Kirk Reflections 10th November 2024.

Alistair Barton brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

Remembrance

This week, we remember once again all those who have served in our Armed Forces since World War I, also known as the ‘Great War’, who have either been injured or who died serving their country.
This is part of our history, so we will be taking a look at that word and asking the question:  ‘What is history?”   And why is it important to remember what happened in the past?

Kirk Reflections 3rd November 2024.

Rev Ken Brown brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

2 Corinthians 8:1-15

“With Harvest Thanksgiving just past and Christmas just round the corner we all know the excitement that surrounds an unexpected present especially if it comes at just the right time. But do we ever reflect on the possible excitement that surrounds the act of giving. It is more logical to think about the cost of giving be it money, time or energy.

This week, we explore the mystery that can be involved in

Kirk Reflections 27th October 2024.

Rev. Frank Ribbons brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

Love covers everything

Last time, we looked at the parable of the Prodigal or Lost Son, and this time we’ll be thinking about a parable from Matthew 20, The Workers in the Vineyard. It’s a less well known parable than the Lost Son, and not so many folk will be able to rehearse the details of it in the way they can with the best known parables.

Certain similar things come through many of the parables and also much of the teaching of Jesus though, and these are the undermining of stereotypical or usual ways of understanding life and religion. This is because the Jesus’ primary focus, which is love, has a way of doing that.

Our tendency when we think of God is to think in a very abstract way about his love, and a very concrete way about his judgement, and sin, and behaviour with which we don’t agree and which doesn’t fit our view of the world and how it should be.

So once again we’ll be looking at the shock value of the parable and the way in which it may even challenge us, just as it challenged the hearers all those years ago.

Andrew Lloyd Weber’s song, “Love changes everything” is a song I particularly like with regard to much of what I read in Jesus’ teaching. The line about our rules being broken certainly applied hand over fist to the Pharisees and Scribes who over the course of Jesus’ ministry began to despise and hate him.

Love makes fools of everyone

All the rules we make are broken

Yes, love, love changes everyone

Live or perish in its flame

Kirk Reflections 20th October 2024.

Rev. Frank Ribbons brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

Frank will be joining us for 2 weeks while Erick is on Study Leave.

We’ll be looking at two parables of Jesus, although there may be a referral to other parables as well.

The Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32)

This week, we will be looking at the Parable of the Lost Son, or as I knew it growing up, the parable of the Prodigal Son. That latter title is rather odd because it gives no real clue as to the point of the parable and makes it sound as though the son was simply a very generous benefactor.

Before I knew what “prodigal” meant I thought it actually meant selfish and thoughtless, which is how the parable portrays him.

I like looking at passages we know well. It’s the stuff that we know back to front that can often deliver surprises which we then remember, perhaps because we can link what we have learned to a story we know well. It is easy to take the well-known stuff for granted and therefore pay it less attention. This happens across the board in all sorts of situations for us. Often these times can surprise us.

I am from Perth, so I support their football team in a very moderate understated way. Being from a small town and of underdog kind of status, I never expect them to win. So when in 2021 they won the Scottish Cup and the League

Kirk Reflections 13th October 2024.

Rev. Erick du Toit brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

ORIGINS VII: Motives

Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”  (Genesis 11:4 ) NIV

In high school one of my friends started dating the girl of his dreams.
Upon his first visit to her house, he was quite apprehensive; and rightfully so, because he had some reputation as a ‘pretty boy.’ Emma’s dad wasn’t impressed and asked him upon entry:

What are your intentions with my daughter.’

Motives matter. They determine the course of our life.

In the story of the Tower of Babel we get yet another glimpse of how distracted humans can be when they focus on edifying themselves, when their motives are simply to honour their own names. It’s a story on repeat and one we can relate to it on a very deep level.

How often do you audit your heart? Examine the reason for serving, or doing?

This passage is massively challenging as it reveals the pride hidden in every human heart.
PS. My friend ended up marrying this girl and they now have 3 kids! Indeed, motives matter...

Kirk Reflections 6th October 2024.

Rev. Erick du Toit brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

ORIGINS VI: Promise

And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come. (Genesis 9:12) NIV

Rainbows. We all LOVE rainbows.

They capture something of our imagination and more often than pop up when we least expect them. I mean, I’ve never heard a weather forecast say: ‘light rain showers, strong breeze with a chance of … rainbows…!’

Rainbows remind us of God’s promise of permanence. The permanence of his proxy and providence NO MATTER WHAT. Isn’t that just the most amazing truth when we do find ourselves in and amidst a storm?

On the other side of disaster and chaos and death… we live in a New Covenant era with Christ as a symbol of our final freedom…

Kirk Reflections 15th September 2024.

Dr. John McPhee brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

ORIGINS V: Storms

Kirk Reflections 15th September 2024.

Rev. Erick du Toit brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

ORIGINS IV: Sin & Grace

(Genesis 4:8 NIV) "Now Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Let's go out to the field.' While they were out in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.”

 It’s unimaginable that people would murder, isn’t it?
Yet, it happens daily around the world.
It’s like we simply can’t help or manage ourselves. Our anger and hatred leading to acts of violence. We see the very act play out early in Genesis as Abel is killed by his brother Cain.
What drove him to kill? Was it Abel’s fault? Was it God’s fault? What could he have done differently to avoid this destructive sin? And what does it teach us about human nature and God?

Kirk Reflections 15th September 2024.

Rev. Erick du Toit brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

ORIGINS III: The Fall

(Genesis 3: 23 NIV)"So, the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.”

When you hear the term 'fall from grace,' who comes to mind?

When we listen to presidential debates arguing whether immigrants killed pets like cats and dogs to feast on, we can become quite judgemental. Someone once said, 'be careful what you hate, for we can so easily become what we despise...'

The story of humankind’s fall from grace is based on deceit, blame shifting, and ultimately ‘wanting’ to be ‘god’ ourselves. Sin is about rebelling against the peace and harmony God intended for us… and in this week we look at how this story keeps repeating itself not only through history, but through OUR lives too.

We’ve all fallen from grace… and it happens daily – but despite this we can be assured as it says in Romans 5: 20: “Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.”

Listen as we discuss these difficult topics further!

Kirk Reflections 8th September 2024.

Rev. Erick du Toit brings this week's reflection from Kirkliston Parish Church, Scotland.

ORIGINS II: RELATION
God said, “It’s not good for the Man to be alone; I’ll make him a helper, a companion.”
(Genesis 2: 18 MSG)

There's been loads of studies done recently about the importance of having deep and meaningful relationships.
Research has shown that the happiest of people are those who have a select few friends they can connect with on a deep level. People who invest in relationships are most often not only 'happiest' but they live longer...