Church News
Four new communicants were admitted by profession of faith at Blairgowrie Parish Church on Sunday, the third Sunday in Advent.
The service was conducted by Rev Harry Mowbray and commenced with the choir singing the introit, Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming, a Rhineland melody, followed by the minister’s welcome and intimations.
The hymn, The Race That Long in Darkness Pined, was followed by prayers of approach and confession. The lighting of the third Advent Candle by Sunday School member Simon Crighton, recalls John the Baptist, and this was followed by the congregation singing the first three verses of the hymn, Christmas is Coming!
The admission of the new communicants was conducted by Mr Mowbray and members of the Kirk Session then offered the right hand of fellowship to Amanda, Evelyn, Gift, and Patrick. They were presented with Bibles by their district elders.
The hymn, O Jesus I Have Promised, was followed by scripture readings by Mary Dow from Isaiah ch 35 v 1-10, The Road Of Holiness, and St Matthew ch 11 vv 2-11, The messages from John the Baptist. Between the readings the choir sang the carol anthem, O Come Our World’s Redeemer by Michael Praetorius.
The hymn, Jesus Calls Us! was followed by Mr Mowbray’s sermon. John the Baptist’s mission working in the desert was to prepare the way for the Messiah.
He required encouragement that his work was going in the right direction and sent his disciples to get confirmation that Jesus was the Messiah.
John was expecting evidence of some form of judgment which Jesus would bring.
This Jesus did, but He also provided mercy and encouragement in addition. People must do their best to carry out what they have promised by using their talents and as church members do their best to bring the justice peace and love of God to this unjust world.
The hymn, Tell Out, My Soul, the Greatness of the Lord! was followed by the uplifting of the offering, and prayers of thanksgiving and intercession.
The service concluded with the hymn, Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus, and the benediction.
Musical offerings by organist Lex Dunlop included Chorale and Chorale Prelude on O Thou of God the Father the True Eternal Son by Buxtehude; Prelude on Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming by Richard Lloyd; and Chorale Prelude and Chorale, O Thou of God the Father the True Eternal Son by Bach.
Sheila Watkins thanked
the volunteers who helped at the recent Foodbank collection at Tesco. Members of all local churches were involved and so far 127 boxes of food had been collected and the sum of £337 raised.
A soup lunch was held in the hall after the service with proceeds in aid of the Raven Trust which sends goods to Malawi.
Upcoming services include: Sunday (December 18) 11am Christmas Nativity Service. Tuesday, December 20, 7.30pm - Christmas Praise and Readings. Friday, December 23, 11am School service, 11am. Christmas Eve, 6.30pm - Christingle Service. Christmas Day, 10.30am - Family service. Sunday,
January 1, 11am Morning worship.
After the service Messy Church Angels and Christmas messages were distributed to members unable to attend church.
The next Jump for Joy will be in the hall on Saturday, December 17, at 10am.
The prayer group will resume on Tuesday, January 10, at 8.30am.
The Bible study group will resume in the meeting room on Tuesday, January 10, at 7.30pm.
The next Messy Church will be on Sunday, January 15, at 9.30am.
The next early service will be on Sunday, January 22, at 9.30am.
The storage facility at Proctor’s, Dunkeld Road, is no longer available, and the church is desperately looking for somewhere to
store labelled boxes, and any unlabelled goods, for a few months.
Anyone who can help is asked to contact Moira Somerville on 01250 875240 or David Howat on 01250 874715.
Soup and baking recipe books are planned to raise funds and the organisers would welcome favourite recipes.
All recipes can be put in Wendy McLaggan’s pigeon hole in the lower hall.
Ushers this Sunday David Howat beadle, Sheila Watkins, Rod Chignell, Willie Turner, Ruth Brand, Irene Smith.
Tea rota - Elizabeth Porter, Helen Theaker, Kathryn Webster.
Parishioners celebrated the third Sunday of Advent with the theme Joy in the Lord.
The first reading was taken from Isaiah ch 35, v 1-6, 10.
This passage says that God’s life-giving presence among us is the great source of courage for believers. The second reading was taken from the Epistle of St. James ch 5, v 7-10. Faith does not guarantee an easy time in this life. People are urged to be patient.
The gospel was taken from Matthew ch 11, v 2-11. John the Baptist is confirmed in his faith by the compassionate cures of Jesus.
Readings were taken by Alan Scott and Michael
Coyle, while music was provided by Marilyn Galbally.
In his homily, Fr. Gregory Umunna said that the third Sunday of advent is traditionally called Gaudate Sunday.
Gaudate is a Latin expression for joy. Joy because the coming of the Lord is nearer.
Fr Gregory said: “Today the candle on the wreath is pink, not purple as on the other Sundays of Advent, to express the joy felt at the nearness of the Lord.
“Some people seem to be happy by nature, others mournful by nature.
“Here is the story of a priest who always preached mournful sermons. He was asked by his parish priest to preach about St Joseph instead, as he was a cheerful man.
“The following Sunday the priest spoke about Joseph who happened to be a carpenter and as a result spent a lot of his time making coffins – here we go again, with sad, sad tales.
“Many have asked: ‘What can I do to be happy’.”
Five simple steps to happiness were then given as follows:
Fr Gregory said: “First, you have to own your own happiness. Strive to take your happiness away from other people. Your house is not going to make you happy, your car, wife, husband, money, title, position all these will never make you happy. Own your own happiness and do those things that bring joy into your heart. Take responsibility for the peace and joy in your heart and not in your possessions.
“The second step to find happiness is to challenge your own story. The story of your life is still very open and not concluded. Do not focus on the negatives and mistakes of your life. You wrote this story so you can change the story line. You can be the person you want to be.
“The third step to finding happiness is to enjoy the journey of your life now and do not wait till you get to the destination. Happiness needs to be appreciated right now. We convince ourselves that life will be better when we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids are not old enough and we will be more content when they are. After that we are frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together. The truth is there is no better time to be happy than right now. There is joy in the process.
“The fourth step to finding happiness is to make relationships count, your relation with God, family, colleagues and yourself. Joy will come to us if we set about trying to create it for others. If I go about my life demanding that others carry me rather than seeking to carry them – feeding off others rather than feeding them, demanding that others meet my needs rather than trying to meet theirs, joy will never find me no matter how hard I party.
“The final step to happiness is to balance work with play. Don’t be too serious with life every day. Maybe we could begin to be more joyful by glancing in the mirror and asking ourselves: does my face look like the face of someone who has heard the good news of the Gospel, namely that I am loved unconditionally by God?”
The service on Sunday, December 18, will be held at Ashgrove Court, Haugh Road, Rattray.
The service will be led by Keith Pearson and will begin at 10.45am. All welcome. There will be no Methodists’ services in Blairgowrie on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day but services will take place in Perth and Dundee.
Sunday services resume on January 8 at 11am at the regular location in the Wellmeadow Café on Blairgowrie’s Gas Brae when Rev Gerald Bostock will lead the service.
Coffee mornings are held on the first Monday of each month in the Wellmeadow.
The next coffee morning is on Monday, February 6, from 10-11.30am. All welcome. For more information see www. riverside-methodistchurch.co.uk.