No.24 26th April, 2024
Hi,
Hope this finds you well.
Some rather key changes to life at the New Church are coming soon - details below...
It's quite natural to wonder what is coming, and what are the best plans to make, what is a 'successful church like?? At the Prayer Meeting this week we were acknowledging that it is easy to have a small idea of what God can do with us in Newton Mearns, and that we often restrict God with the lack of faith, and we don't look to the power of the Spirit in our lives as individuals or as a congregation. In fact, in our serialised book by Andrew Wilson this week's focus is about the danger of sometimes wanting to be able to get everything tied down with just an intellectual knowledge of the Bible and the doctrines, but as Wilson says, 'keeping in step with the Spirit doesn’t work that way.'
And Scott happens to be on that topic too this Sunday morning as we reach Romans ch8 - have a read before coming along on.
By the way, the PULSE prayer meeting is on Wednesdays - an important (and probably the quickest) hour in your midweek. Try to get along.
Lastly, just a quick note here... if you are reading this week's magazine in time, you might be able to get along to the SU Afternoon Tea at NMBC, 2pm - 4pm, on Sat 27th April.
(Details below)
Enjoy the mag.
M
Sunday 28th April 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland
Reading - Romans ch8
“Normal Christians: Led By the Spirit”
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Profession of Faith and welcome of new members
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Sacrament of Communion
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
Letter from the Manse
Dear Congregation,
The suggestions are in. We have a new name ready for our transition into the Free Church of Scotland. As Alastair circulated earlier in the week, we shall be called “Mearns Free Church”.
Though I was not part of the process, I believe that many helpful suggestions were submitted (except one which did raise a smile “Churchy McChurchface”). Sorry if your suggestion was not the one selected! Thanks to all who participated in this process.
We will be “called” Mearns Free Church. However, what will we be known by? In the Kingdom of God, the name we bear is the least significant matter. What we need to be “known” by, is our congregational holiness! It is that which glorifies God. We need to be “known” by our steady, Christ-centred, Word-based walk with the Lord, whatever we are “called”! (Joshua 1.8)
Imagine, we fight, squabble, engage in all sorts of immorality and turn from the inerrant Word of God to the whims of today’s culture. What significance will there be in our name? Very little! True holiness glorifies God and is wonderfully attractive! Let’s be known by our holiness. As we turn back to the book of Romans this Sunday there is a related theme – watch out for it.
The next steps…
1. The General Assembly 20th -24th May:
The General Assembly of the Free Church is less than a month away. At some point in their proceedings, the Assembly will be invited to receive into the denomination, the new congregation of “Mearns Free Church”. As a separate matter during the week, I will be invited onto the floor of the Assembly and “presented/questioned” in private. If agreeable to them, I will be received as a Free Church Minister.
Our new congregation has been on a journey leading to this Assembly. Our elders continue to be convinced of the Lord’s hand in this. However, we must not take the completion of this process for granted.
I call us to pray. Let us pray each day that this process is brought to completion by the Lord and to His glory!
2. The Presbytery (26th May):
Trusting in the grace of God that He will bring the above to its completion, we are arranging a welcoming service with Glasgow and Argyll Presbytery on 26th May. Mark this date into your calendar.
At that service;
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“Mearns Free Church” will be welcomed into the Glasgow and Argyll Presbytery.
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Presbytery will also induct me as the minister of Mearns Free Church (effective from 1st June).
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Presbytery, having appointed “Assessor Elders”, will join me (as Moderator) in a first elders meeting. We shall immediately appoint the “new” elders you elected on 10th March (namely; Alastair McLellan, Andrew Little, Charles Amery Behr, David Merriman, Jack Geddes, John McNicol, Murray McNicol, Sandy McDougall).
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With the new elders in place we shall also create the new congregational roll of Mearns Free Church (I will explain this process separately).
3. The Constitution
We will technically be a new “church”. We therefore have to adopt a constitution. This will be a constitution used by Free Church congregations.
There are two options. One option is to have our finances and physical assets administered by a “Deacons Court”. Deacons are men, elected from the congregational roll and ordained for life.
The alternative is to create a “Finance Committee” for the same purpose. Members of this committee will not be ordained, may be men and women and are elected annually by the congregation at a congregational meeting.
