Magazine
Message from the Interim Moderator
As your Interim Moderator, I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to your magazine. I have already got to know some of you and appreciate the warmth of your welcome to me. It is so very encouraging to know that you hold Rev Brian McDowell and his wife Mary in such high esteem and that they had such a successful and much appreciated ministry while they were with you. Now you are in a time of change and uncertainty and I know that this is very unsettling. This is a time when it is particularly important to trust our Lord for the future. Although the context is completely different, Jeremiah 29; 11 - 13 is a great encouragement for us: '"I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."' The Church is in the Lord's hands, and the Church is promised spiritual prosperity from the hand of God. Jeremiah's advice to us is simple, pray, for God will listen!
So the lord has plans to bless you. During this time of vacancy we are challenged anew to 'fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith'. We may do this looking towards advent and the celebration of the birth of our Saviour, the Hope of the world. Our secular society has largely lost sight of the true meaning of Christmas. Someone once said that if you take Christ out of Christmas all you are left with is M and S. In these days of austerity, M & S and all the other high street and on line outlets will represent for many a pressure to spend, a debt to carry and worry to endure. Christmas has become a time of high pressure, exhaustion and worry. For Christian people it should be a time of great celebration as we praise God for the arrival of his Son into the world, the one in whom we have a hope and a future. Secondly we may fix our eyes upon him who will lead us into a new year to face the opportunities and challenges of 2012. It is interesting to note that in the Lord's Prayer the real thought expressed by 'lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil' is not the thought that God will preserve us from times of trial, but rather that God will bear us up and enable us to overcome through times of trial to receive a blessing and a strengthening in our faith, fellowship and our future.
Finally we may remember an advertisement with the punch line; 'the future's bright, the future's Orange'. For us the future's bright because the future is Christ's, and we are a part of it.
May the Lord bless all in Elie, Kilconquhar and Colinsburgh with encouragement as we rejoice in our celebrations of Christmas and look expectantly towards the New Year.
Yours in Christ
Brian Oxburgh
K2
Hi there,
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Abby Cant and I have recently taken over the post of 'Schools worker' for Kingdom 2000 (K2). This is a really exciting time in my life. Having just got married in June, my Husband Xander and I have made the move from Glasgow to the sunny east coast (it's true what they say, the sun really does shine more in the East) and are thoroughly enjoying being a part of our new community – living and working to serve God here.
Since commencing my role in August I have been busy networking with various youth workers, ministers, head teachers and local volunteers, getting a wider picture of the work that is currently taking place within the local schools. Having taken over from my predecessor Gavin Thompson, I have been welcomed into many of the local schools, including all of the secondary's in North East Fife, which I spend time in each weekly. It is such a blessing to be so freely welcomed, and I am enjoying building relationships with both Pupils and staff alike.
I do enjoy going into the secondary schools weekly for SU groups which sees anything between 4 – 10 young people coming along to enjoy games, quizzes and discussions about relevant life issues and exploring just exactly what the bible has to say. As well as this, I have had the opportunity to attend various school assemblies as part of the Chaplaincy teams for the schools. I hope to take some assemblies myself after the New Year.
Please do join me in prayer for the young people of North East Fife. It is exciting to see what God has done, is doing and will continue to do. I would love to be involved with some of the 40+ feeder primary schools over the area, so please pray for open doors and opportunities there. But most importantly, please pray for a continual opportunity for young people to explore and engage with the person of Jesus.
Abby Cant
Children's Church at Elie
In October the children have been learning about Jesus the Friend by exploring John's gospel. We found out that Jesus is patient, sensitive and always has time for people. In November each week focuses on Elisha the prophet by reading 2 Kings. Elisha uses God's power to be a provider, life-giver, healer and warrior. The memory verse is 'I know, Lord, that you are all-powerful; that you can do everything you want.' Job 42:2
On the 18th December we invite everyone to our all age Christmas service. The service will help people think about what Christmas really means. Passages will be read from the Bible about the Light coming into the world, the birth of Jesus and celebrating our glorious saviour. The children will take part in the full service.
In January the children plan to fund raise for shoes for the new Riding for the Disabled horse called Jane. All at children's Church wish you a very Happy Christmas.
Sunday Club - Kilconquhar and Colinsburgh
These past few weeks we have been looking at The Miracles of Jesus.
So far we have heard about the raising of Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha and a very good friend of Jesus, the Feeding of the 5000, the turning of water into wine when Jesus and his Mother Mary attended a wedding. Also about the healing of a paralytic man in Capernaum where Jesus was staying and a large crowd had gathered to listen to Jesus' teaching and four of the man's friends went to great lengths making a hole in the roof of the house to lower their friend on a mat to catch Jesus' attention and how strongly they believed in him and healed the man saying "Son your sins have been forgiven!" Soon we shall start rehearsals for this year's Nativity Play together with the Monday Club. All children Primary School age are very welcome to come along to the Sunday Club and we also provide a crèche for younger children.
