SUNDAY 19TH APRIL 2020
HOPE AT THE CROSS Although I had expected to see something of a slowing in the support we are providing as more and more government measures have come in to place, we are finding that people are just as much in need of our help as ever. As quickly as food has been donated, Murdo and I have found a home for it with people coming in or by the home deliveries we have made. We have even managed, with some help from CnES and emergency services, to successfully send help to some shielding and isolated people in Barra with things from our Baby Bank which they needed. One of the things we did do this week was to move the large cross in to the middle of the hall. In this week immediately following Easter, we felt that it was important to make it clear to all those coming in to the building our motivation for what we do. We put it deliberately in the way, in the centre of the hall, so that no one could miss it and hopefully find some hope in remembering the gospel. There has been a great many people who have had to walk around it this week, and I’m sure they had cause to wonder what it was doing there and remember. War Cry’s have been at the foot of the cross and some have been taken. In the days following the resurrection, the disciples encountered the risen Jesus in ways they never thought possible. I write in my thought this week about the two on the Emmaus Road who encountered Jesus as he opened up the scripture to them and made their hearts burn with the Holy Spirit’s encouragement. But it is my hope, that people have encountered the risen Christ by our actions in these recent weeks. Whether that is by the practical support we have been able to offer from the hall, or by the emotional and spiritual support many of you have been providing to others by keeping in contact with them. Only God could take an ancient tool of torture and execution and make it one of the greatest symbols of hope the world has ever known. I don’t know what the days ahead have in store, day after day we hear of more tragic deaths attributed to this virus. But I know who holds the world in love and that there is always hope for one who lives in the shadow of the cross. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
The Salvation Army Stornoway Corps 59 Bayhead Stornoway HS1 2DZ
“We exist to worship God, to support each other and to serve our community. ” REGISTERED CHARITY NO: 214779 AND IN SCOTLAND: SC009359
Corps Officers Lts. Callum & Emma Newton Callum.newton@salvationarmy.org.uk
Telephone: 01851 703875 Mobile: 07493 880058
@stornowaysalvationarmy
Something to listen to...
Sunday meetings at 11:00am and 6:00pm. Music broadcast all week. Listen online at www.fortressradio.online
Salvation Army historian and author Commissioner Arch. R. Wiggins penned some beautiful words that reflected on the Emmaus Road experience of us all. Set to beautiful music by Bandmaster George Marshall, it has become a Songster favourite and is sung beautifully acapella by Chelmsford Citadel Songsters here: https://www.youtube.com/w atch?v=pJluW0m3M50
Luke 24: 13Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. I’m minded, when I think of that Emmaus Road story in Luke, of an old but powerful songster piece I have sung in the past when Cmmr. Wiggins wrote a personal perspective on the story (See Page 1); I set out a pilgrim sad at heart to walk a lonely road; Doubt had marr’d my simple trusting, Doubt a future ill forbode; And as I pondered o’er my grief, My shattered hopes and unbelief, A Stranger to my soul’s relief, Drew near and walked with me. Jesus himself drew near, When alone on the road, Oppress’d by my load, Jesus himself drew near and walked with me. Being a Christian at a time when a virus is spreading around the world killing thousands can lead to the inevitable questioning of why this could happen. We may be questioned by others and we may even be questioning it all ourselves. On the Road to Emmaus in Luke 24 were two men walking ‘their faces downcast’ so we’re told. Their hopes, their confidence and their faith in Jesus had been shattered by the monumental events of the previous week. But as they pondered their grief and shattered hopes, Jesus himself drew near to them. They shared their heartbreak with him who appeared as a stranger to them; ‘we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel’ (v.21). 25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. Eventually the men realise that it is Jesus who is with them, and as they think back on what he had said and did, they say “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (v.32) Isn’t it often the case that we recognise that Jesus has been with us when we look back on the journey rather than notice him in the middle of it? There are some important lessons for us in the story of the Emmaus Road journey. Firstly, you don't have and wont have all the answers. The two men were followers of Jesus and believers in Him. They had even met and seen Jesus, they knew the women who witnessed the empty tomb. And yet they had questions and doubts about His death and now potential resurrection. Some things of life are difficult to understand or accept, being a Christian will never give us all the answers to these things, but it brings us closer to the one who does have the answers. In a storm of chaos in his life, God spoke to Job who was trying to have all the answers to life’s problems. God asked him (Job 38:2-4); “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?...Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.” God questions Job for four chapters before Job answered with revelation; “You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” (Job 42:3) The important thing as a Christian is not to have all the answers, we would never understand them, but instead to have the confidence in Jesus walking with us on the journey who is the one who has the answers and has it all under control. Secondly, we don’t need to know everything, but everything we need to know has been given to us in scripture. When Jesus spoke to them on the Emmaus Road he explained to them the things that were in the scriptures. Later the men talked of how their hearts burned when he ‘opened the Scriptures’ to them. Your heart should burn with love and enthusiasm for His Word! The journey can be tough but all that we need to get through it has been given to us in scripture. Finally, our testimony is important. Once the two on the Emmaus road realised who Jesus was, ‘33They got up and returned 34at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen…’ The testimony of the two was the Gospel truth, Jesus is risen indeed. As Christians believe that Jesus has risen from death, given us a share in the victory over death and evil and that our lives are made new because of it. "He is risen!" is a great confession, but learning to live in the power of His resurrection is they next important step on the journey. We might not have all the answers, we might suffer and sorrow, but our hope is sure as we continue to walk in the shadow of the cross and never alone. General Orsborn wrote: ‘Sorrow hides beneath her wings, recompense for sufferings, and the blessing waits for us In the garden near the cross.’ May you find you can rest your sorrows there and pick up the blessing that waits for you at the cross.
Prayer Focus Merciful God, We entrust to your tender care those who are ill or in pain. We know that whenever danger threatens, your everlasting arms are there to hold them safe. Comfort and heal them, and restore them to health and strength; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Please remember in your prayers… • Major Karl Gray (Clapton) who has been in ICU with COVID-19 for some time now. His condition is described as stable now but still critical. Major Gray plays a huge role in The Salvation Army’s Emergency Response work with the emergency services in London. His family, particularly Major Ruth Gray and their children, would appreciate your prayers at this difficult time. • Please keep praying for our mission at Stornoway Corps in response to COVID-19. Announcement The Salvation Army nationally is taking a huge financial hit as a result of the Coronavirus situation. Many measures are being put in place and can be read about in a letter from the Chief Secretary attached to the email containing this Sunday Link. If you are able to pay your usual cartridge to the corps via cheque and post it to us then this would be very helpful. Alternatively contact Lt. Callum to enquire about possible electronic bank payment. Thanks. S.A. Songbook 79 1. I know Thee who Thou art, And what Thy healing name; For when my fainting heart The burden nigh o'ercame, I saw Thy footprints on my road Where lately passed the Son of God.
3. Beside Thee as I walk, I will delight in Thee, In sweet communion talk Of all Thou art to me; The beauty of Thy face behold And know Thy mercies manifold.
2. Thy name is joined with mine By every human tie, And my new name is Thine, A child of God am I; And never more alone, since Thou Art on the road beside me now.
4. Let nothing draw me back Or turn my heart from Thee, But by the Calvary track Bring me at last to see The courts of God, that city fair, And find my name is written there.
Listen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4CdwvsPTpo
Something to watch... The General continues to give regular video updates on IHQ’s YouTube channel. It is worth a look to keep in the loop with what he has to share from across the Army world. Of particular note, I bring your attention to his Easter message on sacrifice and also his call around the world to pray about the coronavirus situation starting this Sunday. Resources for prayer are available from: sar.my/covid19prayer IHQ’s YouTube channel and The General’s update videos are available here: https://www.youtube.com/user/SAIHQ/videos
The flag is on display with another flag from the mission in a Salvation Army heritage Museum in the USA.