No.48 30th May 2025
Hi, hope this finds you well.
This weekend we look forward to Scott opening up Mark's gospel again. It's remarkable to think we are reading the same scriptures, and confessing the same truths in prayer and praise that the Christian church has for centuries - and we are doing so
because of the Christians over these centuries. I was reading this week that the fancy word for it is Paradosis, ie the handing down of teaching, by word of mouth or in writing. So we did have a one year birthday last week (big thanks to Emily for the cakes!) but we are part of something much larger and you can read more about that below too.
Make sure you don't miss the invites to two meetings after the morning services - for this Sunday and next Sunday (8th)
There is also an SIM 10 day prayer guide (which you might have had emailed to you already) which has just started and runs up to Pentecost. Just a short focus each day - take a look.
Enjoy the Mag
M
Sunday 1st June
Morning service - 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland
Mark ch1:16-20
After the service...
Community Week Team Meeting
Pauline and Scott are inviting anyone who would like to see how they can be involved to come along to this short meeting on Sunday - discover how you can support and pray for what will be happening at the Community Week
(not just Holiday Club) 3-10 Aug. Lots of details below.
Home Groups are on this week
Session 3 - Daniel ch4
On Sunday morning we are singing 'My Worth is not in what I own' on Sunday morning and it ties in well with what the Home Groups are looking at in Daniel 4.
"As summer flowers, we fade and die
Fame, youth, and beauty hurry by
But life eternal calls to us
At the cross
I will not boast in wealth or might
Or human wisdom's fleeting light
But I will boast in knowing Christ
At the cross
I rejoice in my Redeemer
Greatest treasure, wellspring of my soul
I will trust in Him, no other
My soul is satisfied in Him alone"
There is a great version of this song HERE with the Getty's and Fernando Ortega
Welcome to Caleb
and congratulations to Thane and Christy (and Thane jnr)!
On May 26th, 2025 Caleb Emmanuel Allardyce Campbell was born.
Thane writes..."Caleb came into the world at 13.23, weighing 6lbs 15oz.
Mummy and Daddy are very proud and grateful. Mummy and baby are enjoying perfect health.
Wednesday - 7.15pm - 8.15pm
@ the McDougalls'.
Belmont or Brunch?
In last week's magazine the fact that the Nicene Creed was 1700 years old was mentioned and we also talked about Mearns Free being one year old. Could there be a link between the two events? In this short passage writer Tish Harrison Warren reminds us of the line in the Creed which highlights the connection that runs across the globe and through the centuries.
"For a couple of centuries now, evangelicals have focused almost exclusively on a personal relationship with God, on individual conversion and spiritual growth. Many feel that the church (if it’s necessary at all) is primarily intended to serve our individual spiritual needs or to group us together with like-minded people – a kind of spiritual holy fraternity.
If we believe that church his merely a voluntary society of people with shared values, then it is entirely optional. ie. if the church helps you with your personal relationship with God, great; If not, I know a great brunch place that’s open on a Sunday.
But while an individual relationship with Jesus is an important part of the Christian life, it is not the sum total of the Christian life. Our relationship with God is never less than an intimate relationship with Christ but it is always much more than that. Christians throughout history have confessed that it is impossible to have a relationship with Christ outside of a vital relationship with the church, Christ’s body and bride. In his Institutes, John Calvin quotes Cyprian’s famous dictum (drawing on Paul’s language in Galatians ch4) that ‘He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother.
When we confess in the Nicene Creed that we believe in ‘one holy, catholic, apostolic church’ we are confessing that we cannot know Christ on our own , or merely with a small cadre of our friends. Instead, we rely on the global, historic church that Christ initiated and built. When we worship Jesus we rely on millions of Christians over thousands of years whom God has used to bear witness to himself. The only reason we know anything at all about Jesus is because his disciples told their friends, neighbours and enemies about him, and believers have carried his message everywhere they've gone in every generation. The Bible names this process 'paradosis' - the faithful handing down of the gospel, a process that is always embodied and that happens in real time with real people. (1 Cor 11:2, 2 Thess 2:15)"
- from 'Liturgy of the Ordinary'
The Keswick Convention's Scottish mini convention is on this weekend - there are 3 evening events. Details below or on the website here.
At the Park Hotel in Kilmarnock!
Fri, Sat and Sun – 7.30pm
Each evening begins at 7.30pm with doors opening at 6.30pm. There is no need to book and each evening is free to attend (though an offering will be taken each evening which will be split between Keswick Ayrshire and 3 partner organisations – Asialink, Child Evangelism Fellowship, Hope for Addiction).
See last week's magazine for details of speaker J. John.
PROPERTY MEETING
Sunday 8th June - after morning service
There will be a short conversation over coffee after the service on 8 June.
Members of the Finance Committee will share thoughts on the potential funding and acquisition of property for Mearns Free Church. Please note, this is an informal conversation and no property purchase is under any active consideration at the moment.
Murray McNicol
10 DAYS OF PRAYER
In these coming 10 days (29th May - 7th June) as we head towards Pentecost can we pray through Paul's prayers as encouraged by SIM.
In the downloadable pdf each day has the bible text (Paul's prayer) , and bullet points to help you think about the text, prayer points for that day , and a 'step' to take, ie something to do in response to the prayers
Click here to see the SIM prayer guide
Who are SIM?
Serving In Mission is an international mission organisation with more than 3,000 cross-cultural mission workers, connecting people and churches in 70+ countries. We not only send people from the UK to share the gospel as part of multi-ethnic teams in a wide range of strategic ministries, but we also have mission workers from other nations serving cross-culturally in the UK.
