Texts:
John 14: 23-29
Revelation 21:10 & 21:22 - 22:5 

The Book of Revelation is a letter written to seven churches that are mentioned in chapter two of the book. John, the writer of the letter, seeks to encourage the churches to be faithful to Jesus in the face of temptation and persecutions they faced.

Watch the recorded sermon here: https://youtu.be/ffYJWLuJ9oA

Readings:
John 15: 9-17
Revelation 21:1-6
 
Great books have an opening chapter that grabs you and makes you want to read on and an ending that is deeply satisfying. Even better, an ending that ties everything together in a way that comes full circle, that the beginning and ending relate in life-giving ways.

Today we are continuing our series through the Lectionary that deals with the Book of Revelation. Our reading in verse 6 talks of God as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. The one who started the story, will be there to see it to its conclusion.

Watch the recorded sermon here: https://youtu.be/6HlNcp3WRJM

(from Psalm 148)
Praise the Lord! Let all the angels praise the Lord.
Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, shining stars;
praise him, highest heavens.
Let them all praise the name of the Lord!
God commanded, and the universe
was created, fixed in place forever.
Praise God,
Kings and all peoples, princes and all other rulers,
girls and young men, old people and children too.
Let us all praise the name of the Lord,
and worship the Prince of Peace.

Readings:
John 10: 22-30
Revelation 7: 9-17
 
Call to Worship (from Revelation 7)
From every nation, in every language, we cry out:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
and to the Lamb!”
Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving!
Honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!
Amen!
Amen!
 
As usual, a recording of today’s sermon is available. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/M9uHXMq5b8w
Early next week a printable copy of the sermon will be available from our News page.

Text: Revelation 5 – The Scroll and the Lamb

From a down to earth perspective, we human beings live in this physical worldly dimension confined by time and space. A question that has fascinated humans for as long as we could wonder is, what other dimensions of reality are out there? And there is this idea of thin places, where the distance between this physical earthly reality and the divine heavenly reality shortens and in those places we are more likely to connect with heaven. And there have over the centuries been mystics, visionaries and dreamers who seem to have been gifted with the ability to see into the heavenly dimension.

Not all those who claim this gift are genuine! But when deciding what would go into the canon of scripture, the church discerned that the Island of Patmos at the time of the exile of John was a thin place, and John was gifted with the ability to glimpse behind the veil into heavenly realities. And through the retaining of his vision in Scriptures we too are invited to glimpse behind this veil! And the question then becomes, what did he see and what do we see?
​
Hamish explores these questions in today’s sermon from the Book of Revelation. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/uawAoMw4LtI

From Psalm 30
Sing praise to the Lord,
    all his faithful people!
Remember what the Holy One has done,
    and give him thanks!
His anger lasts only a moment,
    his goodness for a lifetime.
Tears may flow in the night,
    but joy comes in the morning.
You have changed my sadness into a joyful dance;
    you have taken away my sorrow
    and surrounded me with joy.
So I will not be silent;
    I will sing praise to you.
Lord, you are my God;
    I will give you thanks forever.