Skelmorlie & Wemyss Bay

Parish Church

The Parish Record

Winter 2014

www.skelmorliewemyssbaychurch.org Registered Charity: SCO03309

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A Message from the Minister

I came across this poem recently and I thought I would like to share this

with you

Faith is like a shining star, beckoning us from afar.

Faith means trusting, come what may,

Even when the day seems grey,

Looking upward to the sun, knowing God loves everyone

When courage fails, but faith remains, this will lift us up again,

But if faith begins to dim, let your thoughts just dwell on him,

Who came for us down to earth, to save and bless us with his

birth.

There is an old legend that the three wise men on the way to Bethlehem

quarreled about which of them was taking the most precious gift to the

Christ child. Was it the gold or the frankincense or the myrrh that was the

most precious?

Then as they looked up at the sky, the star they had been following suddenly

disappeared from sight. They continued as best they could until they came

to the edge of a village where a group of people were gathered around a

shallow well that had dried up. The wise men were carrying bags filled with

water for their journey and each of them poured some water into the well

so that the thirsty villagers might share it. As the three men bent over the

well they saw the star reflected in the water. When they looked up they saw

that their guiding light had returned. It is only a legend but how true it is

that the real meaning of Christmas is in giving and sharing and caring.

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I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone. It is nearly a year and 6

months since Christine and I came to Inverkip linked with Skelmorlie and

Wemyss Bay but we have been blessed so much during this year with

everyone giving so freely and generously of their love and friendship and

this is what makes this Christmas time so special. Next year is, I believe,

going to be an interesting year as we share the gifts that the Lord has given

each one of us in the task of building his Kingdom. Our faith will be tested

in the tasks that the Lord sets but if we care and share and give of ourselves

in the way he asks then I believe we will be amazed at what will be achieved

through our faith in Christ. Talking about wells, here is another story of a

well from the bible. Jesus meets a Samaritan women at Jacob’s well in the

Samarian town of Sychar and asks her for a drink of water. “How do you

ask me for a drink?” was the woman’s reply. A life changing conversation

was struck up about water but what Jesus saw looking into the well that day

was the whole of this women’s life and how parched her life was, and then

Jesus offers her streams of life giving water, streams of water that lead to

eternal life. 2000 Christmases later things are no different as people’s lives

are still dry and parched looking into all kinds of different wells, but are we

prepared to have the same life giving conversations with those who live

around us. This Christmas and the coming year what kinds of things would

keep us focused on sharing this life giving water in our community. So as we

look into the well of life we need to see the star that is rising in the east, a

star which bring us closer to the Lord. We have a precious gift to share. Let

us not tarnish our gift in the same way this story of the wise men did.

Wishing you and all our families joy, peace and love this Christmas

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Obituary: Alex Leitch It was with incredible sadness that we said our farewells to Alex this

October. Alex was such a big presence not only to Siona, Jennifer, Russell

Graham and Jonathan but to all of us who knew him in the church and the

wider community. I think we can all identify with the family’s memories of

their dad ` We find it difficult to pick out one single memory or story

about him I think this is probably because every single memory we have

of our dad is a happy one. He has always been an extremely happy,

joyous man who loved life. He was always smiling and loved to laugh. He

was like this every day and made our home such a happy one. He was

always fixing things for us.’ Alex is remembered that while he was going

about fixing things in the church he would always whistle and smile.

Alex was a man of his time beginning his working career as an electrician

in Kincaids but in many respects he was a man ahead of his time because

he had the ability to think out of the box when it came to solving the

challenges that life would bring his way. Alex would have moved

mountains for Siona, Russell, Graham, Jennifer and Jonathan, for all his

family and we can only imagine what a huge gap his passing has left in

their lives because we have all felt his loss in the church. Alex and Siona

shared 40 years of married life together and Alex made each day special

for Siona and for Siona she has lost her closest companion on the road

of life. On that journey through life Alex touched many lives in his own

unique and special way and I think Alex himself would have been

completely surprised to see just how many friends and family turned out to

pay their last respects. There could have been no more fitting tribute to Alex

than to see the church filled to overflowing giving God thanks for Alex’s life.

