No.22 12th April, 2024
Hi,
Are you a news watcher? It can be pretty depressing - we will come to that in a moment.....but a Solar Eclipse somehow, always makes it to the frontpage, and it almost makes us feel like children - gawping, wondering at the Sun and Moon and the excitement of this phenomenon - Scotty Smith wrote a great prayer about it which is below.
And talking of prayer points... and getting back to the less happy news, the new Hate Crime bill came into effect a few days ago. My friend Andy Hunter heads up FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Churches) in Scotland and was asked to put together some prayer points on this topic...I've included them below too.
Enjoy the mag .
M
Sunday 14th April, 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland
Reading - Romans ch7:14-25
If you require a lift to get to church email office@nmnewchurch.org
Letter from the Manse
Dear Congregation,
I have always thought the resources offered by the SOLAS Christian “think-tank” very helpful (see why HERE). Their short videos offer a helpful reflection on often-given objections to the Gospel.
When at Maxwell Mearns Castle Church, we organised a very fruitful evening with the Director of SOLAS, Andy Bannister. It was an evening of curry and conversation about Christ.
I have obtained copies of the most recent book from the SOLAS stable. I would love many/most/all of us to read it. In fact, I would love that we not only read it but also give a copy to a friend or family member. With this aim in mind, you are welcome to have two books for the price of one! One book will cost £8. Two books will also cost £8!
The book, “Have You Ever Wondered”, is a thoughtful and insightful help to engaging friends in conversations about things that matter to us all: Christian and non-Christian alike. At one point Andy says, “We are wired to wonder”. The book explores things that we wonder about. There are twenty-eight short chapters. 
Each chapter is readable not least because most have only five pages.
I also found them hugely engaging. The opening chapter, “Have you ever wondered why we long for happiness” (something we heard Andy speak about over our nan-bread and pakora in our Maxwell evening) mentions in just the first two paragraphs; Marilyn Munro, blackbirds, rabbits, cows, monkeys, dolphins and even Plato. He got me!
Michael Ots contributes the chapter: “Have you ever wondered why music has the power to move us”? He admits to enjoying creating things out of Lego. But, he also confesses that he did not himself create the Lego. He asks the question; are our musical compositions similar? We don’t actually “make” music. Rather we arrange something already there and created for us. In so doing, we do not discover the composer or artist, but the ultimate composer and artist who stands behind it all?
Trained in Oxford: Ten years as a teacher: Young and black, Clare Williams poses the somewhat autobiographical question; “Have you ever wondered why black lives matter?” It is a question we all need to ask. In recognising that all humanity is made in the image of God, she offers, “…I matter because in my very blackness, I reflect something of God Himself”.
I counted ten contributors. Alongside the variety of topics covered, the variety of style and thought process enhances the interest. One of the contributors is an excellent pastor at the church where my own daughters attend in Edinburgh. David Nixon writes four essays for the book. One essay asks the intriguing question, “Have you ever wondered what God thinks of you?” Have you?
I hope you find the book as stimulating and thought-provoking as I am finding it to be.
Stewart Anderson will make himself available with the books at the rear of the church after worship from this Sunday.
With warm regards,
Scott
The “Eclipse” of the Son
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being…” (Heb. 1:3).
“In Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body” (Col.2:9).
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12).
Dear Lord Jesus,
folklore and fantasies abound about the meaning of a total solar eclipse. But apart from the fables and superstitions, many who experience the phenomenon of a full, or even partial eclipse of the sun, can become overtaken by fear, anxiety, and disorientation. That’s understandable, because we depend upon the sun for so much—a lot of which we take for granted.
10,000 times more so, how much “truer” is that about you, Jesus. You are the Son who created the sun. Your radiance is that of God himself—for you are fully God—“the exact representation of his being.” We depend on you for everything, for you were our Creator before you became our Redeemer. To experience an “eclipse of the Son” is to contradict our reason for being. You are the “light of the world” and the only resolution to every form of darkness.
So how can you get “eclipsed” in our lives, Jesus? Sometimes it’s as simple (tragic) as putting any number of things between us and you. The treasures of the world and the approval of mere people stand out as “moons” that can hide you, the Son. Other times hard providences, painful stories, or “darkness veils your lovely face”—as we sing in “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less.” That’s when we learn to trust in “your unchanging grace” and the “anchor” that holds us in the storm.
Jesus, from our own foolishness, the stratagems of the enemy, residual unbelief, bad theology, or whatever, please free us from every form of “Son-eclipse.” We want to see, know, and love you with everything we have and are.
So Very Amen.
More from Scotty Smith here
SUGGESTION BOX
Members will be welcome to give their suggestions for a new name (or suggest the same name) for the church to the Comms Team for them to consider.
