Holy Week made some of the words have more impact than usual and I would share some of them with you.

CH4 399 – My song is love unknown – V7. Here might I stay and sing: no story so divine; never was love, dear King, never was grief like thine! This is my Friend, in whose sweet praise I all my days could gladly spend.

CH4 392 – When I survey the wondrous cross – V4. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

CH4 549 – How deep the Father’s love – V3. I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom; but I will boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection. Why should I gain from all of this? I cannot give an answer; but this I know with all my heart, his wounds have paid my ransom.

CH4 154 – How great Thou art – V3. And when I think that God his Son not sparing, sent him to die – I scarce can take it in, that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, he bled and died to take away my sin.

The writers of these hymns must have been inspired by something more than their own inherent creativity to come up with these words that can create such an impact on those who truly hear them.

Today’s reading reminds us it is right and good to sing praises to our Lord and our God. This is a God that can count the stars and call them all by name. In ‘How great Thou art’ there is a line that sums this up nicely – ‘I scarce can take it in’ or in ‘How deep the Father’s love’ – ‘I cannot give an answer. We are told God’s power is absolute and one of the synonyms of this word is ‘incontrovertible’ or beyond question.

Prayer – Loving Father, thank You for Your promise to bind up our brokenness and heal our hurt. May we walk humbly before You, trusting Your many precious promises. We know that You are willing and able to carry us through any and every situation that life may throw at us. Thank You so much for Your loving-kindness toward all believers wherever they are. Amen

09/04/2023

24/03/2023

Thought for Friday 24 March 2023



Matthew 23: 1-3

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So, you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

Before we are too harsh in judging those scribes and Pharisees of Jesus’ day, let’s stop and look at ourselves. All too many Christians today go to church to find fault, to gossip, and to criticize. Warren Wiersbe, in his book Angry People, wrote, "An incident in the life of Joseph Parker, the great British preacher, illustrates this tragic truth. He was preaching at the City Temple in London. After the service one of the listeners came up to him and said,’ Dr. Parker, you made a grammatical error in your sermon.’ He then proceeded to point out the error to the pastor. Joseph Parker looked at the man and said, ’And what else did you get out of the message?’ What a fitting rebuke!"

W. Wiersbe.

We are told about false preachers, but we are not told that we must not only listen to the preacher but to hear what is being said. How can we check if a preacher is false if we just hear what suits us?

Everything a preacher says must be weighed by the words of scripture, checking with your bible will not upset a true preacher of God’s word. In fact, he/she should encourage you to do that very thing.

It is so easy to reword a passage in such a way that it is totally opposite the original meaning. Even a pause in the wrong place can change a meaning, as I am sure everyone knows, by saying something that someone else takes ‘the wrong way’ because the emphasis sounded wrong to them.

It should not be a chore to read your bible to be sure of what you have been told, take note of the reading in question and when you get home or before you settle down for the evening, bring out the bible and read the passage for yourself. It is even better if your version has extra help pages that you can double check to be sure you are understanding what you are reading.

Whatever you do please do not get caught up in all the social media preachers. I have seen so much rubbish there that my head was birling and it’s scary how many followers they have. Don’t get me wrong, some of them are straight but just as many are only trying to make money out of us. There are even ex-clerics falling away and telling us why the bible is ‘wrong.’

Please do not be taken in by these false prophets. Check this thought too!

Prayer

Living God, give us wisdom to discern truth form fiction when listening to any preacher or teacher, even those we think we can truly trust because Satan takes many forms when working to take control of our lives in this world in order to turn us away from You and Your precious Son. We assuredly do not want to spend eternity with anyone but You, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Give us your strength to reject all his moves. Amen