January 2021

Reflection for Candlemas by the Rev'd William Mounsey

A BABY’S EYES Candlemas Sunday 31st January 2021    Luke 2:22-40

What do you see when you look into a baby’s eyes?
To be honest, it’s hard to be sure how much of what you’re seeing is actually there and how much you’re just imagining. We don’t know all we would like to know about what goes on in the mind of an infant. We can document how quickly an infant comes to recognise mother, father, grandparent, older sister or brother. We know that traumas that happen to quite tiny children leave their imprint on the adult personality.

But who...

Reflection for Epiphany III Sunday 24th January 2021

Epiphany III Year B 2021

The three readings set for today, I have often thought could have easily been set in Advent. You have Jonah preaching repentance in Nineveh, warning the people there to be aware that God is watching them. Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians telling them to stop doing what they were doing or had planed to do for the return of the Lord is nigh and in Marks’ Gospel we have John-the-Baptist announcing that the Kingdom of God has come near and Jesus calling his first disciples to help him in his ministry. Three readings...

Reflection for Sunday 17th January 2021 Epiphany II

Epiphany 2 Year B 2021 

The philosopher Immanuel Kant famously wrote these words:

“Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made."

The evidence that human beings can truthfully be likened to crooked timber is in plain view, whether we think of the recent disturbing events in Washington D.C. or contemplate the mendacity of politicians closer to home. And there is some wisdom in Kant’s warning, for it reminds us that utopian projects and dreams often end in bloodshed and tears because those pursuing them are all too willing to trample people under foot in pursuit...

Reflection for Sunday 10th January 2021 "The Baptism of Christ' by the Rev'd Russell Duncan

Epiphany 1 – Sunday 10th January 2021 – Baptism of Christ

You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased

I wonder how often we have been told that we are “beloved”? No matter how many times, I suspect that it is never enough.

An elderly acquaintance used to speak fondly of his “beloved”. His wife had died some years earlier. Although I had never met her there was something deeply personal and touching about how he spoke. There was a sense of something that had been lost, of something that would never come back and even...

Suspension of worship in Church

As from Monday 4th January until further notice all services in the church building are suspended under the guidance and regulations of the Scottish Government. The Rector will continue to pray the services in Church on Sundays at 10am and Wednesdays at 11am and you are encouraged to join in using the 'Praying at Home' (Spiritual Communion) worship booklets. Please pray for each other at this time of Lockdown. 

Sermon for Epiphany 6th January 2021 by the Rev'd William Mounsey

PUZZLING JOURNEY   Matthew 2:1-12

In your mind flick through the Christmas Cards which have decorated your homes. I’m sure there were several bearing a picture of wise men making their lonely way across the desert led by a star. Kings laying their gifts before the baby in the manger. Camels sharing the world's silence while Jesus lies cradled in straw. Pictures like that have been with us since childhood.

Has it ever crossed your mind that this story is one of suspense, of fear, and of high anxiety? The long years of Christian devotion have emptied it of its true...