8.11.26 am

Well, good morning and welcome to our service. Thank you for taking the time to come a little! bit earlier and as we hope to have a two-minute silence at 11 o'clock but just as we begin our! worship of God we'll sing in English from Psalm 46, sing the first seven verses of Psalm 46.

God is our refuge and our strength and straits a present aid therefore although the earth remove we will not be afraid though hills amidst the seas be cast the waters roaring make and troubled be ye though the hills by swelling cease to shake a river is whose stream to glad the city of our God the holy place wherein the Lord most high hath his abode down to the end of verse 7 the Lord of hosts upon our side doth constantly remain the God of Jacob's our refuge as safely to maintain so we'll sing the whole well these seven verses of Psalm 46 and we'll stand to sing to God's praise I think I'm going to present God is our refuge and our strength in straits of present day therefore although the earth remove we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we will not be afraid we

Though hills and exter seas be cast, Though waters roaring may, And troubled me, gave all the hills, My swelling seems to shake.

A river is to stream to buy, The city of our God, The holy place wherein the Lord Most high hath is the Lord.

But in the midst of earth doth dwell, Nothing shall her renew.

The Lord to her and help her with, And that right every proof, The heat and rage to mulch your sleep, The kingdom's move and wear.

The Lord to utter it, His voice, The earth did melt for fear.

The Lord of hosts upon our side, Thou'n constantly remain, The Lord of hosts upon our side, Thou'n constantly remain.

We'll just read a few passages from God's Word as we lead up to 11 o'clock. We read from John 14, Jesus said, Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you.

I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, And do not be afraid. Then from Isaiah chapter 40, we read, Do you not know? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God, The creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, And his understanding no one can fathom.

He gives strength to the weary, And increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, And young men stumble and fall.

But those who hope in the Lord Will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.

And then from Isaiah chapter 43, But now, this is what the Lord says, He who created you, O Jacob, He who formed you, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed you.

I have summoned you by name, You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, They will not sweep over you.

For when you walk through the fire, You will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze, For I am your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.

And then a reading from Romans chapter 8. If God is for us, Who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, But gave him up for us all, How will he not also, along with him, Graciously give us all things?

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns?

Christ Jesus, who died, More than that, who was raised to life, Is at the right hand of God, And is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble, or hardship, Or persecution, Or famine, or nakedness, Or danger, or sword?

As it is written, For your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors, Through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, Neither angels nor demons, Neither the present nor the future, Nor any powers, Neither height nor depth, Nor anything else in all creation, Will be able to separate us from the love of God, That is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And then just our final reading, Before we have a two-minute silence, It's from the psalm that we sung, Psalm 46, And we'll read the whole of that psalm.

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Though the earth gives way, Though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains tremble at its swelling, There is a river whose stream may glad the city of God, The holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her, She shall not be moved. God will help her when the morning dawns, The nations rage, The kingdoms totter, He utters His voice, The earth melts, The Lord of hosts is with us, The God of Jacob is our fortress, Selah.

Come behold the works of the Lord, How He has brought desolations on the earth, He makes wars cease to the end of the earth, He breaks the bow and shatters the spear, He burns the chariot with fire, Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth, The Lord of hosts is with us, The God of Jacob is our refuge.

If you could just stand, If those of you that are able, For our two minute silence, talk to us and talk to us in the background. Thank you. .

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. . . . . . Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We pray, Lord, that you would be with those civilians, even as we look around the world today, as we see a fractious world. We pray for those who've been affected by war, those who've been caught up in conflict, many of whom have been forced from their homes and maybe had their livelihoods destroyed.

We pray that you would be with them.

We pray that your healing hand would be upon veterans of many conflicts over recent years, those who carried both the physical and the psychological wounds of warfare.

We ask, Lord, that you would surround them with your care and your compassion, and that they would find comfort in your word, and that they would be able to turn to you in these times of difficulty.

We ask, Lord, that you would grant our king, our first minister, that you would grant them wisdom, that you would grant them a clear conscience to be able to, with wisdom, discern what it is that you desire to be done here on earth as it is in heaven, Lord.

We pray that there would be humility in how they conduct themselves, that they would be courageous in the desire to build bridges and not seek to knock them down, Lord. We pray, Lord, and ask that there would indeed be end to war across the world, be that in Ukraine, in Palestine, in Iran at this time, Lord, and in Yemen.