To do that there will be a suggestion box provided on Sunday mornings for the next couple of weeks.
The Comms Team will then create a shortlist of names that will go to the Session for a decision.
(see mag no.20 for other details.)
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 let the team know and we can organise that for you.
Ladybird Book of New Church
We gather round the Word in our meetings on Sunday and other times, and we hold to it as the revealed Word of God for us today.
Continuing our serialisation of Andrew Wilson's excellent little book, 'Unbreakable - what the Son of God thought of the Word of God'
This week...
THE CHALLENGES OF SCRIPTURE
Let’s be honest: the Scriptures can be difficult.
Sometimes, as we have already seen, the difficulties come from within the texts themselves. Accounts vary, theology develops, tensions exist and authors bring different perspectives on things (not to mention the fact that all the texts were written in languages and cultures which are completely different from ours).
In my experience, though, most of these difficulties are fairly easy to resolve, with a mixture of study, imagination and honesty. They can make people puzzled, but they rarely make people angry.
The things that really get people riled up, at least in our day, are areas where Scripture challenges our deeply held beliefs (or where Scripture is challenged by them, depending on which way you look at it).
When you get into conversations about the Bible, you find that the biggest challenges for most people are not over issues where the Bible is unclear, but over issues where the Bible is very clear, and people don’t like it. Judgment. Miracles. Sex. Things like that.
As part of my job, I often end up debating with people about the Bible. Some of them are very troubled by the idea of miracles, especially the very dramatic ones: parting the Red Sea, making shadows go backwards, raising the dead, and so on. Others love the miracles, but object strongly to the idea that God ever kills people as an act of judgment, either directly (like raining down fire from heaven) or indirectly (using humans or angels to do it). Others, particularly in the last couple of decades, have increasingly looked to ‘update’ what the Bible says about sex and sexuality, to make it fit more closely with the preferences of modern people. When faced with these sorts of challenges, what is the best approach?
The answer, as ever, is to look at Jesus.
In a general sense, we can obviously look to Jesus’ view of the Bible, as we’ve been doing throughout this book: if Scripture teaches it, then our loving Father wants us to believe it and obey it, for his glory and for our good. But specifically, we can also look to the things Jesus says about each of these issues. When we do that, we find that his teaching is – as we would expect! – uncompromising, and yet loving. With miracles, things are obvious. You can’t read the Jesus story without tripping over miracles on every page, both in what he says, and in what he does: healing, feeding, storm-calming, resurrecting, and the rest. All the historical evidence we have shows that Jesus was known as a miracle-worker, and the only way you can get rid of that conclusion is to go through the Gospels with scissors, and cut them all out. (This, in a wonderful parody of modern liberalism, is exactly what President Thomas Jefferson did. He wasn’t left with much, as you can imagine.) Writing a history of Jesus without any miracles would be like writing a history of Churchill without any wars. Or take judgment. Many of us find it hard to imagine Jesus, the meek and mild mellow-man, approving of some of the fierce divine judgment that happens in the Old Testament: cataclysmic floods wiping everyone out, the destruction of entire cities, and so on. Yet in teaching his disciples, he not only affirms that all of these things happened – Noah’s flood, fire and sulphur raining down from heaven on Sodom, plus Lot’s wife being turned into a pillar of salt – but he also uses them as ways of describing what his own coming will be like. ‘God sometimes kills people in judgment,’ he says, ‘and when he does, it happens suddenly, and it catches people out. Well: the same will be true when the Son of Man comes. So make sure you’re ready.’ Or how about sex? Occasionally you hear it said, in a slightly Thomas Jefferson-ish way, that Jesus had nothing to say about sex (which is usually supposed to imply that we can pretty much do what we like). What a lot of cobblers. Right near the start of his most famous sermon, he talked about adultery, lust, divorce, remarriage and sexual immorality. When describing what makes people unclean, he gave adultery and sexual immorality as prominent examples. More importantly, when teaching on marriage, he went back to the garden story – one man, one woman, marriage, sex, permanence – as the foundation for all subsequent teaching. And he affirmed the dignity and beauty of singleness, not only in principle (by talking about it) but in practice (by living it). For all of us living in a sex-saturated world, the fact that we follow a single guy, who never had sex and yet lived the most full life there is, should be a huge encouragement.
Whenever Scripture challenges some of our deeply held beliefs, we have a choice
The point is: whenever Scripture challenges some of our deeply held beliefs, as it often does, we have a choice. We can challenge the Bible, or we can let the Bible challenge us. We can do a Jefferson on it, cutting out the bits we like and binning the rest. Or we can do a Jesus on it, affirming the accuracy of the Bible in spite of the difficulties we have with it, and allow it to refine our view of God, the world, sexuality, or whatever it may be. Personally, I’d go with Jesus on that one.
