No.27 17th May, 2024
Hi,
Hope this finds you well, and enjoying some sunshine.
Not that everyone has been able to, and we have been remembering those who for one reason or another have needed prayer this week as they are laid low.
We are often updated with prayer requests on the WhatsApp Pray Now group - if you are not on that speak with Margaret B on Sunday. Praying for one another is just one way we show the 'one anotherness' the New Testament says will be a distinguishing mark of any local church. It can be shown in a number of ways and some of these are very normal, everyday, and yet important.
In a few weeks time we will have a fellowship tea and time to discuss the life of the church and where we can play our part - make sure you note the date of the Starter for Ten event below.
Some of the practical things we do involve admin as well, I'm afraid (I actually don't think there will be admin in Heaven...it will be banished!) and Scott notes some of that in his letter...don't skip over it like a letter from the council.
The usual news and views are in the magazine too, along with a celebrity interview from the political world of Holyrood.
Enjoy the mag.
M
Sunday 19th May 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland
Reading - Romans ch8:28-39
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,
Please do read this letter carefully as there is important information about the next few weeks of our church life and our ongoing contact with you.
Membership of Mearns Free Church (and continuing email contact with you).
If you are currently on the congregational roll of Newton Mearns New Church, please ensure you have signed a form to transfer across to the Roll of Mearns Free Church. Cara McPhail and Tom Brown will have a form with your name on it this Sunday. Please track them down at the door of Belmont.
You need to sign this form also so that we can continue having contact with you but under the auspices of Mearns Free Church. Irritating though it is, current privacy laws (GDPR) mean we have to have your express permission to contact you.
If you will not be present on Sunday and have not dealt with this yet, please send an email to the office and we will complete this task with you by email (office@nmnewchurch.org).
Not a member but receive communications from us:
If you receive this magazine and other communications from NMNC but will not become a formal member of Mearns Free Church (above), we need your permission to continue communicating with you as a friend of our new congregation.
The office will send an email to you with a request for permission to have ongoing communication. This email will be sent in the next week or so.
Please follow the instructions in that email. Without a positive response, we will be obliged to stop communicating with you.
On related but different matters:
Please put a few dates in your calendar for prayer and participation.
First, this Tuesday (21st) from 2pm onwards.
You are welcome to attend the General Assembly of the Free Church at St Columba’s Church at the top of the Royal Mile (Johnstone Terrace). As part of the business on the afternoon of the 21st, our congregation (and me as Minister) will be welcomed into the Free Church.
This is a public gathering. Several of our elders will be present, as I will be with Anita. Why not join us there?
Secondly, next Sunday (26th) here in Belmont.
We shall have representatives of Glasgow and Argyll Presbytery lead us in worship and formally receive our congregation into the local Presbytery of the Free Church. They will induct me formally as the Minister of Mearns Free Church and help us appoint our first elders (those elected by you on 10th March). This is a crucial service, please do try and be with us.
Thirdly, there will be a congregational meeting of Mearns Free Church on Friday 7th June at 8 pm.
This meeting will be vital to agree a constitution for our new congregation. Needless to say, we need a constitution so that we know what we are doing. However, only with this in place can we apply to OSCR for Charitable status under the general auspices of the Free Church. (See details below about the constitution.)
At this meeting on 7th June, we shall also elect some of the members of Mearns Free Church to oversee our “finances and fabric”.
And, our elders will share information on our financial situation and how the current financial and physical assets of NMNC will be handled going forward.
Please pray for all the above and please if possible be present.
Warmest Regards,
Scott
Proposed Constitution Of Mearns Free Church
Meeting 7th June 8pm
There are two options for us to consider when adopting a Constitution in the Free Church.
The key difference lies in whether we think it best for us to have a Deacons Court or a Finance Committee oversee our “finance and fabric”.
A Deacons Court means ordaining men as Deacons, for life. Or, for a Finance Committee elect men and women annually.
The elders propose that the congregation adopt the constitution with the Finance Committee. We believe this best suits our history and the gifts of our congregation. Members of the Finance Committee may be re-elected each year by the congregation. A Constitution will be adopted at the congregational meeting on 7th June.
To compare and contrast the two constitutions, you can view them here.
Appendix I refers to the Deacons Court.
Appendix II refers to the Finance Committee. (We are proposing Appendix II.)
Join us for...
Sunday 2nd June, 4.30 - 7pm
A healthy Gospel church in our community.
We as Newton Mearns New Church (soon to be Mearns Free Church) want to be a healthy gospel Church in our community. Healthy in many ways: healthy in mission, healthy in ministry and healthy in training. A healthy growing gospel congregation that can be a blessing to our surrounding community.
We want to be enthusiastic about God growing his church and becoming increasingly healthy in Newton Mearns and beyond. As a healthy gospel church we want God at the heart of everything. We should come together to worship him, to learn from his word and to practise what the Bible teaches us. We should also be an active church not only within our own congregation but also to our community around us, to give them an opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And this aim is why we are hosting our Starter for 10 event on June 2nd.
