Worship Sun 28 Feb, Lent 2: 'Picking up your cross'

WELCOME/
Hello everyone, and welcome to Lent 2! Last week we entered the 'wilderness' of Lent, journeying with Jesus out into the desert. This week, we continue along the way, moving - in scripture - from the wilderness to the area of Caesarea Philippi. As Jesus and the disciples move through the villages, he asks them 'Who do you say people say I am? and has  a bit of a falling out with Peter...
The WORSHIP LINK IS HERE.

CHURCH NOTICES/
I meant to say in the video that on 5 March, it's the International World Day of Prayer. If you'd like to participate, you can download resources at THIS LINK.
And, don't forget, if you keep an eye out over the week, you'll find various Lent challenges posted here on the blog for you to make use of as you wish.

Not much news to report, so, blessings as you go into this new week,
Nikki

Lent Baking Challenge wk1

WEEK 1/ PINEAPPLE UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
Lent is often described as a spiritual journey - we journey with Jesus toward Jerusalem, and walk with him through the events of Holy Week leading up to the Cross...
But unlike those first followers of Jesus, we know the story doesn't end on that first Good Friday.
St Augustine, the great 5th century African theologian and bishop stated:
'We are the Easter people, and "Alleluia!" is our song.
As we take these early steps into the season of Lent, so we look at our map to the end point, Easter Sunday, where death itself was overturned. Jesus triumphed over the grave, and in so doing pointed the way to eternal life with God.
So we begin this baking journey nourished and strengthened with knowing the joy that is to come at the end of the Lenten journey and of the joy to come forever.
Given we follow the one who overturned death, and who spoke of God's upside-down kingdom, what better way to begin our baking adventure than with pineapple upside-down cake?

Recipe/
You will need:
For the glaze and decoration -
50g butter or marg.
50g light brown sugar
1 x tin of pineapple rings glace cherries -
1 per each pineapple ring used 

Sponge mix -
100g butter or marg
100g caster sugar
100g self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 tblsp of the pineapple juice/syrup

Start by creating the glaze and the decoration at the bottom of the tin.
Mix together 50g butter or margarine, and 50g light brown sugar, and spread this over the bottom of a cake tin and a little way up the sides.
Open a tin of pineapple rings, and place these in a pattern all over the base, putting glace cherries in each hole.
Here is all our glorious hope for Easter- but we can’t see it yet.
We’re going to hide it under some sponge cake mixture.

Mix together 100g butter or margarine, 100g caster sugar, and 100g self-raising flour, along with 1 tsp baking powder, 1tsp vanilla essence, plus two tablespoons of the juice or syrup from the pineapples. Pour this over the pineapples and glace cherries, until they are completely covered.

Bake for 35mins at 180C/GM4, then take out of the oven.
Carefully [don't burn yourself!] up-end onto a plate.
All that hidden beauty and colour can now be seen, like the life that bursts into the world again at springtime, like the life of Jesus that fills the world with love and goodness.

Often, in Lent, we talk of taking things on, but more often we hear about giving things up...
Having taken on the baking challenge, you might consider giving up some of that baking goodness to a neighbour, or someone you know who might just appreciate a little glimpse of God's love and goodness in an act of kindness...

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Augustine was mentioned above. Here’s an excerpt from St. Augustine’s Confessions, in which he laments his hesitant embrace of faith in God.

Late have I loved you 
Late have I loved you,
Beauty so ancient and so new,
late have I loved you!

Lo, you were within, but I outside,
seeking there for you,
and upon the shapely things you have made
I rushed headlong – I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being,
were they not in you.

You called, shouted, broke through my deafness;
you flared, blazed, banished my blindness;
you lavished your fragrance, I gasped;
and now I pant for you;
I tasted you,
and now I hunger and thirst;
you touched me,
and I burned for your peace.

When at last I cling to you with my whole being
there will be no more anguish or labor for me,
and my life will be alive indeed,
alive because filled with you.
      ~ Augustine of Hippo, Confessions

A blessing for the way:
May we find the road that leads to life;
may we take the turns that brings right relationships;
may we pause to accompany others on the way;
and may we journey with God through Lent,
and long for the horizon and dawn.
And the grace.
    ~ written by Roddy Hamilton

Enjoy your baking everyone. And, if you're so minded, perhaps take a photo and send it in to us to share. Email/  minister.upperclyde@gmail.com

Lent Great Outdoors & Thru the window challenges wk1

Both 'The Great Outdoors' and 'Thru the Window' Lent activities will appear each week on a Monday afternoon. Early today just so you can check in and see what we're doing!

