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Please note Coffee & Chat has been cancelled till further notice due to the coronavirus.
Every Thursday 10 – 11am
Events
Regular Events
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Coffee & Chat
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Toddler Time
Please note Toddler Time has been cancelled till further notice due to the coronavirus
Every 2nd Wednesday 10-11am
£1 per family
Hello all
Hope you are keeping safe. We very much look forward to seeing you all again. However, in the meantime be assured that you are all but only a thought away from us all
Best wishes
From all at Gardner Toddler Time
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I watched the Prime Minister's Press Conference this evening with a sense of disbelief and so I want to write to thank the people of Brechin for adhering to the Co-vid 19 guidelines and not bending them or flouting them.
I know of grandparents who cant hug their grandchildren
I know of families whose loved ones died alone because of the guidelines and I know of loved ones in care who can't be visited. I have conducted funerals with very few mourners because you have been observing the guidelines.
I have acted as a link for people needing prescriptions and who are following the advice to self isolate for 12 weeks.
6 of my immediate family are front line medical staff. Two are GPs and one is an HDU nurse. They deal with people who bend or flout the guidelines.
In the words of a friend who is a retired GP ... tonight's Press Conference revealed the moral vacuum at the heart of power in our country ...
As I say, thank you and well done to you all. You are a credit to your communities.
Malcolm
GM/F Locum Minister
Sunday 24th May 2020
Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day when the bereft followers of Jesus, his closest friends the Disciples, became aware of the presence of God and the life changing power of that presence.
The effect so vividly described at the start of Acts, Chapter 2 …
When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
The description of the awareness that although Jesus was dead, his teachings, his way to God, his Spirit was alive in the hearts of the Disciples and is alive in the hearts of every one of us.
And that awareness, that encounter with God did and does have such a dramatic, even life changing effect.
For example, remembering Jesus response when asked about the greatest commandment
love God and as a consequence love our neighbours as we love ourselves
And how do we love? Well we could take the wonderful description from St Paul in 1Corinthians13
Love is patient and kind;
it is not jealous or conceited or proud;
love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable;
love does not keep a record of wrongs;
love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth.
Love never gives up; and its faith, hope, and patience never fail.
Love is eternal.
Or, and here is another way of describing the power of the Holy Spirit ….
From Galatians Chapter 5 where we are told that the power of the Holy Spirit are
love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, humility, and self-control
In other words, inner qualities
living with sense of love,
with a sense of joy,
living at peace with oneself
and these inner qualities create attitudes and behaviours towards others
we are patient with other
we are kind to others
we are good to others
And all of these coalesce into our relationship with God, which is one of
faithfulness, humility, and self-control
When these qualities become our values and the codes by which we live our lives, when that is our ethos and we live that ethos, then the power of God touches the world through us.
We are on a really strange road at the moment but if we can touch, even one or two, of these shades of love then we bring God alive in our lives and in the lives of those with whom we come in contact.
Prayer
I suggest you read this with some quiet music playing in the background
In the quietness,
we listen to our breathing,
the air filling our lungs
giving life and energy.
silence
With the ear of the heart,
we listen for the breath of God,
the Spirit animating the soul,
nourishing us with creativity,
sensitising us to the yearning of God,
to the Divine joy, and pain.
silence
The Sacred is the music of the universe,
the silence and the songs already known,
and the melodies yet to be imagined.
The Spirit is the love between the lovers,
the intimacy between the soul and the Holy.
Our moment of encounter,
of stillness,
of the Spirit filling us to overflowing,
saturating us with compassion,
silence
In our prayers, we find God.
So on this Day of Pentecost
Touch us with tongues of fire; transfigure and transform all that diminishes us.
May we walk tall, not with pride but with confidence,
drawing strength from the presence of the encircling Spirit,
satisfaction from Scripture and Sacrament,
and sustenance from the blessings of our Churches and our communities.
May we know the peace only God can give.
Amen.
