Kinlochleven Church - the next service is on Sunday, 15 December at 10.00 am led by the Rev. Marion Kinnear.

Duror Church - the next service is on 22 December at 10.30 am led by the Rev. Malcolm Kinnear.

Nether Lochaber Church - the next service is on Sunday 15 December at 11.30 am led by the Rev. Malcolm Kinnear.

St. Munda's Group - the next service is a Carol Service on Sunday 15 December at 7.00 pm in the Ballachulish Village Hall led by the Rev. Malcolm Kinnear.

South Lochaber Parish : Bible Study - Tuesday 10 December at 10.45 am in Jeremy's home led by Ken Chandler.

Kinlochleven : Bible Study -  Friday 13 December after The Warm Space at 11.00 am, led by Rev. Malcolm Kinnear on the messages to the 7 churches in Revelations, chapters 2 & 3.

Sunday 8 December 2024 South Lochaber Churches   Advent 2 - available on YouTube at 

Opening Verse  ‘You look forward to the day of God’. (2 Peter 3:12)

Hymn

He came down that we may have love;
he came down that we may have peace;
he came down that we may have hope;
hallelujah for evermore.

 He came down that we may have joy…

Prayer Almighty God, purify our hearts and minds, that when Jesus  comes again to earth as judge and Saviour we may be ready to receive him as our Lord and our God. Amen.

Bible Reading Malachi 3:1-4 I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,  and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years.

Message In days past launderer’s or fuller’s soap was used to dissolve impurities and to bleach cloth, until the practice developed of bleaching cloth using sunlight. Many places connected to the textile industry had bleachfields in the days of the Industrial Revolution. Linen production was more common in the east of Scotland. The last linen factory in Scotland was in Kirkcaldy and it was shut down in 2021.

The messenger of the covenant referred to in this passage was to be John the Baptist who prepared people for the coming of the Messiah.  Advent means ‘coming’. We prepare ourselves for Christ’s coming.

He comes today by his Spirit in Word and sacrament. He came as the babe in Bethlehem to save us. He will come again.

His coming is about hope, peace, joy and love. John the Baptist came first and prepared people by his message of repentance, turning from sin, and cleansing. He brought a message of hope to people who were disheartened by years of struggle and oppression. God is coming to do something new. We too become disheartened. We too need to hear of how God can break into our world of darkness and sin. We can be reminded that Jesus did come, and because he came, we can know his lifegiving power. John baptized people with water to represent an inner cleansing. Jesus brings us this and more in the refining, cleansing power of God’s Spirit.

Malachi speaks of a priesthood renewed. We are all priests to God through Christ. He can renew us and inspire true, spiritual and vital worship and service. Just as people used bleachfields to expose cloth to the sun, so we open our lives to Christ, the Sun of righteousness, risen with healing in his wings, and experience spiritual renewal.

In the production of aluminium, fire and heat are used to remove impurities from molten bauxite. The power of God comes as a refining fire. It produces a burning conviction in a person so that we cannot go back, cannot be satisfied in anything less than a fervent, committed profession of faith. God’s power burns ungodliness from human hearts. Here is hope for today. We must be ready for his coming and pray for it. The impurities that we must be willing to be free of include worldliness, and cynicism. We are to treat others well, with a dignity that befits who they are as people loved by God and made in his image. We are to follow high standards in business and financial dealings, in church and social life, in personal morality. We are to remove unlawful practices. We are called to a life of sharing and compassion, and to be content with what we have, and to self-discipline. Our society would be healthier when God does a work of reformation and transformation. Sin has entered our society in our generation and is an affront to God. People have forgotten about God. They need a recovery of God’s Word. 

Prayer Lord may the light of your presence enter the darkness, may your Spirit kindle in us the fire of your love. Come again. Amen.