Lent - 5

We take our Sabbath rest at Girvan. Girvan is a burgh in Carrick, South Ayrshire, with a population of about 8000 people. Originally a fishing port, it is now also a seaside resort with beaches and cliffs. It lies 20 miles south of Ayr, and 30 miles north of Stranraer, one of the principal ferry ports from Scotland to Northern Ireland. Boats also sail from the harbour to Ailsa Craig, an island in the Firth of Clyde. In the summer it is possible to sail around Ailsa Craig on the paddle steamer Waverley. Girvan railway station is on the Glasgow South Western Line.



Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."

When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said, "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." Then he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." (Exodus 3:1-10)

Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The Holy One, is here
Come, bow before Him now,
With reverence and fear.
In Him no sin is found,
We stand on holy ground.
Be still, for the presence of the Lord,
The Holy One, is here

Be still, for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around;
He burns with holy fire,
With splendour He is crowned.
How awesome is the sight,
Our radiant King of Light!
Be still, for the glory of the Lord
Is shining all around.

Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place;
He comes to cleanse and heal,
To minister His grace.
No work too hard for Him,
In faith receive from Him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place.

David J Evans (b. 1957)

Happy Sunday!