No.3 7th June, 2024
Hi,
It was good to spend time together last Sunday evening as we discussed how the future of Mearns Free Church might look - what will the priorities, objectives and focus be? And it was also good to have some time to have fellowship over a buffet tea. Being part of a family also means you get to celebrate with each other - David and Pamela were celebrating their Golden Wedding Anniversary recently and we have photographic evidence below - and did you know that there are 4 couples celebrating their silver wedding anniversaries this year - next week we will have those on display too. I wholly expect the internet to melt! And if you are thinking you have a significant event to mark then do send details in so we can celebrate with you... perhaps a special birthday, or if you are a teenager maybe you haven't looked at your phone for 10 mins and you want to mark this occasion??
Talking of going back in time...there have been a number of D-Day commemorative services and programmes in the last few days - we are now 80 years on from that remarkable day which brought together the land, air, and sea forces of the allied armies in what became known as the largest amphibious invasion in military history, delivering five naval assault divisions to the beaches of Normandy, France. It is good and right to acknowledge God's grace and mercy towards us, even as we remember with thanks those who showed such remarkable feats of bravery and sacrifice.
Over the last few weeks we have been serialising a short talk Don Carson gave a while back and which gives a great overview of what the Gospel is. We will continue that next week but I remembered that Carson also used the story of D-Day as a great analogy of how God is bringing about his Kingdom and can read about that below.
Enjoy the mag.
M
Sunday 9th June, 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland
Scripture - Romans 10:1-21
LARGE PRINT
If you would prefer to have a large print copy of the song words which appear on the screen on a Sunday morning let the door team know.
We don't want to print copies which aren't used so just the team know and we can organise that for you.
If you require a lift to get to church email office@nmnewchurch.org
Holiday Club Team Lunch - this Sunday!
For all those who have expressed a desire to help with Holiday Club this year (and those who would like to but haven't yet passed this info on to Pauline or Jacob!).
We will gather after church on Sunday 9th June to enjoy some lunch together followed by a meeting to do some training and safeguarding, allocate roles and tasks and pray together.
Please do come along if you are able!
Pauline and Jacob
Letter from the Manse
Dear Congregation,
Our move into the Free Church has certainly been a significant development for us. However, it also has significance for the Free Church itself. Because of this, news of our acceptance has been shared with the wider Free Church family. You can see the article posted on their website here.
The Presbytery of Glasgow and Argyll will soon publish its summer edition of their news/prayer booklet “Insight”. Our welcome into the local Presbytery will also feature. (When this becomes available I will direct you to it.)
In preparing the article for the Free Church website, I found myself experiencing a strange mixture of emotions. Reflecting on these emotions, I was drawn back to the words of the Moderator at the General Assembly when he welcomed us. Using the Gaelic word for marriage, our new relationship of commitment to one another, was he said, something akin to marriage. Remembering this analogy helped me understand the source of my mixed emotions.
If our new relationship with the Free Church is to be compared with marriage, then it must be seen as a marriage after a biblically legitimate divorce.
It is my understanding that few go through divorce and remarriage able to lose completely a sense of sadness (sometimes even pain) from a first marriage breakdown – even if the future relationship is wonderful. Perhaps this is why so many of us have emotions of joy, hope and anticipation birthed in our new relationship with the Free Church, yet simultaneously an ache of loss from our past.
In writing the article for the Free Church website, it was right to express our thanks to God, our appreciation of the warm welcome, joy and even hope for the future, but, with a tempering by the shadow cast by our necessary “divorce” from the Church of Scotland.
Sometimes when there is a marriage breakdown it is possible to maintain good relationships with the spouse and family of the previous marriage. With full commitment and loyalty to the Free Church, we nevertheless want to retain as best we can, ongoing prayerful care and concern (a good relationship) with those from whom we have separated in MMCC and even the Church of Scotland more generally.
Tonight 8pm: (7th June): We will meet to adopt a Free Church Constitution. Please join with us in this important decision. We will also hear from Sandy McDougall our treasurer, as he explains the relationship between the finances of Newton Mearns New Church and Mearns Free Church. He will explain also how we plan to handle ownership of any property we may take possession of in the future.
