A human being fully alive
(Luke 24.1-12) (Easter Day) 19 March 2019 – © Neil Millar He is risen in the morning,he is risen from the dead;he is laughter after sadness,he is light when night has fled.He has suffered, he has triumphed,life is his alone to give:as he gave it once he gives itevermore, that we may live. — … [Read more…]
The verdict
(Luke 22.66-23.49) (Good Friday)19 March, 2019 – © Neil Millar As they were leaving church last Sunday, someone told me that Good Friday services were disrupted for them as soon as the preacher got up to speak. That’s a challenging comment to as a preacher when you’re preparing for Holy Week but, you know, I … [Read more…]
Services during Holy Week
Mon 15 – Wed 17 April 12.30pm – ‘Stillness, silence, solace’ – at St Ninian’s Maundy Thursday 18 April 7.30pm – ‘Service of shadows’ – at St Ninian’s Good Friday 19 April 9.00am – ‘Solidarity and solemnity’ – at St Ninian’s Holy Saturday 20 April 9.30am – ‘Stillness, silence, solace’ – at St Ninian’s … [Read more…]
Way off
(Luke 15.1-3, 11-32) (Lent 4) 31 March 2019 – © Neil Millar In the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia, there’s a famous painting by Rembrandt called ‘The Return of the Prodigal Son’. Of all the paintings I’d like to see, this one is top of the list. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get … [Read more…]
Just Desserts
(Luke 13.1-9) Lent 3 24 March 2019 – © Neil Millar In 2004, on Boxing Day, near Sumatra, an earthquake registering 9.1 on the Richter scale quake triggered a series of massive tsunamis that devastated communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean. All up, nearly 230,000 people died. Understandably, a tragedy like this … [Read more…]
Inward dark is parting
(Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18) Lent 217 March 2019 – © Neil Millar Last week, I spoke of deserts as beautiful and difficult places. In the spiritual life, literal and metaphorical desert experiences often go together. The story of Jesus’ in the wilderness is an example of this, and today’s Old Testament reading is another, and it’s … [Read more…]
Testing times
(Luke 4.1-14) Lent 1 10 March 2019 – © Neil Millar Deserts are beautiful places. A few years ago, when backpacking in Morocco, I had an opportunity to enter the Sahara Desert and sleep in a Bedouin camp, to climb one of those amazing sand dunes on a moonlit night and sit on the lip … [Read more…]
Craft and Remnant Sale
It was exciting to see so many people from the surrounding community join St Ninian’s for this sale held on Saturday 2nd March. Lots of people came along to buy very resasonably priced craft materials, enjoy a workshop on making cloth coasters and knitting and crochet lessons and relax over refreshments including St Ninian’s famous … [Read more…]
Strange glory
(Luke 9.28-36) Transfiguration 3 March 2019 – © Neil Millar This Sunday marks an ending in the church’s liturgical calendar. Over the past two months in the season of Epiphany, we’ve been reflecting on events in the gospels that reveal Jesus’ divinity – the coming of the Magi, his baptism in the Jordan, the miracle … [Read more…]