Great Outdoors Challenge:
Welcome to “Get Outside in Lent.” Each week there will be six ideas for things to do outside and a celebration suggestion - because even in lent Sunday is a celebration day. Pick and choose what you would like to do. Change it and make it your own if you want to, or just do what it says. More than anything , enjoy being outside, take time to connect with nature, with anyone else you might be sharing this with, and with God.

Wk 1/ 'Trees' - 

Scots pine

You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Isaiah 55:12 

Active meditation
1/ Hug a tree. Remind yourself that God made this tree and he loves it just as he loves you.
2/ Find an evergreen tree. How would you describe the green of this tree? Be imaginative.
3/ Find a tree with no leaves on it yet. Can you see buds where the leaves will form?
4/ See if you can find a tree with catkins on it.
5/ Take a long view and see if you can tell trees apart by their shape and the sort of pattern that their branches make (you don't need to know what they are, just spot the difference).
6/ Take a few minutes (or longer if you like) to sit under the tree. Lean your back against it and see if the experience speaks to you in any way 

Find a nearby tree if possible. Be quiet for a moment or two (as long as works for you) to reflect on what trees mean to you, and what the world would be like if we didn't have them.

A prayer:
Creator God, thank you for trees.
Thank you for the beauty that they bring to our world,
for the life that they support,
and for the part they play in your creation.
Silence
We are sorry for those times and places around the world
when people have destroyed trees because they are greedy for something else.
Silence
Help us to value trees as part of your creation not just for what they can give us,
but because you made them and you love them.
Silence -
Stand for a moment and let the tree point you towards God. 
In the quietness, what is the still, small voice of God saying to you?
Spend a few moments thinking of people and situations that are on your heart...
place them into God's hands...
Amen.

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Thru the window - connecting with creation through Lent even when you can’t get outside. 

Wk 1/ 'Trees' 

You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, 

and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Isaiah 55:12

If you have a tree outside your window where you can see it, stand or sit and simply look.

If there is not one where you can see it, feel free to use the picture above – it is a Scots pine – or find a picture of a tree that you like in a book or on the internet, or close your eyes and imagine a tree that you know.

Meditation
Trees are amazing things. Their roots go down into the ground holding them upright and stable and taking precious nutrients from the soil to feed their growth. Moving up the tree the trunk and the branches become thinner and more delicate making patterns against the sky that are often very distinctive. And they support life. Whether there are leaves on your tree or not, there will be creatures living on or under the bark; perhaps birds nesting in the branches; even squirrels or owls hiding away.

Something to think about
Where are you rooted?
What do you need to feed your growth?
What gives you life? 

Prayer
Creator God, thank you for trees.
Thank you for the beauty that they bring to our world,
for the life that they support,
and for the part they play in your creation.
Silence
We are sorry for those times and places around the world
when people have destroyed trees because they are greedy for something else.
Silence
Help us to value trees as part of your creation not just for what they can give us,
but because you made them and you love them.
Silence -
Stand for a moment and let the tree point you towards God. 
In the quietness, what is the still, small voice of God saying to you?
Spend a few moments thinking of people and situations that are on your heart...
place them into God's hands...
Amen.

Worship Sun 21 Feb - Lent 1: Into the wilderness

 WELCOME/
Hello, and welcome to worship, as we enter into the season of Lent, those weeks that lead us up to Easter - and traditionally a time to be a little more intentional in making space for God in our lives. It's a time for reflection, thinking about all those things that get in the way of walking with God, a time to repent - as in turn around from moving away from God and moving once more to God. Given that, our time of worship this week reflects on walking along God's paths of righteousness as we consider Psalm 25, and then, venture into the wilderness with Jesus, just after his baptism. I hope that this time of worship will help move you forward with God, as you head, with Jesus, to Jerusalem once more...

Just a reminder that if you look above this blog post to the various tabs, you'll find one marked 'Lent 2021' click on that for some Lent challenges to take up. There's a downloadable sheet with daily activities to help you reflect as you journey along the Lenten path, and some weekly options. Also, there's a couple of book recommendations, should you wish to pick up something to read...