Alex was a man of faith, he knew Jesus Christ as the Lord of his life and

always showed Christ’s love and compassion even when facing such a

serious illness near the end of life. Alex was the light and salt of the earth

that Jesus told us to be and with his passing that light is a little dimmer and

the flavour of life a little less rich for us, but we know that his whistle will

be adding to that chorus in heaven and his love of life continues beyond our

sight.

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Session Snippets!

Elders will be contacting everyone in their districts to gauge whether there is general satisfaction with the 11.30am commencement time of morning services or should it be possible, there is a preference for an earlier start time.

The time of the monthly “Healing and Wholeness” services has been changed from 4pm to 3pm.

Brian Spence has succeeded Jacquie Beaumont as leader of the Pastoral Care Sub-Committee

David Johnstone has joined the Property Maintenance Committee

Work has been completed at the manse to remedy a minor subsidence problem. The boundary wall required repairs due to damage caused by roots.

Work is progressing to effect essential repairs to remedy recurring dampness in the room where the disabled toilet is located (former vestry)

The Ministers have had most productive meetings with the

Head Teachers of both primary schools. They are greatly

encouraged by the willingness of the teachers to support the

recently established Youth Ministry initiative.

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Finance Update

From Rita Carmichael, Congregational Treasurer

I was sorry to inform the recent meeting of the Kirk Session of the distinct probability that, despite prudent budgeting, the Annual Accounts will show a deficit. The Minister and Session expressed concern at this worrying situation. I hope you will agree that our church should strongly avoid the need to draw upon reserves. Monthly outgoings should at least be covered by income and this is currently not the case. I would sincerely request you to consider helping in these small ways – it will make a difference!

If you are a tax payer complete a Gift Aid declaration and make your contribution by regular monthly Standing Order. [Gift aid increases the value of your donation by allowing us to reclaim basic rate tax on your gift. For every contribution of £10 using Gift Aid it’s worth £12.50p to the Church]

Make your contribution monthly by Standing Order whether

you are a tax payer or not Increase your contributions by 10% from January Consider increasing the amount which you contribute to the

Property Maintenance Fund

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Zimbabwean Visit

During the middle of October the Presbytery of Greenock and Paisley was

privileged to host 6 visitors Matarofa, Rose, Anna, Gariki, Kwenje and Henry

from the Uniting

Presbyterian Church in

Sothern Africa Presbytery of

Zimbabwe. Our guests

were warmly welcomed at

the October Presbytery

meeting where they were

presented with a gift

acknowledging the

friendship between our two

Presbyteries that we have

shared over the past 8

years. As convener of the

Presbytery Zimbabwe Committee I have been privileged to have visited

Zimbabwe twice and the General Assembly of the UPCSA which was held in

South Africa in July this year. Over that time I have made new friends in

Zimbabwe and South Africa and it has deepened my own understand of

Christ’s worldwide church. It has been a blessing to see our relationship as

followers of Jesus from a new and different point of view. Zimbabwe very

much appreciates our friendship with them, to be able to say as friends we

stand beside you. It is a relationship of our unity and equality in Christ Jesus

and not on one being superior over another and I think our visit from Henry

Chivhanga made us see that there are many things that we can learn from

each other. Henry was able to share about his and his family’s struggles

with ordinary life (if I can use that expression, for life is far from ordinary)

in Zimbabwe and it was a very humbling experience to be able to say to

Henry `we care’ . Henry has been in touch telling us how much he

appreciated his time with us and thanking us for the kind and generous gifts

to him and his family. It was incredibly moving hearing what it meant to

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Henry. He has

passed his degree in

accountancy and

sends the love of his

family and

congregation at

Masvingo in the

south of Zimbabwe. I

hope we will be able

to meet Henry again

and if the Lord is

willing I hope to be

able to go to Masvingo and take our love and greetings to them. I think the

highlight of the visit has to go to yourselves with our Scottish celebrations.