Our elders have voted to propose that we adopt the second model and create a Finance Committee. We believe this model makes fuller use of the gifts given to our congregation (both men and women). We believe this committee allows for greater flexibility as we go forward and is a better fit for our history.
On
26th May, we will propose a date for a Congregational Meeting at which we can accept the new constitution. We shall give more information about this in the coming weeks. You can see the constitution at this
link. It is “Appendix 2” the elders will propose.
Hope the above all makes sense.
There will be further implications of having a new legal entity called Mearns Free Church, but we will work these through with you in the coming weeks.
With warm regards,
Scott
"Mearns Free Church" - new name!
Our church communications team would like to thank all who suggested permanent names for our church as we move into the Free Church of Scotland.
There were over 100 names suggested and after discussions, the four most popular names went onto the shortlist for the elders. These four were considered at a meeting of the elders and some former elders. The two most popular, Newton Mearns Free Church and Cornerstone both had less than 20% of suggestions so we had no clear favourite from all those suggestions. The other two that made the shortlist were Grace and Trinity.
There are other churches, and Christian organisations, that use Cornerstone, Grace and Trinity in their names in the Glasgow area. We did not want to be asked which one we were, we felt it was important to have a name that would clearly identify our church.
We considered geographical references but due to other Free Churches, we rejected Glasgow South/Southern. East Renfrewshire and Eastwood were also thought to be too wide a reference.
Newton Mearns Free Church sounded too much like our Baptist friends so we moved on to Mearns Free Church as an option. Mearns is the ancient name of Newton Mearns and we have Mearns Primary School, Mearns Bowling Club etc. In conversation, we recognised that we talk about living in “Mearns” or “The Mearns” and we liked that Mearns Free Church is a short, concise name. When our name is shortened, we expect folks will talk about attending “Mearns Free Church” or “Mearns Free”. We also thought that only using Mearns makes the name transferrable if we ever change our location.
Thanks again for your input, and sorry if your personal favourite wasn’t chosen. However, the elders believe a move to our permanent name of Mearns Free Church clearly states who we are as we take our place in our new denomination.
Comms Team
Welcome Ruaridh !
Ruaridh David Geddes, born on 24th April
Weighing 8lbs 12oz. Second son to David and Hannah, wee brother to Cameron.
Jack and Liz besotted grandparents! Congratulations!
The Magazine does welcome contributions and appreciated receiving this important message.
The sender wished to remain anonymous (so would I if I was married to Pauline.)
Holiday Club Summer 2024
4th - 11th August 2024
Save the date. Sunday 4th - Sunday 11th August will be a week of activities based on an Olympics theme.
We will have a holiday club for primary school children as well as family activites, youth events and adult events.
The week is in the early planning stages so if you have any ideas please speak to myself or Jacob and look our for further information over the coming weeks.
If you would like to be involved in particular with the holiday club then we will meet during tea/coffee after church next Sunday (28th April) to find out more.
Pauline
News from Canada!
It's been a while now since Ian H headed over to Canada, so great to get this update from him...
Hi,
I'm doing well- season has come to an end now so onto a new job, though what that will be the Lord is keeping as a little mystery currently. We had our last day up the mountain yesterday as staff... was good fun just getting to relax and enjoy all the friendships which have come about this season.
Church wise I believe I am settled at the church my landlord and housemates go to - it's just a wee church but fantastic for fellowship and teaching. Still looking out for opportunities to be part of/start a small group so prayers for that would be appreciated. They've managed to nab me into the church band several past weeks for piano and violin ?? it was such a joyful experience on Easter Sunday!
Many good friends out of the ski season! Folk from all over the world. Sadly not one other Christian up the hill I believe - asides from one of the bus drivers who I suspect may've been as he seemed to take every opportunity to play Christian radio stations ??
Accommodation wise I'm still settled in my existing place thankfully, it's such a fantastic set up! Very much appreciating coming home to Christian housemates at the end of each day. Also my landlord and his wife are so generous to us, which just helps.
Ladybird Book of New Church
We have been encouraged to read this book AND think of who we would give a copy to.