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.
HATE CRIME LAW
The new Hate Crime Law is now live in Scotland and there has been a flurry of news stories - 4000 complaints being lodged in the first few days & JK Rowling challenging it.
But it’s unclear what its longer-term effects will be and if will be many actual prosecutions. To be honest there is a lot of comment on X/FBook etc (often in replies) that can be pretty hateful & reprehensible. I’d hope that posts by Christians wouldn’t be of that nature.
Prayer Points:
1. That the Police would apply the Legislation sensibly -
e.g. not in a way that threatens genuine ‘freedom of speech’
2. That Christians would model good communications in public –
e.g. avoid aggressive / personal / graceless comments.
3. The law might even result in Christians being helped and if tested in court, it will be made clear that stating Christian beliefs is not a crime, -
eg. in the light of JK Rowling the Police are clear that simply saying biological sex = actual sex, is not a Hate Crime
4. That records of complaints deemed not to be 'hateful' will not include the alleged perpetrator's name (as there has been some confusion around this).
5. That Christians won’t be intimidated from being graciously clear about their beliefs and respectfully standing up for truth.
The bigger practical threat to Christian freedom in Scotland is the proposed ‘Conversion Practices Ban’.
A public consultation on this has just closed (FIEC along with many other churches & orgs has made a submission). So please pray that the arguments against will be listened to and amendments (to protect freedom of speech and religion – e.g. pastoral work) will be made.
Thanks for praying – it’s so needed and appreciated
Andy Hunter
Glasgow City Mission
On Sunday 14 April at 18:30, Glasgow City Mission are hosting a service of reflection, prayer and petition
at Adelaide Place Baptist Church in Glasgow City Centre.
Their Overnight Welcome Centre provides routes out of rough sleeping in the winter and has been running for the past 14 years. This season has been the busiest yet, bringing many challenges to the service.
An opportunity to gather with Christians in Glasgow to reflect on the challenges Glasgow has faced – high numbers of homeless, a declared housing emergency, too few beds in the city, and a real feeling of hopelessness amongst many of the people we welcomed in.
An opportunity to hear from staff members as they share ministry stories, interspersed with interactive sessions of prayer, and finishing with a short time of worship together. A chance to pray for GCM guests and ask God for a breakthrough in Glasgow this year. Please register here
UFM Scottish Day Conference -20th April. - one of the confirmed speakers in Jayne Dumbuya.
She and her husband Lamin serve in Sierra Leone and will be inspiring to listen to.
Speak with Catherine A if you want more info about this event.
10am-3pm Saturday 20th April, St Columba's Free Church, Johnston Terrace, Edinburgh
In this life all of us at one point or another are going to face loss. We are going to grieve.
We may be grieving right now. And when our friends and family face loss, we long to help them well but all too often we struggle to know how to respond. We can be on the receiving end of stupid and careless words and we ourselves can say stupid things! Our words can falter, we can say things that wound, and, in the end, we may find ourselves tempted to withdraw. But, in Jesus, there is hope – for those who mourn and for those who walk alongside! In the morning there will be two sessions: Understanding loss & Supporting those who have lost.
In the afternoon, there will also be a seminars to help us look in more detail at particular kinds of loss, opportunities to hear about helpful resources and biblical training – and a chance to ask questions to the speaker team (Steve Midgely and Helen Thorne). Together they bring a wealth of knowledge and pastoral experience together to shed light on an area of our lives that rarely gets talked about.
This event is open to everyone and further details and booking are available HERE
Would you like to deepen your relationship with your persecuted family and be strengthened in your faith?
Sat, 11 May 2024 09:30 - 15:00
Findlay Church, Glasgow
Details about this conference can be found
here.
Safeguarding at Newton Mearns New Church
Safeguarding – Ensuring a Safe Church for All
If you suspect or witness harm or abuse, or it is reported to you, you must immediately report it to one of the Safeguarding Coordinators:
Sue Anderson – 07970 261429
Giving at NM New Church
There are a number of ways to support the church financially. The giving page gives details - click here
A number of people have been asking if cash or cheques can now be given. From this Sunday you will have the opportunity to leave offerings in the plate or basket on the table at the back of the church.
If you have any questions please speak to our Treasurer Sandy or email him on finance@nmnewchurch.org
The New Church has a What's App Group for Prayer
See magazine no.4 for an outline of how this Pray Now group operates.
Speak to Margaret Boyd if you would like to be added to this group or email your details to mandmboyd@hotmail.co.uk
You need WhatsApp on your phone to get set up