What an amazing time we had as Henry could again say `It is considered a

great privilege in his culture to be asked to share in another’s culture’. Could

I on behalf of us all thank the

organising team Kathleen, Ian

Muriel and Bill, Rory our

piper, Clyde Coast Spey and

Reel Society, Country Dancers

from Inverkip and Skelmorlie

and Wemyss Bay, Jimmy for

the wonderful renditions of

Scottish poetry, the Soggy

Bunnet Boys, Jim for being our

master of ceremonies and

also along with Morag and Ian

peeling all the tatties and neeps, and last but not least for Tom for

organising the Haggis (very tasty indeed from McCaskies Wemyss Bay,

excuse the advertising). Thank you all for making this visit so memorable

and extending the love of Christ to our friends from Zimbabwe. May the

Lord richly bless you all. Your minister Archie

Rose discovering that the haggis was freshly shot!

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All our Yesterdays! – From the Parish Record June 1981

Sunday School: The Senior pupils and Bible Class had a great day at the

new Magnum, Irvine. Mr Bill (Wobbly) Wright has been banned from the

ice rink!

The outing to Rouken Glen was favoured with sunshine despite the

torrential downpour the previous evening.. This ensured the success of

the day and it was a tired but happy two busloads who returned home.

Fathers (particularly Messrs Armstrong, Gallie and Ovens made their usual

“impact “with the weans on the football field. A report has been

forwarded to the RSPCC!

Friday Soups

Our last Friday Soup before Christmas will be on Friday 12th December. After your bowl of homemade soup we have a widespread array of delicious desserts for you to indulge in, all with a Christmas theme. Rounded off with hot mince pies! Campbell Sangster will be playing a selection of Christmas music to get you in the mood. A fun, relaxing lunch. So look out those Christmas hats and come and join us on the 12th December, 12.15pm in the Church Hall. Friday Soups as many of you know had to make a few adjustments to

satisfy Health and safety standards this year. To enable us to continue

with this popular venture we now are required to make the soup on the

premises which brought with it many obstacles! Thankfully we have

sorted these out now and things seem to be working fine.

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A big thank you must go to Bill Wright who spent many hours planning the

new layout of the kitchen, sourcing the cooker, fridge freezer and extra

cupboards needed and finally overseeing the necessary work.

We are also very grateful to the talented Bruce McKechnie for making our

new cooker fit in so perfectly, fitting cupboards, and for making the

kitchen look so beautiful. Thanks gentlemen, we really do appreciate it.

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Poets Corner

Count your garden by the flowers Never by leaves that fall

Count your days by Golden hours

Don’t remembers downs at all

Count your nights by stars not

shadows

Count your life by smiles not tears

With joy on every birthday

Count your age in friends not

years.

Bruce Barrie

The Lords Promise

Dear God up in Heaven, Please answer my prayer, I know in my heart That you will be there. I bend on my knees To say my petition You hear all my pleas And I am forgiven. You died on the cross To save me from sin I thank you Dear Lord Where do I begin.

Walk with me each day In all that I do

Be near me I pray As I love you too. Lord keep me from sin And shield me from fear Dear spirit within Please be ever near. You know me so well My every thought Confess them I 'll tell My pardon was bought. You suffered in pain On that lonely cross it was for our gain And not for our loss Our sins are forgiven We start as anew A fresh page in Heaven From this humble Jew. Ask God for forgiveness Your sins to repent A deal made in Heaven I think is well spent. Our Lord and our Saviour A friend to the end Will love you and keep you Forever, Amen

Gloria MacDonald

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Scripture Readers Outlined below are the dates for the for reader’s diaries. Please make your way

to the lectern during the final verse of the Hymn before the lesson. If at any

time you are unable to be present, please change dates with another reader.

