Kinlochleven Church - the next service is on Sunday, 12 May at 10.00 am led by the Rev. Malcolm Kinnear.

Duror Church - the next service is on Sunday 12 May at 10.30 am led by the Rev. Malcolm Kinnear followed by the Stated Annual Meeting of the Congregation of South Lochaber.

Nether Lochaber Church - the next service is on Sunday 17 May at 11.30 am led by the Rev. Malcolm Kinnear including he sacrament of Communion during the service.

St. Munda's Church - the next  service is on Sunday 17 May at 10.30 am in the Shinty Pavilion led by the Rev. Marion Kinnear.

South Lochaber Parish : Bible Study - Tuesday 14 May at 10.45 am in Jeremy's home - led by Melville on Philemon.

Kinlochleven : Bible Study -  Tuesday 7 May at 7.00 pm, Jonah chapters 3 & 4 led by Rev. Malcolm Kinnear.

Sunday 5 May 2024 Kinlochleven & South Lochaber Churches available on YouTube at https://youtu.be/dbSeI5SdilQ

Opening Verse ‘The first and last, who was dead and is alive. (Revelation 2:8)

Hymn  Ye who the name of Jesus bear, his sacred steps pursue;

and let that mind which was in him be also found in you.

Nor only as a man appears, but stoops a servant low;

submits to death, nay, bears the cross, in all its shame and woe.

Prayer Risen Lord, we proclaim you as the way, the truth, and the life. Grant us to follow in your way, to rejoice in your truth, and share in your risen life, to the glory of God the Father, Amen.

Bible Reading Matthew 17:14-21 When they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.” Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour. Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

Message The treatment of conditions that in previous ages would have been described as ‘lunacy’ has much improved. The idea that people could be ‘moonstruck’ persisted a very long time. Before the days of psychiatric hospitals there were some bizarre remedies in use. One of these was to drag the patient in the water around one of the islands in Loch Maree in Ross-shire!

Some translations of this gospel story use the word epilepsy, which is not in the original Greek. The way Jesus deals with it suggests the lad did not have epilepsy or psychiatric illness but that his trouble was caused by a demon. We cannot conclude from this, either, that every case of these symptoms is an indication of demonic oppression.

The boy’s father had faith enough to bring the lad to the disciples, and then to Jesus, when the actions of the disciples were not sufficient for the task. In Mark’s version the father was troubled by his own lack of faith. In that version Jesus indicates that a lack of faith was a feature of his whole generation, not just of his disciples.

Jesus spoke about prayer, and prayer and fasting as part of the strategy. There are times when we pray, and yet the answer is not forthcoming. Jesus had been on the mountain, where he was transfigured, and Jesus spoke of his coming death and resurrection. Up on that mountain Jesus had been in deep communion with God and heaven was opened, and his body glowed. That was real prayer borne of a personal identification with the will of God that involved surrender and sacrifice. That is the sort of prayer we need.

Jesus spoke of abiding in him. That is not just a warm feeling, it is to identify with him in his life of self-surrender and self-giving. It is to become one with him in his way of love and service. He gave us an example to follow. He came down and humbled himself. Such was the divine mercy. Jesus comes down and meet us by his blessed Holy Spirit. The fruit of abiding in him is a deeper prayer life, and a willingness to share in his work of loving and caring for one another. If we obey his commands, and abide in his love, we will bear fruit, and see results.

The actions of Jesus suggest that demonic possession is real. The church must learn to discern it, and to use Christ’s authority to deal with it. It is not psychiatric or mental ill-health in another form.

Faith is needed, not so much the amount of faith, but how the faith is exercised. If it is Spirit-led and used in the context of the body of Christ, it will achieve results.

Prayer Help us and lead us Lord, that we might have faith, that others might be made whole, in Jesus’ name, Amen.