For 25 ye­ars SRK ser­vi­ces have been ar­ran­ged in the Fin­nish Church in Lon­don. No­wa­da­ys pe­op­le gat­her for ser­vi­ces eve­ry two months. The Fin­nish Church in Lon­don is lo­ca­ted in Rot­her­hit­he, which was for­mer­ly part of the Lon­don Dock­lands. There is no sign of the docks left any more, and vi­si­tors to the church are most­ly Fin­ns li­ving in Lon­don for work or stu­dies.

Jou­ko Luuk­ko­nen and I ser­ved as spe­a­kers in the Lon­don ser­vi­ces on 16–17 Ja­nu­a­ry. The place was fa­mi­li­ar to us be­cau­se both had vi­si­ted Lon­don many ti­mes. On Sa­tur­day we spoke in Eng­lish, be­cau­se there were many Ame­ri­can ser­vi­ce gu­ests who did not un­ders­tand Fin­nish.

There were al­most 50 pe­op­le pre­sent. Some of them had been li­ving in Lon­don for ye­ars, but most had come there for the win­ter.

The Saturday service was held in the club room of the Finnish Church in London. Many families with children were present. Mothers enjoyed sharing thoughts during the dinner break.

The Sa­tur­day ser­vi­ce was held in the club room of the Fin­nish Church in Lon­don.

Many fa­mi­lies with child­ren were pre­sent. Mot­hers en­jo­yed sha­ring thoughts du­ring

the din­ner break.

Mi­rac­les for faith

The Sa­tur­day eve­ning mass was of­fi­ci­a­ted by Mar­jaa­na Här­kö­nen, the new pas­tor of the Fin­nish Church in Lon­don.

Jou­ko Luuk­ko­nen pre­ac­hed in the mass about the wed­ding at Cana. He re­cal­led that Je­sus per­for­med many mi­rac­les that went bey­ond hu­man comp­re­hen­si­on. That is why many pe­op­le in our ti­mes doubt their aut­hen­ti­ci­ty. Through faith we un­ders­tand that Je­sus exp­res­sed His di­vi­ne po­wer in the mi­rac­les, so that pe­op­le would be­lie­ve in Him.

Jouko Luukkonen preached about the wedding at Cana in the Saturday evening mass. He pointed out in his sermon that the greatest miracle was the resurrection of Jesus, His victory over death and the atonement for our sins.

Jou­ko Luuk­ko­nen pre­ac­hed about the wed­ding at Cana in the Sa­tur­day eve­ning mass.

He poin­ted out in his ser­mon that the gre­a­test mi­rac­le was the re­sur­rec­ti­on of Je­sus,

His vic­to­ry over de­ath and the ato­ne­ment for our sins.

On rock or on sand?

By Sun­day mor­ning the first snow had fal­len in the Lon­don area. On­ly the fa­mi­ly Oi­ka­ri­nen and a group of au pairs had made it to the ser­vi­ces.

The Sunday service was held in the chilly church hall, because the club room, which was the only warm room in the building, was not available. The service guests preferred to keep on their jackets and even wear gloves.

The Sun­day ser­vi­ce was held in the chil­ly church hall, be­cau­se the club room, which

was the on­ly warm room in the buil­ding, was not avai­lab­le. The ser­vi­ce gu­ests pre­fer­red

to keep on their jac­kets and even wear glo­ves.

Jou­ko spoke on the ba­sis of Je­sus' Ser­mon on the Mount about two buil­ders, one of whom built his hou­se on rock and the ot­her on sand. He no­ted that a hou­se built on a good foun­da­ti­on will stand even in storms, but a hou­se on a poor foun­da­ti­on will col­lap­se.

Je­sus com­pa­red the well-foun­ded hou­se to a man who he­ars His words and acts ac­cor­ding to them. The on­ly en­du­ring foun­da­ti­on for life is righ­te­ous­ness gi­ven by God. A be­lie­ver may sa­fe­ly trust in the care of the He­a­ven­ly Fat­her.

SRK services have been arranged in the Finnish Church in London on Albion Street in Rotherhithe for 25 years.

SRK ser­vi­ces have been ar­ran­ged in the Fin­nish Church in Lon­don on Al­bi­on Street

in Rot­her­hit­he for 25 ye­ars.

Text: Ari-Pek­ka Pa­lo­la

Trans­la­ti­on: R.H., T.S.

The ar­tic­le was pub­lis­hed in on­li­ne Päi­vä­mies on 18 Ja­nu­a­ry 2015.