January April

4th Alan Grant 5th Graham Harron

11th Janice Barbour 12th Morag Macintosh

18th Bill Wright 19th Bill Wright

25th Lesley Gurton 26rd Bruce Barry

February May

1st Jacquie Beaumont 3rd Alan Grant

8th Tom Owens 10th Janice Barbour

15th Caroline Scott 17th Bill Wright

22nd Roddy McAskill 24th Lesley Gurton

31st Jacquie Beaumont

March

1st Eddie Yde June

8th John Nugent 7th Tom Owens

15th Frances Nicol 14th Caroline Scott

22nd Gladys Black 21st Roddy McAskill

29th John Scott 28th Eddie Yde

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News and Events

Choir practice

Choir Practice is now on Thursday evenings at 7.30pm. We always welcome new

singers. Why not come and give it a try?

The choir will be going to Strathclyde House on the 11th December at 7pm for a short

Carol Service with the residents. Anyone from the congregation who would like come

along and swell the numbers would be appreciated.

On a personal note, my children and myself would like to thank everyone for their

kind thoughts, flowers and cards, before and after Alex died. I have never seen the

church so full, and after the service the magnificent sum of £1215 was raised for

Ardgowan Hospice. It was quite overwhelming.

Siona

Quilts and the Underground Railroad (in aid of Inverclyde Food Bank)

A huge thank you to everyone who attended this evening. An enormous amount

of donations of food were received, so much that a van was needed to transport

it to Inverclyde Food Bank. In addition over £100 was raised on the night.

For those brave men who attended I think they were pleasantly surprised that

this was an evening that was nothing to do with sewing.

Teddies for Zimbabwe This year over 500 teddies were dispatched to Zimbabwe. These were all given

to orphans and children in hospital to the great delight of the children. A big

thank you to all those she contributed either money or knitted.

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As this was not intended to be a long term project, this is probably a good time

to draw a line under this particular project. If there are any teddy stragglers it is

proposed that these be given to “Mary’s meals”

Rita Carmichael.

Quilting Class

Every Wednesday at 10.00 in the Church Hall. Beginners welcome. If you are

interested in joining a lively group of ladies to learn quilting. Please give Rita

Carmichael a call on 529289 as places are limited. The new term and a new

project commences at the end of January

Prayer Group The Prayer Group comprises of men and women who have agreed to pray every

day for those named on our Prayer Letter, which is up-dated every week. A

request for prayer can be made by using the cards on the pews and placed in

the basket. Urgent requests for prayer will be received by Margaret

Spence. Details are then e-mailed to all the Group.

If you would like to know more about the Group or would like to join with us in

praying for others speak to Margaret Spence.

We also have an afternoon meeting every second month sharing together

in prayer and of course the ever welcome cup of tea

Smartie Challenge On Sunday, 26th October we were delighted to welcome Barbara Edmondson to

our Sunday morning service. Barbara just wanted the opportunity to thank the

congregation for their ongoing support to the provision of Water Guard in

Kibera. She joined us for tea and coffee after the service where she was

delighted to show slides to all who were interested and chat about the effects of

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our donations to this very worthwhile cause. To date we have sent £1400 to

Vision Ministries – that’s effectively 7000 bottles of Water Guard we have

helped to supply to the people in one of the largest slums in the world. That is

a remarkable achievement but we must not get complacent – this challenge is

ongoing but we need the participation of everyone in our church family. Please

please continue to support the Smartie Challenge – empty tubes are available in

the hall as is the box where you can place your filled tubes. 7000 thank you’s

from the people in Kibera for your contributions to date.

Skelmorlie, Wemyss Bay and Inverkip Men’s Fellowship (SWIM)

Come SWIM with us!

SWIM is the headline shortcut for Skelmorlie, Wemyss Bay and Inverkip Men's

Fellowship, which is a bit of a mouthful! We are now well into our syllabus for

2014 which has been very enjoyable, both informative and entertaining - with a

cheering cuppa to round off the evening.

