Sermon Notes
Rev Robin McAlpine has written a series of sermon notes which are linked to worship services and other special occasions.
Due to the revised services introduced due to the Covid-19 measures, sermon notes were replaced by videos of the services each Sunday which can be found on the Sunday Reflections page.
This page lists the notes from 2020 with notes from other years available via the links on the right. To read any of the notes in full simply click on the dates below:
| Service | Sermon Introduction |
|---|---|
| 1st March | My immediate thought was, I have run out of things to say! Don't rejoice too quickly! There is a sermon for today. I looked at the reading for the first Sunday of Lent. By the way, I hope you knew we are now in the season of Lent. We are in the run up to Easter. I looked at the reading for today and wondered what am I going to say that I have not already said, about the temptations of Jesus. I was 'tempted' to look out an old sermon and see if any one noticed. Can I say, I have not done that, but if something I say does sounds familiar, it is probably because I have said it before. |
| 16th February | About 20%, and that is a very rough figure, of the population of the UK, live in poverty. 20% of the fifth largest economy in the world. That is a sobering thought. It rises to 34%, for children. A third of the children living in the UK, live in poverty. That might startle us, but a lot of poverty is 'hidden'. It is not just about homelessness on the street; for example, many people and families who use food banks, are part of the working population. It is easy to read figures about other people, but underlying these statistics is human suffering. No one wants to be part of them. And it should not be happening. The one thing you don't have when you are poor, is choice, and for many, there seems no way out. |
| 2nd February | This morning I want to think about this question; why do we still come to church? When most of the country has decided not to bother, why do we still attend church? I want to add there is more to the Christian faith than simply coming to church on a Sunday. It is not just about attendance or membership. But for the moment let's focus on that. |
| 26th January |
It's an enduring image, the people who walked in darkness have
seen a great light. They lived in a land of shadows, but now light
is shining on them.
What does that image conjure up in your mind? How does it stimulate your imagination? What do you see? I see many people, hands out, trying to feel the way ahead. They cannot see their hand in front of their face. They are fearful, trying not to stumble over the unseen obstacles that lie in their path. They lack direction. There seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. They have lost all control of their environment. They feel powerless and fearful. |
| 19th January | Did you know that St Andrew is not just the patron saint of Scotland. Do you know where else he is patron saint of? He is the patron saint of Greece, Russia, Italy's Amalfi and Barbados. As well as other countries. He is also the patron saint of singers, spinsters, maidens, fishmongers, fishermen, women wanting to be mothers, gout and sore throats. |
| 12th January | For about 30 years, Jesus had been a nobody. In the gospel stories it's as if, someone has hit the pause button. There is total and utter silence. In the obscurity of Galilee, he is just another carpenters son. Hidden away and incarnated in the midst of his people. What a secret for Mary and Joseph to keep. Were they dying to share who their son really was? Would anyone have believed them? As time went on, did they ever lose faith in the promises of God, about their son, 'Emmanuel'. "God with us". What I was wondering was much more mundane, was Jesus any good with wood? How good a carpenter was he? |
| 5th January | John is a true theologian, and nowhere is that better expressed, than in the opening chapter of his gospel record. His record does not begin in Bethlehem, but at the very beginning of creation itself. Jesus is not expressed as the vulnerable child born in a stable, but described as the Word of God made flesh, source of all light and life. John says, 'The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has never put it out'. Its flame is eternal. Shining through history. Glimpsed in times of darkness. Radiant, in the moments of God's revelation. As a star shone over Bethlehem. |
Click here to read sermon notes from 2019 ...
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