No.19 25th October, 2024
Hi,
Hope this finds you well.
There is plenty going on at Mearns Free Church these days - both in the services and other ministries running, and in the lives of the congregation.
And naturally with some news we rejoice with those who rejoice, and with others we stand alongside them in more difficult circumstances.
There are two 'Thank Yous' I was asked to drop into the magazine which sum this up well. Scott also has news which highlights this too and you can read about that in his letter.
And it's not just about those on our doorstep - the Blythswood Trust Shoebox Appeal is another way to show love in a most practical way, and there is an opportunity to take part in this ministry again up at Maxwell Mearns this winter - see details below.
At the other end of the scale (in fact, any scale you care to think of), did you know the Free Church had its own Recipe Book? I know, right...?!
We have a recipe for you to try.
Enjoy the Mag.
MB
Sunday 27th October, 10.30am
Scripture - Genesis ch2
Rev Scott Kirkland
with Communion
SUNDAY EVENING
How to Talk About Jesus – book discussions
27th Oct - 7.15pm in Belmont
See below for Lorna's look back at the first event and news on this Sunday evening.
Wednesday 11th - 7.15pm
PULSE prayer meeting
LARGE PRINT - SONG WORDS
If you find viewing the song-words on the screen in Sunday worship a problem, we currently print a limited number of large-print song sheets for specific people.
We don't want to print unnecessary copies so please speak with the door team and we will begin to make these available for you each week.
From the Manse
Dear Congregation,
We are on a countdown to our coffee morning outreach event (2nd November!). Let’s get praying for this great opportunity to speak the name of Jesus and his love not only to ourselves but others around us.
We know that the Kingdom of Jesus has eternal consequences for all personally who enter by faith in Christ. We also know there is a personal impact for good today. And, we rejoice in the promise of a heavenly society when all the horribleness of our current world will be absent. However, sometimes we forget that Christ’s people bring His Kingdom of light and love where ever they are and this impacts society today, for the good. Our prayer is that in supporting the work of Glasgow City Mission through our coffee morning, Christ’s Kingdom will have increasing impact on a needy Glasgow.
Please become a part of this great endeavour.
If it is appropriate to say that the Coffee Morning is about “reaching-out”, I want to give you a little advance notice of an important way we are preparing to “reach-in”.
“MFC-Connections”:
The Kirk Session has agreed to a new pastoral initiative which we hope to launch in the New Year called
MFC-Connections.
The Kirk Session is very grateful to Debbie McDougall and Sheila McLellan for the work they have done in helping us organise this initiative.
We believe that MFC can be an extremely caring church family. We also believe that the care experienced within the fellowship is genuine and so often flows simply from the informal personal relationships we form with one another. That is wonderfully how it should be.
When the apostle Paul speaks warmly of the good things happening in the fellowship at the church in Philippi, he uses an expression I think appropriate and therefore I want to borrow. Commending their love as it is experienced among them in a rich variety of ways, he says he prays that this love might be “more and more” (μᾶλλον καὶ μᾶλλον – Philippians 1.9)
I think most of us would agree with my assessment about the care already exercised within the fellowship of MFC, however, borrowing Paul’s expression, my burden is that we exercise this care, “more and more”. There are just about enough of us that we can inadvertently miss supporting one another in the way we would want to (and ought to!).
I have referred many times to Acts 2.42 as a passage that lays a good foundation for a healthy gospel church (vital elements being,
the apostles teaching, prayer, sacraments and fellowship). “Fellowship” is one of these foundational elements. This is word conveys many layers of care for one another. I believe some of that fellowship must be expressed in Paul’s later words in Philippians 2:
“Let each of you look not to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus”.
I think Paul puts this in a strikingly way in Romans 12.15:
“rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep”. As I have reflected on these verses, the image that comes to mind is MFC walking forward together, shoulder-to-shoulder. So close, that when one rejoices, we know. When one is weeping, we know. And, with the Spirit of Christ tenderising our hearts, we share in these experiences genuinely from our own hearts with each other.
As Debbie, Sheila and I develop “MFC-Connections” on behalf of the Kirk Session, we pray the initiative will simply help grow our care for each other in a way that builds on the simple, natural, Christian love already part of our congregational fellowship. It would be our prayer that we all catch the good in this and allow ourselves to become involved.
I will share more detail with you in the coming weeks.
