Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid)

Meeting date: Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Official Report 855KB pdf

Time for Reflection

Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader is the Rev Andrew Agnew, pastor of the Livingroom Church.

Presiding Officer and members of the Scottish Parliament, I thank you for the invitation to address you during your time for reflection. You stand—or sit—at the beginning of another important year of work. Similarly, at the Livingroom Church in Wallyford, a small town on the edge of Musselburgh, where I am the minister, we stand at the beginning of another important year of work.

At times such as these, we re-clarify our aims, motivate our people and prepare for the many challenges in the year that lies ahead of us. I want to choose three biblical commands that guide me as I co-lead our church, in the hope that they might inspire you, too.

The first is to

“seek the welfare of the city”.

Those words were spoken to a minority group in Persia who were viewed as strange. Those who followed the God of Israel were told to work for the good of the country that they were in. It was not their ultimate home, but they were to live and settle there, and, especially, they were to pray for the good of their host country. Thanks to the amazing Parliamentary Prayer Scotland group, we, in our church, are learning to do that regularly: to pray for you and your work, especially as you endeavour to help this country after years of trauma.

The second command is to

“put on the armour of God”.

Those words were spoken to a different minority group in the city of Ephesus, which is in modern-day Turkey. The Christians who lived there had their critics and enemies. Life then, as now, was in a cosmopolitan society with differing values and beliefs. The words were a call to take truth, faith and the good news of Jesus as Lord and Saviour, who was crucified, buried and resurrected for our forgiveness. We are teaching our church dependence on Jesus as we face the challenges ahead.

The third command is to

“fix our eyes on Jesus”.

Those words were spoken to another minority group of Christians, from Jewish backgrounds, who were facing imprisonment because of their association with Jesus. They were given examples of people in the Bible who experienced hardship yet trusted God, and then they were helped to focus on the supreme example of Jesus, who gave his very life for our salvation, to give them strength to stay the course, come what may.?

Members of this Parliament, we, in Wallyford, joining our sisters and brothers from Parliamentary Prayer Scotland and many other churches, will be praying for you for wisdom, truth, courage, protection, guidance, strength and blessing and to do what is right in the year ahead. May God bless you.