Several ladies joined us for our opening meeting when our Rev. Archie Speirs

gave us an interesting talk and slide show entitled Africa a Continent of

Contradictions. We have also had talks from Keith Loxam on How Digits

Changed Our Lives, Alan Grant on Stories from the J.P. Court and Bill Wright on

The Attic Players.

Another evening to which all are welcome is our popular Christmas Concert with

entertainment provided by our joint Church Choirs and the Soggy Bunnet Boys -

by special request. Church Organist Siona is already working with choirs to

ensure we have a most enjoyable musical evening. Our Fellowship Members will

be providing some tasty seasonal fare! All proceeds from the evening will go to

Ardgowan Hospice.

Looking ahead to 2015, we have our Rev. Liza Geddes talking about My Journey

to the Ministry-- another evening when we will be delighted to welcome lady

visitors.

Ken Thomson, President.

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World Mission Stamps! Christmas is not far away, which means lots of envelopes and stamps. World Mission can turn your used stamps into money for their 2014 project – to help the Greek Evangelical Church’s new Refuge House for women victims of domestic violence and their children, in north Greece. Please remember to cut or tear the stamps from the envelopes, leaving at least a quarter of an inch of paper all round, and don’t try to remove the paper from the back of the stamps; damaged stamps have no value. There is a box in the Church Hall for stamps – British and foreign. Thanks to all who support this appeal.

Blythswood Shoebox Appeal

This picture shows the shoeboxes awaiting collection - A huge thank you to everyone who filled a shoebox. We delivered over 50 to Blythswood Care. Be assured that these gifts will make Christmas real for extremely poor families in Romania. Once again our Skelmorlie and Wemyss Bay Church family

delivered.

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Property

Kitchen: The cooker, fridge/freezer and cabinets were installed in time for the new Soup Season. Many people have admired the way the new “range” cooker was integrated; huge appreciation is due to our member Bruce McKechnie whose firm Mach3 Joinery did these alterations - a wonderfully neat and pleasing job. (We still plan to add a commercial dishwasher a little later.) Manse: The ground drainage/subsidence problem has been fixed by installing a new drain. The boundary wall has been repaired (ivy removed and repointed.) Church Toilets: Work to prevent damp wall surfaces is now underway on the flower room/disabled toilet, with the Ladies and Gents toilets to follow. Worship: The screen has been in use for some weeks now and most people appear to like it. Thanks to John Scott for great help with the installation. Other screens will be added for the side aisle and the minister and choir. Help! We now urgently need to build up a team of volunteers to (a) prepare the material each week, and (b) operate it on Sundays (can be separate people). It’s interesting and not difficult for anyone - young or old or in-between! - who can use a PC or would like to learn; we will of course give some training. Could you do this; or, do you know anyone who would be interested? Even, someone who doesn’t come to church at the moment? To find out more, please speak to me (Bill Wright) or any elder.

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Gardens: Again thanks to the folk who look after the gardens, paths etc. They would warmly welcome anyone else who would like to do a little gardening and outside work now and again. Car Park: We will get the holes at the entrance repaired as soon as possible. We may install a height restrictor to stop heavy commercial vehicles coming in without agreement. If you see any such vehicles in the car park, a quick photo and details of the firm concerned would be very useful. Help! again... we would like one or two more people to join the property team... there are lots of varied and interesting things to get involved in (you don’t have to do everything!). Please speak to me (Bill Wright) or any office-bearer.

A word from the editor

Thank you to everyone who has provided input to the Parish Record. Without

you the job would be much harder.

If you have any articles that you would like to submit please e-mail me at

roddy.mcaskill@gmail.com. Alternative a piece of paper works just as well!

If you have any suggestions on articles or items to include please let me know.

To whet your appetites the next issue we will have the story of Greer’s sailing

trip to Norway, more poetry and prayers, along with some surprises.

I’m currently looking for a reporter – someone who could do a couple of

interviews – if you are interested please let me know.