We ask that you would indeed be working in these places, Lord, that we would have people that seek to be peacemakers across your world. Bring an end, Lord, to that roar of weapons that we hear and hatred across the world, Lord.

And we ask that as people look to you, that they would see a most glorious and loving God, and that we would be able to reflect that in our own lives here today, Lord. We ask, Lord, that you would help us, hopefully as peacemakers, to walk the path of peace for ourselves, and that we would do so in a way that applies not even to warfare, but to our own lives, to our neighbours, how we conduct ourselves in the workplace and in school, wherever you've placed us.

We ask, Lord, that we would be loving and that we would be Christ-like in all that we do, Lord. We pray for Duncan as he leads our service today, as he opens up your word to us. We pray that you would speak through him, that you would grant him liberty and a freedom to share your word here.

We give thanks that even as our doors are open today, we don't fear persecution, as many do around the world. And that's thanks to those who have sacrificed their own lives for us to be able to live these lives of freedom, Lord.

So we pray that you would be with us just now, that you would protect us, that you would forgive us for all of our sins. In Christ's precious and glorious name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, boys and girls, if you want to come down first of all, I'll maybe hand my mic over to Duncan and I'll quickly move the presenters box for you.

Thank you, Stuart.

Hi, everyone. So we've just had two minutes of silence. Silence is a very precious thing. It makes us think. I was out walking on Friday.

I went up the hills because the weather was so nice and there wasn't a breath of wind. And it was really beautiful. And I looked down from on top of one of the hills, down the ridge, and looked down below and there was a loch below me, Loch Clister.

And what colour do you think the water was in that loch? Blue. F only. F only. In Scotland, not all the lochs are blue.

In fact, many of them aren't. It was actually very dark brown or black. Do you know why so many lochs in Harris are that colour? No?

No idea? It's all the peat that gets washed into them. And because we had so much heavy rain, there's an awful lot of peat in the lochs at the moment. And they're very black, contaminated with the peat.

But blue lochs are beautiful. And I've got some pictures here from a trip I made to Canada last year. You want to look up at that picture up there? Beautiful blue.

And it's just amazing to see that kind of colour. Not in the sea, but in a loch in land. That's a place called Moraine Lake. And then a second one coming up, that's it.

Here's another one. That's even more amazing. That's called Pato Lake because it was found by a man called Bill Pato. And he thought it was so beautiful.

He didn't tell anyone else about it for 20 years. So they wouldn't enjoy it. You're moving too fast, our man. You're moving too fast. Do you know why the lakes go that blue colour?

No? It's a really fascinating story. And it's because in the wintertime, in Canada, they have glaciers up in the mountain. And the glaciers grind over the top of the stones.

And it creates what's known as rock flower. And when it melts in the spring, the water washes its rock flower into the rivers. Even the rivers are blue in places.

But in the likes of that lake, there's so much rock flower in it. That's what's causing the colour to be blue. It's really, really beautiful. Next one, I'm in. And you get different colours.

You can see that one on the left. It's dark blue greeny. There's the one in the middle is green. And the one on the right is a kind of brighter blue. But there's a wee hint of green in that too.

Three colours all in the one picture there. Next one. This is one way up high in a quarry. And you can see how brilliant that blue is.

And it's in the midst of all this barren landscape. And you can see behind there's a darker one. Still got ice in it from the winter. And this was in June that I was in this place.

Next one, I'm in. And you can see there's that lake at the back. And then it's not so easy to see. But there's two of them there, two blue ones.

And then down below, there's a lighter blue. And way down near the bottom of the picture, there's actually another green one that you can see. That's all coming at the same place. And then one more. And that's dropping down.

You can see another blue one at the bottom. There's the green one. The two blue ones behind. And I think there should be one more. Is that a man? And that's looking further back. And that's the same little river system.

And there's actually six different lakes there. And all of them have their own slightly different shade of blue. And there's that one that's green. And it's absolutely beautiful when you're in that environment just to see it.

And it's incredibly peaceful. Where I was there, there wasn't another soul in sight. And it was just so calm and beautiful that day. The first two pictures I showed you, there was loads and loads of people.

People all wanting to take photographs of these beautiful lakes. And it was amazing for how many people were there. Just how quiet it was. And how peaceful.

Because they had a sense of being in the majesty of God's creation. And people simply didn't want to speak. They just took pictures. And it's amazing how folk go out into the countryside in order to get that sense of peace.