Warmest regards,
Scott
We held our first discussion on the “How To Talk About Jesus” book written by Sam Chan a few weeks ago now (Sunday 6th October). Eighteen of us met together to consider the first few chapters (or tips) in the book – “Merge Your Universes” and “Go to Their Things”. Intrigued by the chapter titles? If so, we would love for you to come along and join the discussions on the next two tips from 7.15pm to 8.15pm this Sunday, 27th October (even if you didn’t manage to attend the last time).
This Sunday, our second informal discussion and chance to ask questions will be on Tip 3 (“Coffee, Dinner, Gospel”) and Tip 4 (“Listen”) on pages 35 to 62 of the book.
We have some pre-prepared questions but these act as a guide, only, to start the conversation or for use if the conversation dries up (which certainly didn’t happen last time as we had so much to say that we ran over time!). This means that there is no need to do any “study” in advance, other than reading the chapters. There is also the optional opportunity to stay for some tea or coffee and home baking (the end of which coincides with the Youth pick up time of 9pm).
The purpose of these four book discussion sessions is to:
a. Start to think about how to talk about Jesus in a way that is relevant to people around us (including friends, family, colleagues and neighbours) and also in our community;
b. Build more confidence in talking about Jesus from reading the book and chatting with others about it;
c. Put the tips from the book into practice in our own Christian witness to others;
d. Encourage one another in an area which we can find difficult and share what has worked well (or not so well) from past personal experience; and
e. Think about ideas where we could “Merge Universes” as a Church and how this might come together over the next few months.
I have gotten a lot out of reading the book and it was also great to hear other people’s points of view so please join us this Sunday evening.
Lorna
Save The Date!................
Let’s invite and let’s pray for those who attend - pick up a leaflet on Sunday for you to give to a friend, or speak to Margo or Lorna and get the advert above on your phone to Whats App to someone with an invite.
Also, would you like to help at the event?
We will need people to help...set up chairs and tables (Friday evening 1st)
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serve tea and coffee on the day
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welcome guests and speak with them
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help in car park
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pray
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help create a craft/play table with any children that might comePlease speak with me or Margo McN if you would like to help
Scott
Getting along
If you require a lift to and from the Coffee Morning, please speak to Sandy Halliday who has kindly offered to coordinate this.
CAN YOU BAKE SOMETHING ?
Speak with Margaret Boyd this week if you can make something delicious to contribute to the Coffee Morning!
Ladybird Book of Mearns Free
Both these tweets fit well with Scott's sermon from Sunday morning.
As Scott covered how to understand - from a biblical point of view - the origin and plan for males and females, alongside marriage and appropriate relationships, it was good to hear Good News being highlighted too. It is so easy and common to get it badly wrong in these areas with our thoughts, words and actions - some of it deep rooted and leaving painful scars. To understand that God's mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ is available in this area too is key - and comforting.
This next tweet is here just because it's really funny...and true!
Free Church’s
Safeguarding & Training
The Safeguarding Team is now following up those who have applied but who don’t yet have PVGs in place. We will be in touch with those in that position. We are here to help those who need assistance with the online parts of the application process – the ‘self-declaration form’ and the final form in the process that needs to be completed for Disclosure Scotland.
Please be aware that all who have applied for PVG certification need also to engage in the Free Church’s safeguarding training. This is currently provided online from the comfort of your own homes, and takes a couple of hours. The next training session for congregations is Thursday 31st October at 19.30. You can sign up for the training sessions through this link to the registration page: Safeguarding Training Booking – Free Church of Scotland
Thank you for embracing safeguarding. Doing so is essential to ensure that Mearns Free Church is a safe environment for all who worship with us and for all who engage in our ministries to children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Alastair McLellan
Thank you to all the church family for prayers and practical support during my recent diagnosis and treatment.
It has been a reminder of the friends the Lord has surrounded me with especially in my time of need.
It has prompted me to pray with my eyes on God and not on the difficulties we all face at times.
Blessings,
Sue A
Hi MFC family!
I've had such a wonderful time worshipping among you over the last four Sunday's I've been home... if you're reading this after Friday I will hopefully have two feet firmly planted back on Canadian soil and be preparing to worship with my distantly related church family in Vancouver.
Firstly, apologies to all of those of you whom I missed for catching up even as I ran for the hatch to avoid being stuck in the queue for tea and coffee - your snack game is a whole tier above Vancouver by the way!
Secondly, an encouragement to you all would be how great it's been to see the congregation going so strong as you worship at Belmont House School - I hope you continue in this together and that the Lord would strengthen you in your faith and grow the congregation even while you don't have a building to call your own.
Blessings!
Ian H
Blythswood
Shoe Box Appeal 2024
As in previous years Denise is opening the garage at Maxwell for checking Blythswood Boxes.
