milford reformed presbyterian church

Donegal’s a great place to live. One of the questions often asked by my well-meaning northern acquaintances is, “Have you settled in yet?”, even though we have been here seven years. If we haven’t settled in yet, then there must be a problem!

Donegal is simply glorious in its scenery. The rugged mountains, the barren heather-covered hills, the long sandy beaches. I love the time of year that we’re coming to the end of – the low afternoon sun casting its long shadows, bathing everything in a golden glow. I love the crispness to the air – cold enough to see your breath, but not enough wind to blow the cold deep into your bones. I love the colours of the landscape as the sun brings them out – the greens of the fields, against the blue of the sky, the golden browns of the trees just before their leaves fall.

Now it’s getting somewhat colder, and the place to be is inside. So I invite you to come to a special service we’re holding to praise God for his work of creation. The conservation folks at An Taisce usually have an annual service, and this year they’ve asked us to host and organise it for them; we’re delighted to do that and would like to broaden the invitation to everyone.

The theme of the evening will be “Living in God’s Masterpiece”. One aspect of the evening will be a journey of praise through the book of Psalms looking at Psalms which celebrate God’s creative powers. But there is much more to creation in the Bible than the Psalms – the wonder and beauty of creation is a theme that stretches from Genesis to Revelation. And we’re going to take a brief high-speed tour through the scriptures stopping to look at some of the highpoints of God’s creative work as we go.

We’d love to see you there on Sunday 9th December at 7.30pm at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church on the Kilmacrenan Road.

“The spacious heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim his handiwork.” - Psalm 19:1

Two old men were sitting watching a heavily loaded van making its way across an old bridge. The bridge croaked and groaned under the weight. As they watched, a starling landing on top of the cab, and immediately the bridge collapsed in a cloud of dust. One of the men turned to the other and said, “Heavy wee thing, that bird.”

Sometimes it’s not the big things in life that get to us, it’s the collection of little things that mount up, and soon you feel up to you neck. And perhaps you find yourself lying awake at night and your mind is racing with the circumstances you find yourself in, and it gets to the point where you are on the verge of panic.

Perhaps it’s the kids, they’re playing up, and you just don’t have the energy for this. Perhaps it’s bills coming in, perhaps it’s reports coming home from school of disruptive behaviour, perhaps it’s worries about a job, work isn’t coming in, or too much work is piling up. Perhaps it’s losing your job, and how then are you going to provide?

Perhaps it’s just that you are caught in a pattern you can’t get out of – you can’t seem to break free. Perhaps something has you addicted and you can’t break free. Perhaps choices you made have left you in a hopeless situation. Perhaps you have been dumped into your circumstances by others, and you are left there and you feel you are floundering, just keeping afloat and no more.

Is there hope?

We can’t always change our circumstances – despite what Oprah and the positive thinking gurus say. But the Bible teaches that we can be changed in our circumstances. In other words we can live in the same circumstances, but with a radically different mindset, and more importantly with the strength of God working in us and through us enabling us to cope. And often it is as he changes us that God does what we can’t do, and changes our circumstances.

The Bible also teaches that those who put their trust in God find that he controls their circumstances for their good. That gives a strength and a peace amidst the turmoil. And, although it doesn’t always happen, often he does lift us out of our circumstances and transform both them and us.

On Sunday evening (4th) we’ll be looking at what the Bible has to say this on topic in greater detail – ‘More than Conquering your Circumstances’. The meeting is open to anyone, and will be held at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church, Kilmacrenan Road, Milford at 8pm. Why not come along and hear more?

If you had an opportunity to plan your life – would you be who you are now? Who we are is, in part, the result of the actions and influences of others.

That’s fine if only good has happened to you. But since we live in a broken world there are many who have been shaped by situations and circumstances that have left deep scars across the surface of their souls. It might have been abuse, bereavement, absent or distant parents, alcoholism, drug dependence, or countless other factors.

We only get one life. It doesn’t seem fair that the actions of others in time past can mar and ruin who we are.

Perhaps this is you, and you’ve tried to hide from the past, but you know that it doesn’t work.

It’s possible to live with the past, and yet not cope with the past. It gnaws away at us. We become trapped, thinking that we have to remain victims.

In Ireland we are very good at putting up masks, and hiding behind them, pretending everything is fine. But underneath lies a soul that is still raw. The past is real; it cannot be changed. Yet it can be conquered.

Our past might define us, but it doesn’t have to defeat us.

But how?

As a Christian, and as a pastor I believe that there is an answer. The Bible offers help to the hurting, so that they can emerge like a butterfly from the chrysalis of their past. God makes a promise to hurting people: “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

What great words: hope, future, prosper. The hope that the Bible holds out is of a God who sets us free from the shackles of our past, who takes our past and uses it for good in us and around us. Not only does he rescue us from our past, but he rescues our past as well. The years we thought were lost are turned around and made into something profitable.

More needs to be said, and I will be speaking on Sunday evening (7th) on what the Bible has to say about ‘More than Conquering your Past’ at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church, Kilmacrenan Road, Milford at 8pm. Why not come along and hear more?

Mark Loughridge is the minister of Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church. He can be contacted on 074 9123961 or mark@milfordrpc.org. You can read more or listen online at www.milfordrpc.org

650 killed in flash floods in China. 9 blown-up in Iraq. 6 missing in a mine in America. 4 killed in a car crash in Ireland. In today’s world the numbers are made to matter, or the geography. Yet each tells its own tale of sorrow and heartbreak. And then there are the countless thousands whose stories never make the news: your mother, your son, your brother, your neighbour, you.

The long claws of suffering reach out and leave their filthy tracks over all of us. Death, disease, deterioration, depression, despair.

Yet just because it is almost universal doesn’t make it any easier to accept. Something deep inside us cries out for a reason – “Why is this happening to me?” – or perhaps not a reason, because a reason would do us little good. Instead, what we actually want is something to give us hope, something that will pull us through.

Some religions teach that we to are to bear it – there is no other course. Others teach that peace comes when we can ignore our suffering and rise above it. Still others teach that it is part of the cycle of karma.

Yet I suspect for most the reality of suffering cries out for a much earthier answer, something intensely real and helpful.

Is it possible to more than simply cope with suffering? Is the best we can do just to fill ourselves up with tablets and put on a brave face?

As a Christian, and as a pastor I believe that there is an answer. The hope that the Bible holds out is deep, profound and practical. The Bible teaches that there is both a reason and a resource. There is hope and there is help. It is earthed in reality and shows that we can more than conquer our suffering. We can take our suffering and triumph over it and see it used for good both in us and around us.

The great tragedy of this world is not that we suffer – that is inevitable. The great tragedy is that people waste their suffering, by missing out on the purpose for which it was given.

More needs to be said, and I will be speaking on Sunday evening 2nd September on what the Bible has to say about, ‘More than Conquering your Suffering’ at Milford Reformed Presbyterian Church, Kilmacrenan Road, at 8pm. Why not come along and hear more?