“What a load of rubbish!” So shouted a member of the congregation in Moira Baptist church as Pastor Mark was speaking on St Patrick’s night. What a startling interruption! But the noisy heckler was none other than Saint Patrick (aka our pastoral assistant dressed in appropriate garb) and he was invited to the platform to explain who he was.
While our Saint Patrick’s Day special was an opportunity to dispel some of the myths surrounding St. Patrick, the main focus was to introduce us to the man and more importantly his message and his Saviour. Patrick helped us to know more about his origins, his travels, his conversion and his ministry.
What we learned from Patrick was that all he wanted to do was point to Christ as the only Saviour; that it is through faith in Christ alone that we can know peace with God. To quote him as he concluded, “I’m Patrick, I’m a sinner saved only by God’s amazing grace.”
Alison Piggott read words from St Patrick’s prayer:
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Our evening certainly lifted our eyes from a mere man, however greatly he had been used by God, and set our thoughts and hearts on Christ. That was underlined as we sang our closing hymn, “In Christ alone.”
