Belhelvie Church - Sermons

‘When was it that we first forgot that questions help us grow?’ That’s a line from one of the hymns we sang this morning as we remembered the only story we have of Jesus’ life as a young man. Aged 12, having been to the Passover feast for possibly the first time, he stayed behind in Jerusalem - unbeknown to his parents – so he could hang around the Temple and have discussions with the scholars and priests there. Our question to the 12 year old Jesus this morning is ‘Why? What made you want...

New year, new beginnings. What stars are you following as we move into 2023? Some thoughts on why the Wise Men were wise in our Epiphany Sunday morning service.

From the cradle to the grave, change is an unavoidable facet of life. How do we deal with it? How do we harness it for growth? Where is God in the middle of it? These are some of the themes we’ll be looking at this morning in our three cheeseboard stories.

Happy Christmas! A wee reflection on why we do Christmas Trees at Christmas, and a story about three particular trees long ago and how their dreams were fulfilled, but not in the way they might have expected.

We had a great time this morning reworking the ’12 Days of Christmas’ song to tell the Nativity Story and remind us why Jesus came to be with us all those years ago. You can join in with the fun by following the link below.

Christmas? It’s really for the children. Or is it? When you actually look at the Christmas story there are far more adults involved than children and if we focus on the baby who was born without remembering the man he became, we rob the incarnation of most of its meaning. This child who was born is the very same one they sent to the cross for challenging the powers of his day by bringing the message of God’s inclusive, radically forgiving love. That’s why we always celebrate communion...

Our annual service of lessons and carols with the Bon Accord Silver Band leading our worship.

If the gospel is going to make any sense, it has to make sense in our real lives in all their complexity and contingency. That’s why I’m arguing this morning that Matthew’s account of the nativity is especially helpful. Luke gives us the Christmas bling (!) – the shine and the glory; Matthew reminds us that the light comes in the darkness of confusion, trouble and sadness – in other words, in the real world. Today’s sermon is a word for everyone for whom the ‘ideal’ of Christmas feels pretty...

Today, the last day of the church year, is known as ‘Christ the King Sunday’. Today we used the story of The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe to remind us what kind of King was born all those years ago in Bethlehem as we prepare for his coming.

In today’s Remembrance Service we reflected on the generational links that tie us to the story of last century’s great wars, and in the wake of Queen Elizabeth’s passing we remembered the way she and her family shared in the sufferings of their people during World War 2. By staying in London when it would have been safer to leave; encouraging people with their presence and their broadcasts; getting alongside folk and being real with them and rejoicing with them when the fighting had...

Ancient wisdom, not to mention human experience, tells us that body and soul are intimately connected. We’re creatures of sense and we can only experience our world, and indeed God himself, through our senses and our minds. Almost every spiritual practice you can think of begins with the body. So today we’re giving thanks for the ways in which God makes himself known to us through our physicality and remembering that he didn’t consider it beneath himself to join the community of those who...

Jesus wants us to be selfish, greedy people who only look out for themselves Read today’s story – the parable of the shrewd manager – and you could be forgiven for thinking that’s what it’s saying. Lots of commentators reckon this is one of the hardest parables to get to the heart of, but at its core it’s saying “if the crooks of this world know how to use resources shrewdly for their own gain, how much more should people of faith use what they have wisely, for better ends?” In a spell...

It’s just two little words, but their presence can make a big difference, and their absence speaks louder than we might sometimes like it to. “Thank you.” Today we’re reflecting on the story of the healing of ten lepers, reflecting on why it was that only one of them came back to thank Jesus, and thinking about how ready we are to offer our thanks to one another, and to our creator.

Today’s is a weird parable. A farmer has his harvest plans sabotaged by an enemy who sneaks in and sows weeds among his wheat when no-one’s looking. Instead of wading in and trying to haul out the weeds then and there, the farmer chooses to wait ‘til they’re fully grown before finally sorting things out. This little story is flagging up some big truths. The world’s not as we’d like it to be. It’s beautiful and broken at one and the same time. The weeds and the wheat spring up in the same...

Just past Newburgh, over the Ythan and a couple of miles down through the dunes, lies Forvie Kirk – a 12th century church that, along with the whole of the village, was buried by sand in a storm in the middle ages. Forvie’s old lichen-crusted stones spoke to me the day I first went to see them, more than 15 years ago. They had a few things to say about faithfulness; and that’s what we found ourselves thinking about in this morning’s service.

In this Sunday's all age service we're reflecting on Her Late Majesty's reign, hearing some moving and funny stories about her life, but also thinking about what the foundation of that exceptional life was.

Today, and next Sunday, we’re going to be reflecting on the Queen’s life together as we worship. This morning, the first half of the service will be given over to remembrance, and we’ll have some of Her late Majesty’s favourite hymns as well as videos and prayers to help us reflect on her reign and the foundation of faith it was built upon.

It’s often said that life’s a journey, not a destination, and what’s true of life is equally true of the life of faith. Discipleship isn’t a destination, it’s a road we choose to travel, whatever stage of the journey we’re on – whether we’re ‘just looking’, beginning to scope out what all of this means for us, or taking steps to grow our faith and work out how we can support the life of a congregation and not just receive from it. Today, Jesus challenges his hearers not to be hangers on...

1200 miles over two and a half months on foot. That’s what our friend John Gibson, supported by his wife Isobel and other family and friends, has accomplished – walking from Land’s End to John o’ Groats to raise awareness of issues around suicide, after his son Cameron took his own life in October of 2019. Last Saturday we joined John, and many others whose lives have been touched by suicide, for the Black Isle stretch of his journey. Today’s sermon reflects on that experience and what we...

It isn’t only bodies that can be crippled. Hearts, souls and minds can be crippled too. Crippled by stress, loneliness, doubt, loss, sadness, fear…. The list goes on. In today’s gospel reading Jesus heals a woman who had a crippled back, but the intriguing thing is that he proclaims her healed before there’s any sign that it had actually happened. It’s like he knew what was going to happen to this woman (healing), and was proclaiming as a reality it in the present. What if that little...