Notices
Church Services on line and on TV
Sunday 24 May BBC 1 <> 11.45am <> Sunday Worship
<> 12.15pm <> Reflections for the Quay
<> 3.00pm <> Songs of Praise
St Andrew’s Arbroath arbroathstandrews.org.uk/ 10.30am
How are you coping with the Lock Down?
I invite you to e mail me a few words describing how you are coping with the Covid 19 restrictions and I will include them in next week’s mailing
And the dreaded ….
We will need to send you [for free] some thoughts about money but this will come in a separate mailing in a few days time.
Peace be with each one of you.
Malcolm
Sunday 17th May
Gardner Memorial & Farnell Parish Churches
Ezekiel 37:1-14 from The Message Translation
God grabbed me. God’s Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. God led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun.
God said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Master God, only you know that.”
God said to me, “Prophesy over these bones: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!’”
God, the Master, told the dry bones, “Watch this: I’m bringing the breath of life to you and you’ll come to life. I’ll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You’ll come alive and you’ll realize that I am God!”
I prophesied just as I’d been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.
God said to me, “Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, ‘God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!’”
So I prophesied, just as God commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.
Then God said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they’re saying: ‘Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there’s nothing left of us.’
“Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, ‘God, the Master, says: I’ll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people!
Then I’ll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you’ll realize that I am God. I’ll breathe my life into you and you’ll live. Then I’ll lead you straight back to your land and you’ll realize that I am God. I’ve said it and I’ll do it.’”
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The Bible is full of the most amazing word pictures and Ezekiel Chapter 37 is one of the best. That great image of the dry bones being brought alive by the breath of God. However, for me, this is far more than a word picture, no matter how good it is.
This passage asks me to stop and ask about the dry bones of our faith and our lives. What in the way we respond to God strengths our faith and brings us alive? What sustains us, motivates us and inspires us?
You might want to think about that yourselves but I wonder if you would agree that…
the building of relationships
the building of a sense of community
the building of a sense of belonging
seeing God in Creation
being compassionate
tolerant
understanding
and of course
loving God and our fellow human beings as best we can
… can all deepen our faith and our relationship with God and as a result make our walk through life more resolute, more determined and with a clear direction?
Prayer
Gracious God,
God of all compassion and consolation,
your breath alone brings life to dry bones and weary souls.
Pour out your Spirit upon us,
as we face the challenges of lock down and Covid 19
Help us to dance with the spirit,
the breath of life, which calls us out of the valley of dry bones
and into the Kingdom of God,
both a present reality and the grounding of our future hope.
May we be the body of Christ.
May we call those we know who are alone
Those who are finding life difficult
Indeed may we call all of our friends and neighbours
Help our ears to listen to all.
Our words to be words of caring, compassion and support
Open our hearts to gladness,
call dry bones to dance,
and restore to us the joy of your presence and love.
We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever, as we continue to pray saying,
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory, for ever.
Amen
Updates
The Rt Rev Dr Martin Fair of Arbroath St Andrew’s is now Moderator of the Church of Scotland and I am sure that I speak for all when I wish him God’s Blessing. If you Google arbroathstandrews.org.uk/ you will find a link to a Sunday Service from Martin’s Church
The Gardner Memorial phone number [01356 629191] continues to be the point of contact for folks in the Parishes who need help collecting food or prescriptions. To date over 50 people have used this number.
I am slowly making my way through both the Farnell and the Gardner Congregation rolls, contacting members by phone, e mail and letter. With hundreds of homes to contact it does mean that somebody will be last and many contacted only once, or indeed not at all if/when the Churches open! If you wish a chat at any time please phone or e mail.
And finally …
And so to the members of Gardner and Farnell, peace be with each one of you.
Malcolm
E: malc.rooney@gmail.com
M: 07909993233
Congratulations to Rev Dr Martin Fair as our new moderator of the Church of Scotland
l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fow.ly%2FH0Ii50zGrYq%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0W1OkX-JxtBm3tzek9lQ031d7z...
Watch the installation service for the new Moderator
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