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Door Duty & Offertory Rota

Door Duty and Offertory rota for January to June 2015

Please be at the door no later than 11.00 am

January April

4th T Ovens, J Beaumont 5th J Barbour, C Sangster

11th M O’May, N Jackson 12th T Ovens, J Beaumont

18th E Wright, A Craig 19th E Wright, A Craig

25th A Haig, G Black 26rd M O’May, N Jackson

February May

1st J Nugent, M Macintosh 3rd A Haig, G Black

8th T Craig, A Beattie 10th J Nugent, M Macintosh

15th C Scott, E Yde 17th T Craig, A Beattie

22nd F Nicol, I Jarvie 24th C Scott, E Yde

31st F Nicol, I Jarvie

March

1st I Lightbody, Ann Grant June

8th G Mackenzie, M MacLean 7th I Lightbody, Ann Grant

15th J McAnna, A Doull 14th R Carmichael, B Spence

22nd E Bichard, H Steel 21st J McAnna, A Doull

29th R Carmichael, B Spence 28th E Bichard, H Steel

Please bring a partner. If you are not available for duty on the date specified, please make an alternative arrangement with someone else on the rota. Do not

assume that someone will stand in for you!

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Church Flowers We are indebted to all who donate flowers for the beautification of the Sanctuary throughout the year. If you wish to donate flowers on any of the free dates, please contact Ann Grant Tel: 520987.

January April

4th Mrs E Scott 5th Miss R Carmichael (Easter)

11th Mrs L McFarlane 12th Mrs N Jackson

18th Mrs I Dick 19th Mrs Sloss

25th Mrs I McNeil 26th Miss G Hunter

February May

1st Mrs I Jarvie 3rd Mrs M O’May

8th Mrs M Mcgregor 10th Mrs G McKenzie

15th Mrs S Leitch 17th Mrs M Mackintosh

22th Mrs E Grant 24th Mrs M Lamb

31st Mr J Crighton

March

1st Mrs H Boyle June

8th COMMUNION 7th Mrs A Grant

15th Mrs Baillie 14th COMMUNION

22nd Mrs E Wright 21st Mrs E Ovens

29th Mrs A Haig 28th Mrs R Barnes

Many thanks to all those who donate flowers each Sunday. Special thanks to the

"arrangers who do so well" this is a wee reminder how the rota works!

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There is a convener for each month. The names are on the notice board. The

convener will contact the person donating flowers, decide on flowers and

arrange collection of money. The person donating flowers can request who the

flowers are given to but anyone in the congregation can request fora church

member or indeed anyone in the community who is sick, housebound

or bereaved. It is helpful if the person requesting the flowers can also deliver.

We usually manage three bunches a week but there may be a waiting list!

Flowers like everything have gone up in price and it takes about £25 to do a

pedestal. We are very fortunate in our church with generous donations. Thanks

again for helping us to serve the church in this way.

The Rev. Bruce Nicol.

It has been 100 years since the start of WW1. Two years after it ended, in

1920, Skelmorlie Parish Church was gifted two magnificent brass vases by Mrs

Bruce Nicol in memory of her husband’s fellow soldiers who lost their lives.

This is a short story about the life of the Rev. Nicol.

1886 Born in Edinburgh, in the manse of the Tolbooth Parish Church.

1902 Attended the University of Aberdeen, with the intention of studying

medincine, but changed to Divinity and graduated in 1908. After graduation, he

worked in Buenos Aires, then returned to Edinburgh.

1911 He was asked to preach at Skelmorlie Parish Church and in July, was

ordained in Skelmorlie Parish.

1912 Married Helen. Rev Bruce Nicol was a very fine singer and pianist and

also very friendly with the Rev John S MacDonald of Wemyss Bay and Skelmorlie

United Free Church.

1914 Rev Nicol was given 6 months leave of absence to preach at St George’s,

Edinburgh as their Minister had enlisted.