You can see the potential constitutions here. We are proposing that we adopt a Finance Committee to oversee property and finance.
The elders have decided that six is a good number for the Finance Committee (in addition to the elders) and have nominated for this first committee; Tom Brown, Lorna Hamilton, Margo McNicol, Lawrence Renn, Catherine MacKay and Daniel Clarke.
Tonight’s election process;
i.Nominations will be sought and the six above will be included in that number. (Advance permission from all nominees must be sought so that the business can be concluded tonight. Remember when seeking that permission, all members of the Finance Committee become “Trustees” which brings legal responsibilities.)
ii.Each person nominated will need a seconder.
iii.On satisfaction of (i) & (ii) above, there will be a vote and those with a majority (for/against) will be elected.
iv. If there are more than the six nominations above, and each satisfies points (i-iii) above then the six with the highest number of votes will be elected.
See you later,
Warmest regards,
Scott
God's Mercy - and our response
Last Sunday this was the slide used for Scott's summary of a response to what Scott had been unpacking from Romans ch9.
We were confronted again by the need for God's mercy. 100%. The alternative would be that we somehow will do something too! But then your salvation becomes a treadmill of 'I hope that was enough, good enough, acceptable to God'. Doesn't bear thinking about!
The next day, last Monday, this was the reading and comment if you are going through one of the Bible in a year patterns...
DEUT. 7 “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession” (Deut. 7:6). Why so? Was it on the ground of some intrinsic superiority, some greater intelligence, some moral superiority, or some military prowess that the Lord made his choice? Not so. “The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deut. 7:7-8).
Two observations: (1) In the Bible, God’s utter sovereignty does not diminish human responsibility; conversely, human beings are moral agents who choose, believe, obey, disbelieve, and disobey, and this fact does not make God’s sovereignty finally contingent. That is clear from the way God’s sovereignty manifests itself in this chapter, that is, in election, even while the chapter bristles with the responsibilities laid on the people. People who do not believe both truths — that God is sovereign and human beings are responsible — sooner or later introduce some intolerable wobbles into the structure of their faith. (2) Here God’s love is selective. God chooses Israel because he sets his affection on them, and not for anything in themselves. The thought recurs elsewhere (e.g., Malachi. 1:2-3 "I have loved you," says the Lord. But you say, "How have you loved us?" "Is not Esau Jacob's brother?" declares the Lord. "Yet I have loved Jacob but Esau I have hated. I have laid waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert." . But this is not the only way that the Bible speaks of the love of God (e.g., John 3:16)
Golden!
Congratulations to David and Pamela on their Golden Wedding Anniversary!
1974 gave us Abba's Waterloo, Richard Nixon's resignation, and Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's home run record while playing for the Atlanta Braves.
He wasn't the only one batting above his average that year as Pamela agreed to marry David.
There is an embargo on the magazine captioning wedding photos but we can share an excellent account from Pamela...
We asked our youngest grandson who was in picture. "That’s you Gran in the white dress but who is that with you?"
Who indeed? Look out for more wedding photos and memories next week!
The Last Hour!
Don Carson
“Dear children,” John says, “this is the last hour.” Now his whole vision of the future is coming very clear indeed. That is part of the whole Christian understanding of the sweep of things. A very common illustration that has been used since World War II … You may be familiar with it. In case you’re not, let me outline it for you.
Once the troops landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, it was clear very quickly to anyone with half a brain in his head that the war was over.
The Russians were making wonderful advances in the east. Rommel had been beaten out of Africa. Italy was finished, and now within three days there were a million men and tons of war materiel on the beaches of Normandy.
You could see it from the sheer statistics. Where were things being manufactured? Where did the energy come from? Who had the reserves of steel? Who had the power in the air? From D-Day on no one with half a brain in his head could deny that the war was over. But was it? There were a lot of lives lost after that. Hitler broke out again in the Battle of the Bulge, almost made it to the coast. Do you think the German generals could not see things were lost?
