Dear Friends,
By the time you read this letter Easter will soon be upon us, and Christmas 2012 will be history.
However, I thought I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who took part in, or attended, the various services at Abernethy Church: the School Service, the Beavers and Cubs Service, and the Christmas Eve Family Service, and the Watchnight Service (at Arngask). Well done! Yes, Easter will soon be upon us. Easter, the Christian Festival which is even more important than Christmas. Easter is the occasion when we celebrate the fact that Jesus was risen from the dead. On Good Friday mankind had done his worst; Jesus was tortured, ridiculed and executed upon a Cross on the rubbish dump outside the city wall. His own people got rid of him with the help of the Roman authorities. All was finished, or so they thought. Three days later Jesus was risen from the tomb; death had done its worst, but somehow death had been defeated.
As we know, church people and non-church people alike, speculation and controversy have surrounded the Resurrection of Jesus, and always will. Christians themselves have different ways of understanding what happened: some take the Bible accounts literally, others metaphorically, but there is one thing we all hold in common. It is this.
We know that something happened at the time we call Easter. Something happened about 2,000 years ago which brought new life and new hope to a small group of people. Something happened which transformed the lives of this small group who risked life and limb to tell a very sceptical, often hostile world. that Jesus had risen from the dead. And, as they say, the rest is history.
It is the resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate at Easter. It is a time for great rejoicing to know that death is not God's final pronouncement on human beings. For all who make the leap of faith and believe in Jesus there is wonderful hope. And such belief adds a whole new dimension to our lives.
If you do not usually attend church, don't let that stop you from coming at Easter. Come and swell the congregation as we tell the Easter story once again.
Thank you
A reminder of Church activities in St Brides Church, Abernethy
For the remainder of this year
By the time of the December publication we very much pray that we will soon be welcoming a new minister. After interviewing and hearing a potential candidate in her current church, the elected nomina- tion committee unanimously recommended that the Kirk Session invite her to take a united service in Abernethy on 17 November. We hope many of you will have taken the opportunity to hear the potential new minister and (if eligible), to vote afterwards whether or not to call her to serve our parish.
Sunday club for children age 3+ continues during term times and we can also cater for younger children during morning worship
Christmas Eve service is to be at 7pm on 24th December
Please note that morning worship at Abernethy will be at 9.30am in 2014!
The Service at Glenfarg will be at 11am for next year