We want thoughts and ideas from everyone in the congregation no matter how long you have been a part of our church family. Whether you are young or old, everyone has a part to play in it.
On the day we are going to have 6 stations
-
Training & Leadership
-
Mission & social action
-
Pastoral & relationships
-
Praise & Worship
-
Outreach & Discipleship
-
Prayer.
At these stations we want you to share your thoughts on how we can thrive and spread the Gospel.
The plan for the day is
16:30 – Kick off with a talk from our guest speaker and some praise.
17:00 – Dive into themed discussion stations and share your thoughts on how we can thrive and spread the Gospel.
18:00 – Enjoy a buffet tea
18:45 – Final reflections from Scott
19:00 - That's a wrap!
During the hour spending time at the stations we would love you to spend 20 minutes at 3 of them.
Bringing ideas and thoughts and discussing them with those who are manning the stations and others who have come to that station.
If you have any questions feel free to contact Jacob
SU camp
Last weekend, the reason we were short in number on our young people was because some of us were at the Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde SU Primary weekend at Lendrick Muir.
We had 32 campers, 1 almost old enough to be a camper, and 14 team members. NM New Church made up 8 of those number.
Our theme for the weekend was Wonka (the latest film) so aside from eating chocolate (albeit slightly melted!), watching the film and the leaders dressing up as various characters then hiding from the campers, we focused our 3 Bible teaching times on ideas found in some of the songs in the film. We explored the need of the world for Jesus, the one who truly came to change the world by his death on the cross, offering forgiveness, life, and freedom to those who follow Him.
We also had plenty of time to enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful grounds of Lendrick Muir and take part in various outdoor activities such as king swing, bungee trampolining, bushcraft, orienteering, foot golf, night line, octoball, ames on the MUGA and an outdoor silent disco!
Please pray for our 32+1 campers that they would have opportunities to continue to hear God's Word taught faithfully and respond to the significance of Jesus.
Pauline
(The final photo shows Cara attempting to really get into the book of Acts and re-enacting Paul's encounter with Jesus) ??
At Christian Institute recent autumn Conference, their Chairman, Rev. Dr. Richard Turnbull gave a talk on “good works”.
I draw this to our attention for two reasons. It is good to hear what the CI is saying.
However, secondly, this talk touched on some of what we have covered in Romans and expanded on it. It is worth the investment of time. You can find it
here.
SK
Overwhelmed?
The first of the Home Group studies looked at a Psalm from David's life when he was under the cosh - family upset, danger, political upheaval - horrible stuff.
Our group discussed the 'Just give it all to God' attitude versus the 'You've got to do something - use the gifts God gave you etc' attitude.
Pauline, read this the next day from her Alistair Begg Truth for Life devotional and sent it on - fits well...
"Do you ever start your day lying in bed thinking of all that’s ahead of you and around you? Do you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of the day to come or underwhelmed by the routine of it?
As she woke up in those first few days of her new life in Bethlehem, Ruth likely had to take a moment to remind herself of where she was and all that had happened: My husband died. I’m now living with my also-widowed mother-in-law in a foreign land. I know I made the decision to leave, but I hope I’ve done the right thing. What now?
Ruth didn’t sit around waiting for some miraculous intervention before she proceeded with her life. No, for her, common sense led to careful thinking, and careful thinking led to practical action. Ruth knew she and Naomi needed provision, and she realized she was capable of working. She therefore sought Naomi’s advice and her approval before going out into the fields to labor and find food.
Common sense doesn’t mean we rely on our own insight or abilities. We must trust God and look to Him. But we must also use the faculties He’s given us to live sensible lives in accordance with His will. We must be prepared to do what we can and leave the rest in God’s care. Do not mistake passivity for godliness. But, by her attitude and actions, Ruth teaches us that all that God provides—each opportunity of obtaining what we need—is an undeserved mercy and favor from the Giver of every good and perfect gift (James 1:17).
As we get up and take action, we can trust that God is not idle. He’s working everything according to His will (Romans 8:28), not as a package that is let down from heaven on a string but as a scroll that unrolls day by day as we walk through life. His favour in the ordinary things of life keeps us marching for another day. Your day may not look exciting or glamorous. You may not be sure how you will overcome what confronts you. But it is the day that God has given you, and He will give you all you need to do all He calls you to.
Will you, like Ruth, get up and get on with this life you’ve been given, and live for God and His glory?"
Begg's Truth For Life devotional is superb - highly recommended - give as a gift to someone? On offer at the moment here.
This event is next Saturday - can you get along? Do you need a lift?
Speak with Margo or Margaret on Sunday. Programme for the event is
here.
Ladybird Book of New Church
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
We are in part 2 of a new series looking at aspects of the Gospel. Don Carson has a short booklet based on this exposition of 1 Corinthians 15:1-19 from the plenary address at The Gospel Coalition's inaugural public conference in 2007
You can buy it here.
