September is a good month to visit Scotland as the weather is often dry with many sunny days, tho’ perhaps a bit chilly in the mornings! It’s pleasant weather for touring around and since it is the first month of Autumn you see the beauty in the trees as the leaves begin to change colour, but still with lots of flowers in the gardens and hedgerows. This year, the weather has been particularly warm and sunny at the beginning of the month, so we took the opportunity to travel.

Our first trip took us East from Glasgow to the Firth of Forth where the river makes it’s exit into the North Sea, and on whose southern bank sits the city of Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city. We took a one and one half hour boat trip around the three bridges and Inchcolm Island, and found the historic commentary on board very interesting. Here are some photographs.

Later that week we travelled 200 miles north to visit family and friends along the Moray Coast and were thankful the warm weather seemed to travel with us, as you can see from the photographs.

On the Sunday we met other friends at the morning service in Elgin Baptist Church and later enjoyed a beautiful afternoon sitting at the harbour in Gardenstown.

The five days passed all too quickly and soon we were on our way home. We chose the scenic route via Inverness / Loch Ness, Fort William, Glen Coe and Loch Lomond. We had plenty of stops along the way and made the most of the day. Here are some final photos from our trip.

Well it’s sad in some respects to see the summer coming to an end for yet another year, but every season has its attractions, despite the changing weather patterns! The Autumn colours, the planting of Spring bulbs, winter nights with a good book, or friends and family around the fireside all have their attractions!

Our lives have their seasons too, our childood and teenage years, our early adult life, then middle age and old age! Now that I find myself in the latter category, it is interesting to think back and review all of life’s ups and downs, joys and sorrows, successes and disappointments. Photographs are a great way of doing that. The arrival of children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren are often a sure way to bring a smile to your face.

At the Church we visited in Elgin the pastor asked the question, ‘so what are you looking forward to’? You could expect a hundred and one answers to that question if you were to stop people on the street. but I think ‘seniors’ generally would answer differently from the rest of society. The pastor’s sermon that day was entitled A LIVING HOPE! You can see why from the Bible passage he read quoted below.

Quote – “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:3-5 (main points of sermon highlighted)

Compare this with the following quotation from the late atheistic philosopher Bertrand Russell. Quote – “all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the débris of a universe in ruins” …….. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.”

Actually the sermon at Church that Sunday finished with the thought of increasing hope as you get older, which is surely counter cultural, and the antithesis to Mr Bertrand R’s message of doom and despair! The Christian message is based on the historical facts of the life, death and resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ the Son of God, who came to save us from the consequences of our sin, if only we will repent and put our trust in Him as our Saviour. Watch below the late Willie Gilvear from the Gallowgate in Glasgow telling what hope he found in Jesus.

So as you get older what are you hoping for? There is new birth, new hope, an inheritance in heaven and security in life and death available through faith in Jesus Christ. Someone has said, life without Christ leads to a hopeless end, but life in Christ leads to an endless hope!

Not yet a Jesus follower? Why not seize the opportunity and come to Christ now and start a life filled wiith HOPE? Here’s Willie Gilvear ….

Always glad to hear from my readers! Be blessed wherever you are!

Matthew