There is a 2 for 1 offer for £8
Ask Stewart Anderson if you would like a copy.
Beauty. Justice. Identity. Love. Stories. Nature. Hope. These things intrigue us, move us and prompt us to ask big questions. Could there be clues in our deepest desires that point to life’s meaning?
Have You Ever Wondered? invites you on an immersive tour through the issues that matter. This book is for anyone who has looked at a landscape and contemplated why we are drawn to beauty; or wondered why we are so insatiably curious about our universe, or even for those who have simply looked up at a million stars in the vast night’s sky and just wondered.
More details in Magazine 23.
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...
Restless Idol-Factories
THE DANGER OF SCRIPTURE
‘You carefully rummage through the Scriptures,’ says Jesus to the Judeans, ‘because you think that you get eternal life from them. But they all point to me – and yet you refuse to come to me, and get life.’
Every gift is potentially dangerous. We have this endless capacity, as humans, to worship gifts rather than the gift-Giver: food, sex, the sun, prosperity, knowledge, art. Perhaps surprisingly, and worryingly, the same is true of Scripture.
Because the Bible is God’s word to us, and because of its beauty and power and richness and depth, it is possible to think that it is the Bible which gives life, rather than Jesus. It is possible for our hearts, restless idol-factories that they are, to take one of God’s greatest gifts and accidentally make a god out of it.
Sometimes this can be for emotional reasons, and can seem rather trivial. A friend of mine once told me that she used to hug her Bible, as a substitute for God, because she so struggled with the fact that God wasn’t physical. I doubt that’s the end of the world, although it probably isn’t a coincidence that she came from a church where sharing bread and wine together – which is the physical way Jesus told us to experience him – was rare.
Sometimes it can be for intellectual reasons, and rather more serious. Some of us, as a result of our personalities and backgrounds, can find the Scriptures easier to manage than the Holy Spirit. We know that, if we study hard, apply our minds, read lots and reason carefully, we can grasp the Bible well; the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is a person with whom we are called to relationship, and our brainpower doesn’t always guarantee intimacy. For the academically minded, there is a fairly well-established path to success with the Bible: a degree, a Master’s, a doctorate, published works, and so on; keeping in step with the Spirit doesn’t work that way. The result is that the Scriptures can, oh-so-subtly, take the place of God, and we can end up with a functional Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Bible. ‘The Bible will guide you into all truth,’ we imagine Jesus saying in John 16. ‘It is good for you that I’m going away, because if I don’t, the Bible won’t come to you.’ I’m joking, of course. But only just.
Sometimes it can be for spiritual reasons, and these are the most dangerous of all. Jesus tells the Judeans that they refused to come to him and have life, even though the Scriptures testified about him. They knew about the Messiah from the Bible, yet they didn’t want the life he was offering, because of what it would cost them. Without knowing it, they had put the Scriptures in the place that only God should be, with the result that they failed to recognise God when he was, quite literally, staring them in the face. Hugging Bibles is unnecessary, and intellectualising Christianity is unhelpful. But rejecting Jesus because of our beliefs about the Bible is hellish, not to mention the most tragic case of missing the wood for the trees.
Bibliolatry – the worship of the Bible – is not the main problem in our day. Most people’s view of the Bible is too low, rather than too high. But as with any good gift, there is the danger of idolatry. The Scriptures are there to point to God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We most honour them when we find our life, and our joy, in him.
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?
The Scottish Reformed Conference
Saturday the 11th of May.
This is a great place for Christians to gather and to enjoy fellowship with other like minded people and lifts the spirits of believers by bearing witness to them that they are not alone in their faith.
Hamilton College School, Bothwell Road, Hamilton.
Costs are: Adults £5 - Students £4, 17 and under £Free.
Registration opens at 9.15am.
Opening session begins 10am & closing session ends at 3.30pm.
Tea and coffee is served on arrival in the morning and at break time and lunch time. There is no cost for this. Bring your own packed lunches.
There is also a very fine book stall supplied by the Banner of Truth.
Speakers this year are Rupert Bentley-Taylor from Bath
Dr Iain Wright, a Scot, from the USA.
Fuller details can be found at - www.scottishreformedconference.org
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.
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