It took a madman to keep them going. Out of fury and rage, precisely because he knew his time was short, because he knew he was licked, he gave order after order for the troops not to lose an inch of ground, to die where they were fighting. Still the Allies came on amid some of the bloodiest fighting of the war. Eventually, there was V-E Day (Victory in Europe), and the war in Europe was over.
For Christians, the coming of Christ, his death, his resurrection was D-Day. And if I may say it, anyone with half a spiritual brain in his head can see that the war is over. Satan has been defeated. Sin has been atoned for. The climactic engagement has been won. It is over. The new age has dawned.
The new heaven and the new earth may not be here yet. Death is still the last enemy to be overcome. Still Satan, according to Revelation, chapter 12, is doubly enraged because he knows his time is short, but the climactic engagement has been fought. Now we wait for V-E Day. And in that engagement, that does not mean now we lay down our arms and say, “Well, the spiritual troops are on the beaches of the spiritual Normandy. Jesus has done it all. No use fighting.”
No, no. It is the last hour. We are in the last engagement. This world is passing away and all its values, but the crucial engagement has been won. Within that framework, he says, “… as you have heard that the antichrist is coming …” That is, the final outbreak of evil lead by one figure. So 2 Thessalonians 2 and elsewhere. “… even now many antichrists have come.” That is, we are living in the period when ultimately the Antichrist will break out, but it is going to be characterized by many antichrists throughout this period.
Don Carson
"It's Your Move" @Mearns Primary
Lynne Hamilton (SU regional worker) and I were in Mearns Primary earlier this week working with the four Primary 7 classes.
We did an hour long session called It's Your Move focusing on their transition to high school but adding a Christian focus. We re-enacted Jesus calming the storm and reflected on how as Christians we have Jesus in the boat with us and can calm our fears. At the end we listened to a song called Paper Tigers and we made origami tigers which they wrote some of their fears about high school on. The song highlights that sometimes we are more scared of fear itself and that some of our fears are not real tigers but only paper tigers. We encouraged the pupils to talk with each other or teachers or parents about any fears and for those who have a faith, to pray about them. The session was appreciated and feedback from staff was very positive. Next year we hope to be able to offer the session to other schools in the area too.
Pauline
Starter for 10 - thanks!
Thank you to everyone who came along to the starter for 10 event and made it a great event. Thank you in particular to Margaret and Rosalie for organising food, and the young people (Grace, Sarah, Gracie and Tara) who helped serve too; Charles for organising the band, and all the volunteers who sat on the different stations and helped run them.
If you weren't able to attend but have ideas feel free to send them to me (as some have already done) at youth@nmnewchurch.org and I will add them to the appropriate feedback area.
Jacob
Ladybird Book of Mearns Free Church
Mearns Free Church
Community Week
5th - 9th August
The Paris 2024 Olympics marks 100 years since Eric Liddell famously won the 400 metres in the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Join us for a week of activities for all ages as we explore more about the life and faith of a Scottish sporting legend whose heart lay in China.
All activities will take place at Belmont House School, home of Mearns Free Church, and are free to attend.
FULL MONDAY TO FRIDAY PROGRAMME CAN BE SEEN HERE.
Praise Gathering - next weekend!
Book tickets here now :
This link takes you to the information you need to know about the concerts and has some clips from previous concerts to remind you of the treat it is to be at one of these events.
Come and hear praise & worship from our largest-ever 400+ voice choir, PG Youth Choir, live band and special guest Alvin Slaughter?
This year our concerts are on a Saturday afternoon (22 June) and a Sunday evening (23 June) at the Glasgow Concert Hall so you have a choice of times to suit your weekend.
Tickets are available online so please book them now to get the best seats. The GRCH Booking Office number is el: 0141 353 8000 or online
Elizabeth Smith, Christine Maddock and Ian Forgie are involved this year and we would be delighted to see you there!
The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals
Conference 2024
View online - click to go to their page for the link here
Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology, the Alliance's national conference, celebrates its 51st gathering with Living in an Anti-Christian World—fifty-one years of joining the great Reformers by standing on God’s holy, authoritative Word.
nb - the times are USA east coast
Scott.
