Candlemas St Andrew’s 2026
Today we celebrated Candlemas, marking the end of the Christmas season.
Yesterday we hosted the Milngavie churches Prayer breakfast. It was very successful, we had a great turnout, a wonderful opportunity for fellowship and prayer between the churches. Thank you to all those who got up early to support and help with this.
Looking ahead…..
Saturday 14th February – Church Walk followed by tea. Meet in hall at 1pm
Lent – we are once again invited to join All Saints for their study group. We will meet every Tuesday afternoon in Lent 2pm in their small hall ( February 24th and March 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st)
The book to be studied is Dust & Glory by David Runcorn. It is a book of daily Bible readings from Ash Wednesday to Easter Day, broken up into the six weeks of Lent..
This Week
Tuesday 10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House.
Readings for next Sunday – 2nd Sunday before Lent – Genesis 1:1-2:3 Romans 8:18-25 Matthew 6:25-end
Today’s readings – Malachi 3:1-5, Hebrews 2:14-end, Luke 2: 22-40
Today we come to the end of our celebration of Christmas and Epiphany with the celebration of Candlemas. It is a pivotal moment in the Church year, when we take one last look back at Christmas and the Incarnation, and then turn to look ahead to Lent and the cross.
As part of the tradition of Candlemas, we light candles showing the glory of God’s light come into the world. But as we know when a light is turned on it creates a shadow. So, although we know Jesus is the light of the world, a life with Christ is not a life without pitfalls and dark moments, our earthly lives are full of challenges and difficulties.
But at Candlemas we celebrate Christ bringing light to the world, and significantly this light overcomes the darkness as St John says in his prologue.
“The light shines in the darkness but the darkness did not overcome it” John 1:5
At Candlemas we also hear once again the wonderful scripture from St Luke’s gospel describing the moment when Jesus was presented in the temple by his parents, arguably one of the most beautiful and moving stories of the bible. It’s a combination of contrasts and opposites. It is an extremely rich and beautiful text.
But it is bittersweet!
On the one hand we have the joy and celebration of the baby Jesus, the long awaited Messiah bringing salvation to all people. And on the other we have the chilling warning from Simeon – that this will come at a cost and so we are immediately reminded of the passion and crucifixion.
But at the heart of this passage is a story of three extraordinary people Simeon, Mary and Anna. All these three displaying qualities of deep faith trust and obedience to God.
First, we have Simeon – devout, filled with the Holy Spirit, assured that he would not die until he saw God’s Christ. And so, the Holy Spirit leads him to the temple at the very hour that Jesus is being presented and there we have one of the most beautiful scenes in the bible, an old man ready to die holding a tiny infant, over filled with joy as he does so. For this child was the long awaited Messiah, someone who will bring salvation for all people. Not just the Jews – for everyone and Simeon had waited so patiently for this moment. And then he speaks the wonderful words known to us now as the Nunc Dimitis
“Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation”. Luke 2:29-32
And then we have Mary. Both she and Joseph would have heard Simeon’s words, been amazed and probably filled with huge parental pride, bursting with joy and gratitude. And then Simeon utters the chilling words of prophecy
“This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel.. And a sword will pierce your own soul too” Luke 2:34-35
There must have been real anguish and questioning in her heart at these words. And yet Mary throughout scripture never makes a fuss about anything. She quietly gets on with the business of rearing the son of God, of doing God’s work.
And, finally Anna a devout prophetess of advanced age who never left the temple but worshiped night and day praying and fasting. She too comes to the scene precisely when Jesus is being presented and gives thanks to God for him. In her old age she too shows such commitment strength and hope.
And so, we have three such faithful servants. But in many ways these characters are representative of so many followers of Christ, who over the years and centuries have faithfully and without any fuss, worshiped and prayed day by day week by week. Who have lived their lives in the service of Christ quietly and unobtrusively, and in the case of Anna and Simeon now advanced in age, representing many whose long years of patient prayer and struggle is so valued and cherished. Their example is a gift to us all. A gift which has been given by many in this church over the years, and a gift which continues to be given. If we also can discern the will of God and live patiently and faithfully in the same way as Simeon Anna and Mary then we will surely live in the light of Christ.
Today as we take one last look back at Christmas, giving thanks for the great gift of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, we look ahead with expectancy – the way ahead may be uncertain and even filled with difficulties and challenges, but with Christ as our guide we may be confident of his presence with us and his strength to sustain us, as we follow in his way even to the cross and beyond to newness of life. Amen