I shall try to bring things to clarity by focusing on eight summarizing words (six of which were first suggested by John Stott), five clarifying sentences, and one evocative summary.
What Paul is going to talk about in these verses, he says, is “the gospel”: “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you” (v. 1). “By this gospel you were saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you” (v. 2). Indeed, what Paul had passed on to them was “of first importance”—a rhetorically powerful way of telling his readers to pay attention, for what he is going to say about the gospel lies at its very center. These prefatory remarks completed, the first word that appears in Paul’s summary is “Christ”: “I passed on to you as of first importance that Christ died for our sins” and so forth. That brings me to the first of my eight summarizing words.
1. The Gospel Is Christological; It Is Christ-Centered.
The gospel is not a bland theism, still less an impersonal pantheism. The gospel is irrevocably Christ-centered. The point is powerfully articulated in every major New Testament book and corpus.
In Matthew’s Gospel, for instance, Christ himself is Emmanuel, God with us; he is the long-promised Davidic king who will bring in the kingdom of God. By his death and resurrection he becomes the mediatorial monarch who insists that all authority in heaven and earth is his alone.
In John, Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6), for it is the Father’s solemn intent that all should honour the Son even as they honour the Father.
In the sermons reported in Acts, there is no name but Jesus given under heaven by which we must be saved.
In Romans and Galatians and Ephesians, Jesus is the last Adam, the one to whom the law and the prophets bear witness, the one who by God’s own design propitiates God’s wrath and reconciles Jews and Gentiles to his heavenly Father and thus also to each other.
The great vision of Revelation 4–5, the Son alone, emerging from the very throne of God Almighty, is simultaneously the lion and the lamb, and he alone is qualified to open the seals of the scroll in the right hand of God, and thus bring about all of God’s matchless purposes for judgment and blessing.
So also here: the gospel is Christological. John Stott is right:
“The gospel is not preached if Christ is not preached.” Yet this Christological stance does not focus exclusively on Christ’s person; it embraces with equal fervour his death and resurrection. As a matter of first importance, Paul writes, “Christ died for our sins” (15:3). Earlier in this letter, Paul does not tell his readers, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ”; rather, he says, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ
and him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Moreover, Paul here ties Jesus’s death to his resurrection, as the rest of the chapter makes clear. This is the gospel of Christ crucified and risen again. In other words, it is not enough to make a splash of Christmas, and downplay Good Friday and Easter. When we insist that as a matter of first importance, the gospel is Christological, we are not thinking of Christ as a cipher, or simply as the God-man who comes along and helps us like a nice insurance agent: “Jesus is a nice God-man, he’s a very, very nice God-man, and when you break down, he comes along and fixes you.”
The gospel is Christological in a more robust sense: Jesus is the promised Messiah who died and rose again.
Q&A Catch-Up!
A Summary Of Scott’s Catch-Up With Hannah McNicol
Q&A (all with permission!)
Scott: How Is London going?
- CARE classes are going great, we had a talk last week from Lyndon Browning (one of the founders of CARE) which was really great
- This week we have a bioethics lecture?
Scott: How is Parliament going??
- it’s an exciting time in Scottish politics! I’m still really enjoying my placement, I’m getting to prep a detailed briefing about assisted suicide in Scotland for Jeremy, hopefully it’ll be helpful to him soon
- my placement with Jeremy ends at the end of June but I have just managed to get a one month placement in July with the Centre for Social Justice in Scotland, which will take me through to the end of the CARE year!
Scott: How Is Church going?
“Cord” (Chalmers Bible study) was great this week!
We looked at Genesis 44-45. Was quite a big study!
Scott: How is boyfriend going?!
…going great…photo taken of us recently at the Giant’s causeway!
Scott: how can we pray for you?
Please pray that I’d find a job for next year, something related to politics/cultural issues ideally!
Thank you so much for your prayer,
Hannah
1824—2024
This June, Crow Road Free Church will celebrate its 200th anniversary.
Known originally as Hope Street Gaelic Chapel the congregation was formed in 1824. In 2023 it became known as Crow Road Free Church following the union of Glasgow City with Partick Free Church.
To mark 200 years of life, worship and Gospel witness of this congregation, special services are being held in the church at 29 Crow Road, Glasgow, on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th June.
Dr Derek Thomas, formerly First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi and First Presbyterian Church, Columbia and Rev. Neil MacMillan, Cornerstone Free Church Edinburgh, a former member in the congregation, will be our guest preachers.
A warm invitation is extended to you to join us for any of these services.
Saturday 15th June at 7.30 pm
Preacher: Rev. Dr Derek Thomas
Greetings and reminiscences from former members
Book Launch: A Family We Belong To—a new history of the congregation by Evan Macdonald, £10
Exhibition of archive photographs and artefacts
Sunday 16th June
Morning Service at 11.00 am: Rev. Dr Derek Thomas
Evening Service at 6.00 pm: Rev. Neil MacMillan
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.
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