Door Opens: Jeannie enters with her grandweans
JEANNIE: Mind the cobwebs. Wid it no' make a body weep ?
Broken windaes an' a leaky roof. Ah remember when this
kirk wis fu' every Sunday. Whit a day it wis,a' the
wummen in their Sunday best, men fidgetin' in the guid
suit, an' the weans wi' their scrubbed faces. There's
whaur auld.............used tae sit.....Aye it wis
jist fine.
They tellt us there wis less folk comin' tae
church,but as lang as oor wee kirk wis fu',it didnae
seem tae maitter.
An' every year the General Assembly wis oan the
telly settin' the kirk and the world tae rights,fae
yon fancy ha' in Edinburgh.But naebody paid ony mind
when it moved tae a wee single end in Portobello.
Efter a' oor wee kirk wis fu',it didnae seem tae
maitter.Then churches started closin' doon.The papers
were fu' o' it."
But oor wee kirk wis fu',so it didnae seem tae
maitter.Then oor meenister goat a wee bit agitated
an' said we'd huv tae hae a mission.Weel naebody
kennt whit that wis,but we thocht ,"Puir auld soul.
Let's humour him."So he tellt us we'd huv tae knock
oan folks' doors,tell them aboot Jesus an' invite
them tae come tae kirk.Weel ah wisnae keen,an'
neither wis a hale lot mair besides me.
In the end,a few folk an' the meenister went oot.
We were fair worried.Oor kirk wis fu' enough wi'oot
mair comin' in.But we neednae hae bothered .Only two
folk turned up next Sunday,an' that wis only 'cause
they were gettin' mairrit.
But oor wee kirk wis fu',so we were a'right.
The years passed by an' the folk in oor kirk startit
deein' or movin' tae find work,an' the kirk wis nut
fu' onymair.
The new meenister panicked an' said, "Bring your
freens an' family,yer neebours an' workmates,an'
somethin' aboot 'Sharin' the guid news.'
Whit the guid news wis ,ah didnae ken fur a' ah
could see wis empty pews.So we startit haein' mair
missions,but naebody wanted tae help an' naebody
wanted to listen.They pit up a wayside pulpit ootside
the kirk,"COME TAE KIRK NOO,BEAT THE CHRISTMAS RUSH!"
But Christmas came an' went,an' there wis nae rush,
jist a trickle at the Watchnight Service.
Then they made Maggie and me redundant.They
couldnae afford cleaners ,fur the kirk wis nut fu '
but empty maist Sunday mornings,except fur the
Meenister,the Church Organist, the Beadle and
Then yin day they pit up a notice oan the front door
,saying "Closed-Fur lack of Interest
Ah often wunner whit wod huv happened if we'd hud
some o' that guid news tae share .....Come oan,yer
mither 'll think ye've goat lost. (EXEUNT)
SHARING THE GUID NEWS ABOUT JESUS
Jeannie is sitting with her grandweans
CHILD: You haven't finished the story !
JEANNIE: Ne'er ah huv ! Whaur hud ah goat tae ? Ah ken..........
Ye mind ah tellt ye aboot Stephen ,the young laddie wha wis killt by the Jews fur sayin' Jesus wis God's son (CHILDREN NOD) .
Well,that same day,the Jews startit huntin' doon Jesus' followers. The worst yin o' a' wis Saul.He battered oan doors an' dragged the followers o' the Way (we were nae ca'd Christians yet), aff tae the jail.Can ye imagine,Saul thocht he wis daein' God a guid turn,gettin' rid o' these trouble-makers ?
Lots o' oor freens ran awa' fae Jerusalem.They ran in a' directions.BUT,nae maitter whaur they wur,they tellt a'body the guid news aboot Jesus.Wan wis cried Philip,an' he wandered aff tae Samaria o' a' places.There he preached tae shuge crowds o' folk. Here did God no' tell Philip tae tak' himsel' awa' tae the desert.At first,Philip thocht
God wis haein' him oan."Ah'm workin' great style here in the toons",thocht he tae himsel'.But naethin' else wid please God so Philip went aff as he wis tellt.
By and by an Ethiopian comes alang.He wis a high heid yin ,in chairge o' the money in the Queen's court. (The Ethiopians hud a King ,but he wis supposed tae be too holy tae run the country,sae the puir Queen hud tae dae it! ) Ah wunnert whaur yer Grandfaither learned that trick !
Onywey,somebody hud taught this Ethiopian aboot God,an' he hud come a' the wey fae Africa tae Jerusalem tae worship him.He'd bought a scripture roll an' he wis reading it oan the wey hame. "Whit ur ye stan'in' there fur ? Go talk tae him !' , says God tae Philip.Philip kennt better than tae argue,an' besides he was getting fed up waitin' fur somethin' tae happen . Ye should huv heard him pechin' tryin' tae catch up wi' the chariot.Then as he goat closer,he heard the man reading aloud.
" D'ye unnerstaun whit ye're reading ?", Philip said tae him."How can I unless
someone explains it to me ? (Ethiopia is just south of Edinburgh !) "Please climb up and help. Philip scrambled up.The man wis readin' aboot God's servant who wis led aff tae die,a lamb tae the slaughter."Isaiah 's talkin' aboot Jesus,God's perfect servant who willingly died fur oor sins" ,said Philip.,an' he tellt the Ethiopian the guid news.
The Ethiopian wis convinced,an' said ,"May I be baptised.I believe Jesus is God's son
and I want to follow him". Jist then,they arrived at a pool o' water .They goat doon fae the
chariot an' Philip baptized him. When Philip left,the Ethiopian wis a' excited an' desperate tae get hame an' tell his ain folk ,the guid news aboot Jesus. �
Talkin' aboot gettin' hame.Scoot the lot o' ye,yer mither will think ye're lost!
and join Maggie & Jeannie in
Babylon