Our worship link IS HERE and will take you across to our YouTube channel.

May each one of us individually and as a community take on the challenge of making more time for God in this season of Lent, and, as we do, may we be open to listening and learning from the One who loves us and calls us to walk in his ways.
Blessings on the journey
Nikki

Ash Wednesday service, 2021

A short service of reflection, as we begin our Lent journey this Ash Wednesday, can be found on our YouTube channel - via this LINK

Worship Sun 14 Feb: Love, actually

WELCOME/
Hello everyone and welcome once again to our time of online worship.
Given the date that Sunday falls on, St Valentine's Day, how could we do other than talk about love?
And, make sure to have your popcorn at the ready because faith goes to the movies in out sermon today - as we stand on the cusp of Lent, and think of God's love and the qualities of love as seen in 1 Cor. 13 we'll take a wee journey through the film 'Chocolat'...
The WORSHIP LINK IS HERE to take you across to our YouTube channel and below is some information about the upcoming season of Lent and some suggestions for the journey.

NOTICES/
Lent activity suggestions -
Lent is a season in the church year that gives us a concentrated space of time that we can set aside in order to help sharpen up our focus on God. It's often likened to a journey - we journey over the weeks of Lent towards Jerusalem, travelling with Jesus to those events in Holy Week and leading to Easter Sunday.
Traditionally, to mark Lent, the practice of giving up something, or taking something on, developed.
And, here at Upper Clyde, over the last few years, we've had both a daily and weekly set of options to help walk the Lenten pathway. Here in the Northern Hemisphere, Lent falls during Spring, so we can think of this time as an opportunity to do a little spiritual Spring cleaning.
Check back on the blogsite DURING THE WEEK - look along the tabs above the blog post and you'll find a tab specially dedicated to gathering our various Lent options, reflections, and spiritual tools - 'LENT 2021'
There'll be options for bakers, for outdoorsy folk, gardeners, for those unable to go outdoors, and even for lovers of Lego. Along with several book suggestions that you might find useful companions on the way.

Ash Wednesday -
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and falls on the Wednesday of this week - the 17th of Feb.
There will be a short service on our YouTube channel that will be available from 5pm on the day. It's always good to mark the start of a journey in some way, and so I trust our service will help to do just that. I'll put a link here or, if you've bookmarked/ subscribed to our YouTube channel, just head across anytime after 5pm.

Parish newsletter - Easter edition
Over the upcoming weeks, Dee, our magazine editor, will be looking for items of interest to include in what will be a smaller newsletter, rather than magazine [due to COVID-19 and not wanting to put folk at risk, and of breaking lockdown regulations]. If you have a favourite Easter themed poem, or a story to share, a favourite Easter hymn, or even a seasonal joke, do get in touch with Dee, she'd love to hear from you - you can do this via our 'contact us' feature on the right hand column, and these will be passed along to her. 

Have a good week, perhaps even a few pancakes on Tues, and blessings to you all as we move into Lent mid-week.
Take care
Nikki

Worship, Sun 7 Feb: 'You raise me up'

WELCOME...
Hello, and welcome to our online service of worship. We'll be reflecting on the God who raises us up as we consider the words of Psalm 147 and take a wee peek behind the curtains at Peter and Andrew's home life as we listen to Mark 1:29-39.
As far as church notices go, as we look ahead, the season of Lent is very nearly upon us - scary how the time keeps on moving. In our next time of worship, I'm hoping to share a few thoughts on some books that might be a helpful accompaniment as we journey through the weeks of Lent and to Easter. Along with that, there'll be options available for taking on a daily and weekly lent challenge - you can choose to do both, one, or bits and pieces whenever you're able... they'll be there as a help, not a measure of success or failure! Keep your ears tuned for a Lent Lego challenge, this is being prepared by our Community Outreach Worker, Angela - and she's got me intrigued, so, let's see how that will work!

I hope this finds you all keeping on keeping on, and managing with lockdown. If I can be of any help, if you'd like a wee chat, or, if you know of anyone who might, do let me know.
In the meantime, let's move across to our YouTube channel for our time of worship -
using THIS LINK to get there.

Stay safe, keep warm, and may you feel God's presence close by your side.

Nikki