So many folk look at these beautiful things and they think, isn't that beautiful? But we can look at these things and say, what a beautiful creator we have. That God would make landscapes like that.

Beautiful things and beautiful peace within them. And the wonderful thing about those lakes, if you think about it, they've all got different amounts of that rock flower in them.

And that makes them all different colours. And each of them is beautiful in their own right. And I was thinking that's just like what it's like being a Christian. Now we have so many sharp and ragged edges in us.

And God has to work to break them off. And to grind us down very gently. So that we can look beautiful. Just like the colours in those lakes that are there.

And that is the work of God in the life of anyone who trusts in Jesus. He's got a plan to make them perfect. Each one different. But each one beautiful in their own right.

So it's my prayer and the prayer of the whole congregation that each of you would come to know Jesus. And that like those lakes, you'd have a beauty about you that shows that you are following him.

We'll say a very short prayer. Lord our God, we thank you once more for being in your house today. We thank you that you are the God who gives us peace.

And you are the God, Lord, who makes us to look more like Christ as we trust in him. And as we follow him. And in so doing, you are the one who is at work to make people more beautiful inside and out.

Taking away sin. And making them more like the Lord Jesus Christ. In whose name we pray. Amen. We're now going to sing. Modern version of Psalm 23 from Mission Praise.

Mission Praise 1008. The Getty version. And the first verse there says, The Lord's my shepherd I'll not want. He makes me lie in pastures green.

He leads me by the still, still waters. Sheep will only lie down if they are at peace. And God makes his sheep to be at peace and to rest in green pastures.

So let us sing this hymn to God's praise. The Lord's my shepherd I'll not want.

He makes me lie in pastures green. He leads me by the still, still waters.

His goodness restores my soul. And I will trust in you alone.

And I will trust in you alone. He leads me by the still, still waters. And I will trust in you alone.

And I will trust in you alone. And I will trust in you alone. He leads me by the still, still waters.

And I will trust in you alone. And I will trust in you alone. And I will trust in you alone. And I will trust in you alone.

And I will trust in you alone.

For your endless mercy follows me. Your goodness will lead me home.

And though I walk the darkest path. I will not fear the evil one.

For you are with me and you're on and stop. And I will trust in you alone.

And I will trust in you alone. And I will trust in you alone.

For your endless mercy follows me. Your goodness will lead me home.

If we turn to God's word.

And to Paul's letter to the Ephesians. And we will read from the beginning of that letter. And Paul writes, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God.

To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ was blessed as in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure and will. To the praise of his grace. To the praise of his glorious grace which he has freely given us in the one he loves.

In him we have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins. In accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure.

Which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment. To bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything. In conformity with the purpose of his will. In order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth. The gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you are marked in him with a seal. The promised Holy Spirit who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance.

Until the redemption of those who are God's possession. To the praise of his glory. For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus. And your love for all the saints.

I have not stopped giving thanks for you. Remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father. May give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation.

So that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened. In order that you may know the hope to which he has called you. The riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.

And his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength. Which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead.

And seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. Far above all rule and authority. Power and dominion. And every title that can be given. Not only in the present age.

But also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet. And appointed him to be head over everything for the church. Which is his body.

The fullness of him who fills everything in every way. As for you. You are dead in your transgressions and sins. In which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world.

And of the ruler of the kingdom of the air. The spirit too is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time. Gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature.

And following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us. God who is rich in mercy.

Made us alive with Christ. Even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ. And seated us with him.

In the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. In order that in the coming ages. He might show the incomparable riches of his grace. Expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by grace you have been saved. Through faith. And this not from yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not by works. So that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship.

Created in Christ Jesus. To do good works. Which God prepared in advance for us to do. Amen. May God add his blessing. To this reading of his word.

We're going to sing again. This time in Gaelic. Words from Psalm 18. And we'll sing the first two verses.

Psalm 18 verses 1 to 2. And I'll just read them. From the NIV here. I love you. O Lord my strength. The Lord is my rock.

My fortress and my deliverer. My God is my rock. In whom I take refuge. He is my shield. And the horn of my salvation. My stronghold. Expression there from David.

Of his love for the Lord. And his confidence in the Lord. To protect him. We'll sing these verses to God's praise. Let's sing these verses. Let's sing these verses.

Please. Thank you. More than Hvalester. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord.

For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord.

For the Lord. For the Lord. For the Lord. Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh

Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh No one come I've read for of all it is from my mother.

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom

Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom Shabbat Shalom