Information

Morning service at 10.15am - Creche available every Sunday.

There is tea and fellowship in the Church Hall after Sunday service and a soup lunch once a month except during the summer months.

Next soup lunch will be on 4th March.

Sunday Club for school age children each Sunday during term time.

Check out the Events page for dates and times of forthcoming attractions.

It's always worth passing on a prayer update from Elaine, our Youth for Christ worker in Fortrose Academy

Hello to you all, this term seems to be zooming along! It's been great being back in school and really encouraging having more conversations with people about God than I have for a while. With one girl we were talking about seeing God at work in our lives, another was asking what is a Christian and what is baptism to give you just a couple of her questions, one member of staff was telling me she has started going to Church and is finding praying really helpful and just last Friday I was at the Fortrose youth cafe and had a couple of guys starting a deep discussionwith me about creation, the big bang, who made God, where did he come from etc etc etc. There is a clear spiritual hunger out there and it's amazing to be invited into people's conversations about all this stuff.

I would value your prayers for one of those youth cafe boys in particular, for someone who says he doesn't believe in God and isn't interested he seems to bring it up all the time! I long to see him encounter God in a way that is so clear it's undeniable and I'm sure that's going to mean lots of heart and perspective change for him but I can already see a hunger in him for truth!

I have been asked to get more involved in the Cromarty youth group that I have previously helped at every so often. There were a couple leading it (with the help of another couple) but they have had to pull out and so the group hasn't been meaning since before Christmas. Myself, another fab guy in the area called Alan Price and hopefully the couple who were helping already are going to be starting back. We are planning using Youth Alpha with them to start with. Please pray for all the logistics with this as we get organised this week, speaking to the right people, getting the right young people along and that nothing will be overlooked!

In school we have prelims on at the moment (last week and this week) due to the learning support department being extra busy I have offered help with supporting some of the classes that would normally have support in them, it's really nice being in some different places to normal! I'm also sinning some new young people the guidance team have asked me to work with and I'm considering some others. Please pray I would know exactly who and how God wants me working with!

Finally for now(or I'll be running late for getting to my first class!) I have a week of assemblies on love next week (6th till 10th feb) again please pray that I say what God has for me and also that he would prepare the hearts of those that will be there!

Thanks for taking the time to read this and for your prayers!

You're all stars!

Blessings

Elaine

Elaine Webster
Black Isle Link Worker
Highlands and Islands Youth for Christ
www.hiyfc.co.uk

This weeks lectionary gospel reading is featured below from the 'Message' Bible.
Please take some time to read it through, specially if you are not attending
this weeks service. This Bible translation is very contemporary but it can offer a
different perspective to verses that we know well from the NIV.

This weeks reader is ?.

We turn to a story about Elisha, who helps a sick army commander called Naaman whose pride almost wrecks his chances of recovery.

2 Kings 5.1-14

1-3 Naaman was general of the army under the king of Aram. He was important to his master, who held him in the highest esteem because it was by him that God had given victory to Aram: a truly great man, but afflicted with a grievous skin disease. It so happened that Aram, on one of its raiding expeditions against Israel, captured a young girl who became a maid to Naaman's wife. One day she said to her mistress, "Oh, if only my master could meet the prophet of Samaria, he would be healed of his skin disease."

4 Naaman went straight to his master and reported what the girl from Israel had said.

5 "Well then, go," said the king of Aram. "And I'll send a letter of introduction to the king of Israel."

So he went off, taking with him about 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothes.

6 Naaman delivered the letter to the king of Israel. The letter read, "When you get this letter, you'll know that I've personally sent my servant Naaman to you; heal him of his skin disease."

7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he was terribly upset, ripping his robe to pieces. He said, "Am I a god with the power to bring death or life that I get orders to heal this man from his disease? What's going on here? That king's trying to pick a fight, that's what!"

8 Elisha the man of God heard what had happened, that the king of Israel was so distressed that he'd ripped his robe to shreds. He sent word to the king, "Why are you so upset, ripping your robe like this? Send him to me so he'll learn that there's a prophet in Israel."

9 So Naaman with his horses and chariots arrived in style and stopped at Elisha's door.

10 Elisha sent out a servant to meet him with this message: "Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you'll be as good as new."

11-12 Naaman lost his temper. He turned on his heel saying, "I thought he'd personally come out and meet me, call on the name of God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease. The Damascus rivers, Abana and Pharpar, are cleaner by far than any of the rivers in Israel. Why not bathe in them? I'd at least get clean." He stomped off, mad as a hornet.

13 But his servants caught up with him and said, "Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn't you have done it? So why not this simple 'wash and be clean'?"

14 So he did it. He went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, following the orders of the Holy Man. His skin was healed; it was like the skin of a little baby. He was as good as new.

Mark 1.40-45

40A leper came to him, begging on his knees, "If you want to, you can cleanse me."

41-45Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: "Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people." But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.

You can check out this readings and other translations at http://www.biblegateway.com/

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