Life and Work – Sunday has been designated Life and Work Sunday, a day to remember and give thanks for Life and Work, the magazine of the Church of Scotland since 1878. More information at the back of the attached order of service.
Church Magazine – We are putting together the next edition of the church magazine and are looking for short contributions on lockdown opportunities – something you have taken up, gone back to, volunteered for, committed to in the last 18 months. Text or pictures. Please send to the church office – bowden.melrosepc@btinternet.com – Thanks!
Family Services – We are resuming our monthly Family Services on Sunday 5 September in the Melrose Church Hall with 1 metre distancing between families. The first of these services will be at 10am but there will be a discussion about the best timing for families going forward as there is a direct clash with mini rugby…. Having consulted with some families (with no consensus!) 4pm has been suggested as an alternative time. Sundays remain the best day. Rev Sara Embleton will conduct the sevices in Bowden Kirk at 9.30am and Melrose Church at 11.00am.
A message from the Presbytery World Mission Group – Dr Peter Ford, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, has offered to give us two lectures in the area of Islamic Christian relations. After several years of pastoral and Bible teaching ministries in Muscat, Oman and Khartoum, Sudan, Dr Ford completed his PhD in Islamic Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia. For the past twenty years, he has taught Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya, then at the Near East School of Theology since January 2013. The lectures will be delivered via Zoom with each session lasting 1-1½ hours. The sessions will take the form of a pre-recorded lecture, followed by a live question and answer session with Dr Ford. These will take place on Tuesday 31st August and Thursday 2nd September, both starting from 7pm. The first session is entitled “Do we worship the same God? Yes!…. and No…”. Session 2 is entitled “Are the barriers between us too high? No…. but it takes some work…”. Dr Ford has also made available some reading material to get us started in our thinking and a link to this will be sent to anyone interested. The sessions are open to anyone interested in wanting to know a little more about Islam and how it relates to our own Christian faith. For more information and to sign up, please email fiona@glenholm.co.uk or call 07944196234.
Kirk Session – There will be a meeting of the Kirk Session on Thursday 16 September at 7.00pm in the Church Hall. (1 metre distancing will be observed and face coverings must be worn unless exempt.)
Keeping Safe – Whilst most Covid restrictions in Scotland have been lifted the virus is still a threat and care still needs to be taken. Physical distancing is still recommended as is hand sanitising and the wearing of masks at indoor events. Complying with Test and Protect remains in place. The Church of Scotland is advising that we continue to observe 1 metre distancing in the short term. This gives us good capacity in both our buildings – up to 180 in Melrose and 40 in Bowden. Different options for joining in worship are now a part of church life. Please do what is right for you.
Worship – We meet for worship at 9.30am in Bowden Kirk and 11.00am in Melrose Church when we complete our journey through the Old Testament, looking at the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. You can join us live at 11.00am on Sundays on both Facebook and our website www.bowdenandmelrosechurch.org or watch the recording thereafter. A Sunday Worship podcast will be posted on Facebook and Instagram at 6.00pm on Saturday evening. You can also listen by phoning 01896 808551. A mid-week reflection will be posted on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/BowdenandMelroseParishChurch/ Wednesday’s reflection was from Jeremiah – ‘For I know the plans I have for you’.
Television and Radio – There are other worship opportunities on Sunday. Songs of Praise is on BBC 1 at 1.15pm. New Every Sunday is at 7.30am on Radio Scotland and Sunday Worship at 8.10am on Radio 4. Both will be available afterwards on BBC Sounds.
Prayer – This Sunday Christians across the country – and further afield – will once again join together in prayer and reflection at 7pm.
It is sometimes said of a person: ‘They can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk?’ When we hear it said, we know exactly what it means: Can that person translate their words into action? It is a question that could easily be asked on any number of occasions as we hear statements made by others. However, the challenge we face as those who are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ is to ask the question of ourselves, rather than of others: Can we walk the walk? The Letter of James sums this up when it urges us to ‘be doers of the word, and not merely hearers’. (James 1: 22) The translation into action of the word we hear proclaimed in the name of the living Word; the Lord Jesus Christ, is the challenge we face on a daily basis. We are all too conscious of the occasions when we have failed to translate our words into action. Equally, we are conscious of the One who embodies what is to ‘walk the walk’. As we walk with the living Word, we will better live out the call to ‘walk the walk’.
We pray:
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your living Word has come amongst us
And embodies what it is to walk in the light of Your presence:
Grant to us a renewed sense of the presence of Your living Word.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your living Word comes to us full of grace and truth
And speaks to us even in the shadows and the dark places:
Grant to us that we may hear the word spoken to us today.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your living Word comes to offer forgiveness to those who stumble
And who fall short of the glory of God:
Grant to us forgiveness and the opportunity to begin again.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Your living Word is for us the way, the truth and the life
And the One who calls us to be followers of the Way:
Grant to us that may walk the walk to which we are called in our daily lives.
Lord, in Your mercy,
Hear our prayer.