Prayer News and Job Vacancy
Monthly prayer letter is here.
Trusts and Communications Assistant
Full-time, 35 hours/week, £28,000 - £33,000 p.a. dependent on experience
We wish to appoint a Trusts and Communications Assistant to join our Marketing and Fundraising Team in our Head Office in Glasgow city centre.
Find out more here.
Safeguarding in Mearns Free Church
One of our priorities now that we are in the Free Church is to ensure that we comply with the Free Church’s safeguarding policy and processes. Our safeguarding team is here to help everyone to do what is required; our safeguarding team comprises Sue Anderson (Safeguarding Coordinator) and Ian Forgie (Deputy Safeguarding Coordinator) assisted by Marlene Smith, Sue Amery-Behr and Alastair McLellan.
The Free Church’s safeguarding policy requires everyone who is working with children (including in the holiday club and one-off events), with young people and with vulnerable adults (including Café Connect) to do the following:
Read and become familiar with the Free Church’s safeguarding policy: Read here.
Complete a self-disclosure form for declaring convictions (to be completed and returned directly to the Free Church’s Legal and Compliance Officer (fraser.munro@freechurch.org). Link to form here:
Have a brief interview with the safeguarding team to check your ID. This link is to a form that shows what forms of ID are required: The team will also complete a form confirming your roles and contributions to the work in Mearns Free Church requiring safeguarding, and confirming your familiarity with the safeguarding policy.
We will arrange times for these brief interviews after Sunday worship over the coming weeks.
Disclosure Scotland (via the Free Church) will then send you a link to the PVG form either to complete for the first time or to update to reflect that work requiring safeguarding is now being undertaken within the Free Church.
Everyone should also undergo the Free Church’s safeguarding training over the coming months. We are exploring the feasibility of arranging a ‘whole church’ training session –
–it is uncertain whether this can be done. In the meantime the Free Church does have availability on their online training sessions and you are encouraged to sign up for these via their Safeguarding Training Booking webpage here.
Giving at Mearns Free Church
Sandy, our Treasurer, will give an update on our Church finances at the Congregational Meeting, and will explain how our giving can migrate over to Mearns Free Church over the Summer period.
We will start the OSCR charity registration process for Mearns Free Church as soon as the Congregation has approved our new Constitution on 7th June, and once that is in place we can apply to open a Mearns Free Church bank account. In the meantime we can continue to give to NM New Church, and it will continue to meet all of our costs. We therefore don't need to take any action in the short term. Sandy will explain the changeover process and timeline when we all meet on the 7th.
As ever, please don't hesitate to contact Sandy if you have any questions at all in the run-up to the meeting.
DATES FOR DIARY IN JUNE
If you’re a dad, mum, grandparent or anyone wanting to help children build strong emotional wellbeing, join us for this popular event.
by Care for the Family
Thursday, June 20 · 7:30 - 10pm
C7 Conference Centre100 High Craighall Road Glasgow G4 9UD
Event info and booking here
Anxiety levels and struggles with mental health are on the rise in children and young people, and as mums and dads, this can feel overwhelming … even at times debilitating. But there’s good news! You, as parents, have incredible power to help your children build strong emotional resilience and healthy mental wellbeing.
A Mind of Their Own is packed with simple and effective strategies for you to use at home, helping you to better understand what’s going on in your child’s head. Together with Katharine Hill and Sim Dendy, we’ll explore the science of the mind, and why children act and react the way they do.
Featuring interviews with mental health professionals, Dr Rob Waller and Dr Kate Middleton, this event will expand your understanding of the unique pressures and opportunities facing young people today, so you can help your child develop an emotional resiliency that lasts.
B.Y.O.C. please
CAN YOU HELP?
it makes such a difference if people bring their own cups rather than using the disposable ones each week - can you help?
You can watch a live stream our services on YouTube each week.
You can find the service here and don't forget to click SUBSCRIBE
If you have friends/relatives who can't manage out they can simply search on YouTube for Newton Mearns New Church.
Wednesdays 7.15-8.15pm.
Look out for details this week on email/whatsapp
If you need a lift please email office@nmnewchurch.org.