Kinlochleven Church - the next service is on Sunday 8 February at 10.00 am led by the Rev. Marion Kinnear.
Duror Church - the next service is on Sunday 8 February at 10.30 am led by the Rev. Malcolm Kinnear.
Nether Lochaber Church - the next service is on Sunday 15 February at 11.30 am led by the Rev. Malcolm Kinnear and held in the church hall with tea and coffee to follow.
South Lochaber Parish :
Bible Study - on 3 February at 10.45 in Jeremy's home - continues on "Joseph".
Bible Study - Kinlochleven on Friday 6 February at 11.00 am.
Sunday 1 February 2026 South Lochaber Church - available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/KjJQ40hr06c
Opening Verse ‘The Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in Him’. (Psalm 34:8)
Hymn
Happy are they, they that love God,
whose hearts have Christ confessed,
who by his cross have found their life,
and beneath his yoke their rest.
Prayer Let your holy name be praised and magnified, God of heaven and earth, Father, Son
and Spirit, Lord of love, Lord of life. Amen
Bible Reading Matthew 5:3-12 Jesus said: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
Message Horatio McCulloch was a Scottish artist, born in 1805, whose landscape paintings helped capture the beauty of the West Highlands. His painting of the Glencoe mountains (1864) uses some red on the rocks as a reminder of the Glencoe massacre. MacCulloch on visiting Benderloch is reported to have said, ‘Everything here is beautiful’.
Our passage this week gives us the beatitudes, which have been called the eight ‘beautiful attitudes’. They describe the lifestyle and character of those whose lives have been shaped by the Spirit of God, who is at work in the believer to help us grow in Christian character.
Humility, empathy, integrity, gentleness, kindness, this is not our natural disposition, but the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Some translations use the word ‘happy’, ‘happy are the poor in spirit’ and so on. The secret of happiness is to live in reliance on God and in submission to him. We are poor in spirit when we know our need for God’s help and mercy so that we can live a Christian life. Blessed are those who mourn over the need of the world for healing and for God’s saving power. Life in God’s kingdom with Jesus is to be made happy by God. The beatitudes do not stand on their own, they are the result of a life shaped by Christ’s saving death and resurrection.
The world needs purity and peace-making rather than a divisive spirit. Instead of putting ambition, the self, our own will first, we are learning the values of the heart, the emotions, human affections.
I recently noticed quite high up on the wall of a tenement in West Port, the Grassmarket, Edinburgh, a plaque that says, ‘Love the Lord your God above all and your neighbour as yourself’. It is a saying of Jesus and a useful summary of faith. To live like this is to make Jesus and his ways your priority. It is through prayer to allow him to guide our actions and decisions. As we live in dependence upon God’s grace, we learn how our humanity can reflect Christ’s love and goodness. God provides an abundance of grace and mercy that enables us to love him and love others and become channels of his blessings. The message of the beatitudes is that Jesus brings a blessed reality to bear in us, shaped by life in his kingdom. Joy and happiness are possible when we live in a right relationship with God.
God is asking that we give ourselves to him in whatever ways he is asking of us. We need to come to an end of ourself and see that we can no longer trust in our own resources and follow our own will. God has something much better for us.
We can hold on to frustrations, bitterness, envy, irritation, or we can hand everything over to God, who imparts in us a peaceful, pure, patient and gentle disposition; and redirects our natural strengths in a good way. If we live this way the world will be a better place.
Prayer Lord I need you; I want you; I come to you, I ask you to help me live the life of true happiness; through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.