SIM's vision: "a world with a witness to Christ’s love where he is least known, disciples of Jesus expressing God’s love in their communities, and Christ-centred churches among all peoples. To do this, we work hand-in-hand with evangelical churches to: make disciples for Christ where he is least known; send and receive gospel workers; and equip people for cross-cultural mission."
More details are on their webpage
sim.co.uk
Ian Dale
Earlier this week we were saddened to hear of the passing of Ian Dale, we continue to remember Margaret and the family at this time.
The funeral is in Linn Crematorium on 12th June at 1pm.
Keith Sigrist
Keith Sigrist's funeral will be on the 9th June at 1.30pm in Newton Mearns Baptist Church
(and afterwards at Loks in Shawlands.)
Angela requests bright colours please, and no flowers. Donations to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice please, if appropriate.
Bible Alive
in Mearns Schools
We have one final session in Mearns Primary left to go this coming Wednesday. Thank you to all who have supported in prayer. It really has been an amazing opportunity and the feedback we've had so far from the pupils and staff has been very encouraging.
During the joint evening service on Sunday 8th June we will be giving an overview of what we have been doing with the P5s and how you can continue to support local schools work going into next year.
P7 transition
The end of the academic year is almost here. 17 and a half days of this term left - not that anyone in our house is counting!
Primary 7 pupils are getting ready to move up to High School and myself and Lynne Hamilton (SU regional worker) are visiting both Mearns and Maidenhill primaries next week to do Bible based sessions with all pupils about this. Give thanks for another opportunity to speak about Jesus in our local primaries!
Pauline
Concert times:
Saturday 3pm, Sunday 7pm
There are still tickets available especially for the Sunday evening so book soon.
This is always an excellent event and this year again the PG choir is joined by the junior choir.
Use the QR code above or look at the webpage to book.
Performance or Grace
Last week's magazine showed an image which Christopher Watkin (in his book 'Biblical Critical Theory) uses to let us see how different the Good News of God's underserved grace is compared with the performance based 'Can I do enough to bring down God's favour on me' religions.
This concept of God's grace is not something just introduced in the New Testament.
Below is the same image based around the story of Noah.
Watkin writes: "Noah was given grace on God's free intitative, not because of any good behaviour or spark of potential on Noah's part, and that as a result of receiving grace he is righteous and blameless....Noah is not righteous because of what he does but because of whom he trusts. (Hebrews 11:7). This crucial sequence (Noah found favour, and Noah's righteousness and ship-building obedience flowed from that prior gift is an example of what we will see repeated time and time again in the pages of the Bible. The great majority of ancient pagan religions, as well as the assumption of most people today when they think about God at all, is that relations with the deity operate according to what we might call an 'n-shaped' dynamic: we offer something to the god (upward stroke of n) and the god responds with blessing (downward stroke)...we scratch the god's back, and the god oblig'ingly scratches ours. "
We see this in the secular world too - the n-shape of 'no pain, no gain' or and 'you only get out of it what you put in'. Watkin also quotes the NON bible verse 'God helps those who help themselves', and of course this can lead to a mindset where an individual's (or community's) worth is understood only in THEIR usefulness (or performance) to the whole. And so this n-shape attitude could be seen in personal relationships too - 'not an end in themselves but rather a means to further our own interests' as Tim Keller puts it.
Watkin again on the U shaped story: "God's dealings with Noah reverses the 'performance leads to reward' dynamic to one of 'blessing leads to response". God's blessing comes unbidden, gratuitously, and it transfers Noah's actions from an n-shaped performace orchestra to win God's favour into a U-shaped grateful response to God's loving response."
And of course, understanding the U-shape grace in our lives will change our whole life as with gratitude as the starting point we change our thoughts not just towards God, but how we view others.
Ladybird Book of Maxwell
Last week Scott mentioned how impressed and encouraged he and Sandy McD were at the general assembly.
In his letter he referred to the moderators sermon, and then to his interaction with the King’s representative, Lady Elish Frances Angiolini
If you missed listening/watching these last week here they are again.
Moderator sermon - here (scroll to 55min)
Moderator speaking with The King’s representative - here
The summer holidays are going to be upon us in the blink of an eye.
We are looking for some people to lead one (or more) of our summer sessions to give our regular Kids leaders a break. You will need to have a PVG with Mearns Free Church (this can be arranged through Alastair MacLellan or Sue Anderson and is a relatively painless procedure) and there will need to be two adults aged 18+ at each session. We will be focusing on Nehemiah this summer and full teaching materials and resources will be provided for each week.
Speak to Pauline if you can help on any of the following dates:
29th June, 6th July, 13th July, 20th July, 27th July, 4th August.
End of School Year Service and Outing
On Sunday 22nd June we will mark the end of another school year for our Mearns Free Kids.
This will be an all age service and an opportunity to hear about what we've been up to over the last year and to support and pray for the youngest members of our church family.
After this we plan to head to Dean Castle Country Park in Kilmarnock for a BYO picnic and fellowship and there will be the opportunity to choose from activities such as games, play park, woodland walk, exploring the castle, going to the cafe or simply sitting and chatting. Everyone is welcome to join us.
Speak to Pauline if you would like to come but need transport or would like to car share. If the weather is horrific then we will bring the fun to Belmont instead!
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.
Mearns Free Church has a What's App Group for Prayer -The "PRAY NOW" Group
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.
Emailing The Minister
Please be careful when emailing Scott that you are using the correct current email address minister@mearnsfree.org. A number of emails continue to be sent to accounts no longer in use. Please be doubly careful when sending from a device that is not your normal communication device (like a phone) or if you use “reply to all”.
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