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1915 Rev Nicol returned to Skelmorlie, but applied for a chaplains

commission, which he received in 1916. His last service was 14/5/16. He was

then sent to France, attached to the 15th infantry. Also worked at the 11th

General Hospital, then joined the London field ambulance. He also worked at

Marseilles, then onto Mount Olympus.

1917 Moved to the Balkans. Also served in Alexandria and Beersheba. Then

transferred to HLI 52nd Division and the 5th Argyll and Southerland

Highlanders. Spent the Christmas of 1917 in the Holyland.

1918 Sailed from Alexandria to France. July of 1918, he had 10 days leave in

Skelmorlie, the first leave since 1916. Then back to France for

Arras. Hindenburg line late August. He spent 10 days in Paris during the

September of 1918. He received the military cross for conspicuous gallantry and

devotion to duty. October, marched to Belgium. November 11th was the last

fight - wood south of Varese. He then remained with the 6th HLI until the

spring of 1919 and then with the first black watch in Aldershot. He was unable

to get early release from his post.

1919 July, returned to Skelmorlie, until leaving for St Margaret’s Parish,

Edinburgh in 1920 to help train divinity students.

1930 Rev Nicol died.

The vases given to Skelmorlie Parish Church by Helen Nicol were made by James

Valentine, an elder and the gardener at Moreland.

Mrs Helen Nicol wrote a book about her husband’s WW1 experiences.

Aileen Smith

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Fun Corner

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A Very Wise King

Long ago, about 2000 years,

when King Herod ruled Judea

(now part of Israel), God sent the

angel Gabriel to a young women

who lived in the northern town

of Nazareth. The girl's name was

Mary and she was engaged to

marry Joseph.

The angel Gabriel said to Mary: 'Peace be with you! God has blessed you and is

pleased with you.' Mary was very surprised by this and wondered what the

angel meant. The angel said to her 'Don't be afraid, God has been very kind to

you. You will become pregnant by the Holy Spirit and give birth to a baby boy

and you will call him Jesus. He will be God's own Son and his kingdom will never

end.' Mary was very afraid but she trusted God. 'Let it happen as God chooses.'

She replied to the angel. Gabriel also told Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth who

everyone thought was too old to have children, would have a baby boy whom

God had chosen to prepare the way for Jesus.

Mary said goodbye to her family and friends and went to visit her cousin

Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah. Elizabeth was very happy to see Mary. She

knew that Mary had been chosen by God to be the mother of his Son. An angel

had already told Zechariah that Elizabeth's baby would prepare people to

welcome Jesus. He was to be called John. Mary stayed with Elizabeth about

three months and then returned home to Nazareth.

Joseph was worried when he found out that Mary was expecting a baby before

their marriage had taken place. He wondered if he should put off the wedding

altogether. Then an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said: 'Don't be

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afraid to have Mary as your

wife.' The angel explained that

Mary had been chosen by God

to be the mother of his Son

and told Joseph that the baby

would be named Jesus which

means 'Saviour' because he

would save people. When

Joseph woke up, he did what

the angel had told him to do and took Mary as his wife.

At this time, the land where Mary and Joseph lived was part of the Roman

Empire. The Roman Emperor Augustus wanted to have a list of all the people in

the empire, to make sure they paid their taxes. He ordered everyone to return

to the town where their families originally came from, and enter their names in

a register (or census) there. Mary and Joseph travelled a long way (about 70

miles) from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because that is where Joseph's family came

from. Most people walked but some lucky people had a donkey to help carry

the goods needed for the journey. Joseph and Mary travelled very slowly

because Mary's baby was due to be born soon.

When they reached Bethlehem they had problems finding somewhere to stay.

So many people had come to register their names in the census, that every

house was full and every bed was taken in all of the Inns. The only shelter that

they could was a stable or cave with the animals. In this poor place Mary gave

birth to Jesus, the Son of God. In those days it was the custom to wrap newborn

babies tightly in a long cloth called 'swaddling clothes'. Jesus' bed was the

manger that the animals ate their hay from.