Denise writes: Boxes will be available from Thursday 31 October.
Times of opening will be from 9.30am until 3.30pm
We will be closed from Noon on the day of Susan's funeral 6 November.
Looking forward to seeing old friends and any new one's if they wish to participate.
Hizkidz and YOU!
8: Sodom and Gomorrah
Bible passage: Genesis 18 and 19
Big Truth: God is the Judge who judges justly.
Memory Verse: It is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.
Psalm 75:7
How Not to Be an Approval Junkie
Part 2
Pride tempts us to change our lives according to man’s priorities rather than the agenda of the Holy Spirit.
The proud person is concerned about changing things in his or her life that don’t matter to God. Rather than looking into the Bible to see what things God wants one to put off and put on, the proud person makes correcting things that may displease others a priority, even though such changes matter little to God. In so doing, he puts more trust in the reasonings of his own heart than in the Scriptures. “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but he who walks wisely will be delivered” (Prov. 28:26). Because he is more concerned with pleasing man than pleasing God, his spiritual guidance system is out of kilter.
Pride focuses our attention on changing the outer man more than the inner man.
The changes made by the approval addict are often external issues having little to do with character. The proud person wants to clean the outside of the cup and the dish to make him appear worthy or respectable. Those things (clothing, personal appearance, athletic ability, intelligence, the type of car driven, the kind of home owned, job title, amount of personal wealth), when placed on God’s scale and held over against character, don’t really weigh anything. God gives them all, and He expects us to use them for His glory. He does not give us things to use for our own selfish interests and agenda. They are temporal. Character is eternal (see 1 Tim. 4:7-8).
Love of praise tempts us to believe man’s opinion of ourselves over God’s opinion.
Jesus attributed one of the causes of unbelief to seeking honor from man instead of God. Speaking to certain Jews who were looking to kill him “because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God,” the Lord said: How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? (John 5:44 NKJV) These proud, ambitious men sought to receive honor from one another rather than from God. They held Christ in low esteem because they held themselves in such high esteem. They didn’t value the things He said because they placed too much value on their own opinions.
To the extent that we seek to please others more than God, we will value the opinion of fallible men more than that of the infallible God. If others perceive us to be better than we are, we will trust their judgment over that of our conscience. If they perceive us to be inadequate in an area of life that God says is not a biblical inadequacy (not a sin), we will hasten to change it at any expense, though we know the Lord would rather have us rest in our acceptance in Christ.
*Excerpted from Pleasing People: How Not to Be an Approval Junkie by Lou Priolo
Youth SU Weekend Away - March 28th-30th 2025
It feels a long way off, but actually bookings are now being received for a Youth weekend away at Gowanbank with SU (S1-S6).
We want all our youth group to go to this weekend and any friends they might be able to invite.
Our Finance Committee has agreed to subsidise the £92 cost by 50% and that would include friends.
Have you got any young people in your household in S1-S6. Please be active encouraging them to book up. You can find more information here. Please let Cathy Renn know if you are booking.
We shall not run our own MFC Youth Weekend away in February as we previous have. Rather we shall use this SU opportunity instead.
Scott
Free Church Recipe Book
Did you know the Free Church had its own Recipe Book?!
Catherine Mc has sent one of the recipes in - tried and trusted!
She was given this book back in 1982 by her mother-in -Law who may have doubted her cooking skills.
Please do send in any recipes (comments about incompetent spouses and Mothers-in-Law always welcome too.)
We would like to invite you to consider joining a new prayer initiative.
You can join as a group of 3 or you can join as an individual to be matched up with 2 others. Groups will be male/female/mixed according to preference.
It is a great opportunity to form closer, prayerful relationships within our church family.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:20
For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.
Please speak to Sue Amery-Behr or Catherine MacKay if you would like to find out more.
Mearns Free Church has a What's App Group for Prayer
Purpose: A platform to share information regarding a sudden and crucial need for prayer.
How to connect: Speak to Margaret Boyd if you would like to be added to this group or email Margaret at: mandmboyd@hotmail.co.uk
What tech do I need?: You need to have a Smart Phone with WhatsApp to get set up.
Email Addresses For Mearns Free Church
Please make sure you change your email address list now we are part of the Free Church.
Tom Brown (Office): office@mearnsfree.org
Scott Kirkland (Minister): minister@mearnsfree.org
Sandy McDougall (Treasurer): finance@mearnsfree.org
Pauline Forster (Children and families worker): children@mearnsfree.org