In the hills and fields outside Bethlehem, shepherds looked after their sheep

through the long night. As the new day began, suddenly an angel appeared

before them and the glory of God shone around them. The shepherds were

very, very scared, but the angel said, 'Don't be afraid. I have good news for you

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and everyone. Today in Bethlehem a Saviour has been born for you. You will

find the baby lying in a manger.’

Then many more angels

appeared, lighting up the sky.

The shepherds heard them

praising God singing: 'Glory to

God in highest, and peace to

everyone on earth.' When the

angels had gone the shepherds

said to one another, 'Let's go to

Bethlehem to see what has

happened.' So the shepherds went to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph.

The baby Jesus was lying in a manger as they had been told. When they saw

him, they told everyone what the angel had said and everyone who heard the

story were astonished. Then the shepherds returned to their sheep, praising

God for sending his Son to be their Saviour.

When Jesus was born, a brand new bright star appeared in sky. Some Wise Men

in faraway countries saw the star and guessed what it meant. They were very

clever men that studied the stars and had read in very old writings that a new

star would appear when a great king was born. They set out to find the new king

and bring him gifts.

The Wise Men followed the star towards the country of Judea and when they

got to the capital called Jerusalem they began to ask people: 'Where is the child

who is born to be king of the Jews?' Herod, the king of Judea, heard this and it

made him very angry to think that someone might be going to take his place as

king. Herod sent for the Wise Men to come to him. He told them to go on

following the star until they had found the baby king. He said: 'When you have

found him, let me know where he is, so that I can go and worship him.'. But

Herod did not tell them that he really had an evil plan in mind to kill the new

king.

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The Wise Men followed the

star towards Bethlehem

(where it said that the king

would be born in the old

writings). It seemed to stop

and shine directly down

upon the place where Jesus

was.

The Wise Men entered the house where they now lived and found Jesus with

Mary, they bowed down and worshipped him. The Wise Men spread the the

gifts they had brought before Jesus. The gifts were gold, frankincense and

myrrh. The Wise Men were warned in a dream, by God, not to go back to Herod.

So they returned home to their countries in the East by a different way.

When the Wise Men had gone, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get

up,' the angel said, 'take Jesus and Mary and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I

tell you, for Herod is going to search for Jesus to kill him.' So Joseph got up, took

Jesus and Mary during the night they left for Egypt, where he stayed until Herod

died.

When Herod realized that he had been tricked by the Wise Men, he was furious

and he gave orders to kill all the boys aged two or younger in Bethlehem and

the surrounding area. This was to try and kill the new King, as his plan to find

the location of the new king from the Wise Men had failed.

After Herod had died, Joseph had another dream in which an angel appeared to

him. The angel said, 'Get up, take Jesus and Mary and go back to Israel, for those

who were trying kill Jesus are dead.'

So Joseph got up, took Jesus and Mary and they went back to Israel. But when

he heard that Herod's son was now king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. So

instead they went to Galilee, and lived in their old town of Nazareth.

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If you use any of these advertisements to purchase goods or service please make sure you tell the advertiser

you saw them listed in THE PARISH RECORD

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McCaskie’s @ The Seaview

Now serving Sunday lunches Opening hours

From 12pm – 4pm Mon – Thurs 8am – 4pm

(roast of the day available) Fri & Sat 8am – 6pm

Sun 9am – 4pm

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To advertise in this publication please e-mail adverts@skelmorliewemyssbaychurch.org

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DIARY OF SERVICES

CHRISTMAS 2014

November 30 11.30am 1st in Advent;-

Community Advent Service invite a neighbour

December 7 11.30am 2nd in Advent;-

Gift Service please bring a selection box

December 14 11.30am 3rd in Advent;-

Communion

December 21st 11.30am 4th in Advent. The Sunday Club will participate

CHRISTMAS EVE

10.30pm

Service conducted by Revd. Liz Geddes

Hot mince pies, shortbread, mulled wine and Christmas drinks in the hall

11.30

Watchnight Service

CHRISTMAS DAY

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