No.61    10th October 2025

 

Hi, hope this finds you well.

This week's magazine has a lot going on -I like to think that the magazine reflects the various aspects of a family church (and I like to think that Mearns Free Church is a family church!) So, week by week we cover some of the Bible teaching we have been hearing; will mention the weekly and one off events planned; we will have stories from individuals and families in the church, and then also have a look at the church across Scotland and globally. I think this week's magazine demonstrates that pretty thoroughly. 

The Coffee Break is only 4 mins long - but you need to watch it at least 4 times. It reminds me of these double concentrated juices you can get where such a small amount can pack a real punch.  If you felt that how an individual 'self identifies' was a new thing you will find out that Paul was already dealing with it in the first century. And if you are a gardener then take heart that God is a pruner par excellence - such good news! And if you want to know how and why we should treat one another then it covers that too.

Enjoy the Mag.
MB

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Saturday Morning

Sat 11th October ....9am - 10am
at the Smiths, Eaglesham
All welcome ! 

Sunday 12th October
Morning service - 10.30am

Rev Paul Clarke
1 Corinthians ch3
Rev Scott Hamilton’s Commissioning

This week is...

 
Letters to Churches in Revelation - 
"...to the Church in Thyatira"

Wednesday...

We meet on Wednesdays at 7.15pm for one hour.
For all Wednesdays in October, we meet at the Merriman's
Speak to Scott about being added to the 'Signal' app for getting PULSE messages.'

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From The Manse
Dear Congregation,
About a year ago, the elders asked Martin Smith to prepare four sermons on prayer—two for the Spring and two for the Autumn. Martin delivered two excellent expositions in the Spring, focusing on Jesus and prayer. Since returning from holiday, I had the blessing of listening to Martin's final two sermons from God's word on prayer in the New Testament more generally. I found the messages to be of huge personal benefit and a great encouragement to my own prayer life. They not only uplifted me but also provided helpful, practical steps for praying more biblically and effectively.
I encourage everyone to review all four sermons, pray through the messages, and put them into practice. You can listen to (or watch) Martin’s first two sermons on our website: March 30, 2025 (here) and April 6, 2025 (here). We sincerely thank God for the time and effort Martin invested in preparing these for us.

The Strength Found in Shared VulnerabilityPrayer is deeply personal, and Martin rightly stressed that it signifies our conscious dependence on God. However, when we decide to pray together, we are humbled before one another as we mutually acknowledge this shared dependence. I suspect this is why some of us hesitate to gather for group prayer—it exposes our shared vulnerability and this is daunting.
Yet, it is precisely in the many aspects of our weakness and vulnerability that we become most conscious of the Lord's strength. The Apostle Paul was very clear about God's purpose in our weakness:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I (Paul) will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me... For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
Perhaps this passage offers perspective on any feeling of being exposed in gathered prayer.

This Sunday: Scott’s Commissioning Service
This Sunday, it will be a great delight to host the Rev. Paul Clarke as he leads us in God's word for what we are calling a "commissioning service" to mark Scott Hamilton's ministry. Paul is the Convenor of the Board of Ministry for the denomination and was Scott's supervising minister during his training in St Andrews. (We shall enjoy more special cake after worship!)

Urgent Update: Property Pledges Required.
On a separate, pressing matter, Sandy McDougall will shortly begin reviewing our financial pledges for prospective property. This is a critical step to determine if we are financially able to seriously contemplate purchasing a property should one become available in the shorter term.
Please hand in your pledge forms as soon as possible.
Pledge forms are still available at the rear of the hall if you need a replacement. You can also request one via email from Sandy at finance@mearnsfree.org. The urgency is highlighted because we have been alerted to a building on the edge of our area of interest that might soon become available. While we have only just begun to reflect on this property, the potential opportunity reminds us that we never know when the Lord might open a suitable door for us. We need to be ready to act. Please conclude your prayers and if the Lord is opening your heart to make a pledge, could I ask that you complete the pledge form soon please.

With warmest regards,
Scott (Kirkland)

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Psalm Singing

This week we are singing Psalm 130 - the tune is Martrydom so, not the most upbeat title... 
However, it is a great tune and wonderful words...we just need to do our part and sing it well. This week it is being sung unaccompanied so, your optional homework is to have a listen and then decide which of the harmonies you are going opt for.
If you have Spotify you can listen here or you can use these links and decide whether Dowanvale or St Peter's in Dundee sing it best.

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Sam and Muriel

"It was lovely sharing our 60th Wedding Anniversary celebration with our Church family.
Very many thanks for all the cards, flowers, gifts and best wishes for this special day."
Muriel and Sam Nugent

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Over the last few weeks Scott has been using the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) as a framework for prayer - helping us to pray through the great truths contained there... you can read the others by going to previous magazines. 
The Free Church of Scotland recognize the WCF as a 'standard', not as important as Scripture but secondarily authoritative for defining theology. 
God’s providence and sovereignty are a main theme of the confession...the WCF states that God governs all events in the world according to his will, which is perfect, and nothing happens by chance... we believe that God controls all circumstances
Read Scott's prayer focus on Chapter 6 - Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof here

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Ladybird Book of Mearns Free Church

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Sunday Post-ing

Many of us had our our photo taken by Graham as the Church Directory was being put together...I can't imagine any more challenging work than that as he tried to make us all look semi-normal.
Last Sunday Graham appeared in the Sunday Post as his photo of the Science Centre has been chosen by the Halifax Bank of Scotland  to use on their bank cards....congratulations Graham!
Graham has been taking photos for a number of years now, both in the wild outdoors and urban images too. 
You can look at more of his photos as his facebook page here 

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World Wide Church

Do you ever feel that you know there are things going on in the church across the world that you should be praying for but really don't know where to start - Lausanne Movement has put together a short overview for each week - you can subscribe and the news and a short overview is sent to you. See below




What is God doing among the nations today? What are the challenges and opportunities we face in global mission? How can we pray in an informed way for the world? With Praying for the World, a free weekly prayer guide to inspire and inform the whole church to pray for the whole world you can be up to date and be clear about what you are praying for across the globe.

Through Praying for the World, you are given the big picture of how God is moving in our world today, cultivate greater awareness of global missional needs and opportunities, and mobilize prayer and loving action.
Each of the 52 weekly prayer guides features a specific country or region and includes practical points for learning and praying:
click HERE to see an example of the 2 page weekly update.  
Praying for the World is available to start any week of the year! Made through the partnership of Operation World and the Lausanne Movement.
Simply go to lausanne.org/pray to subscribe and the weekly update will be sent to you.

 

PREPARE TO STAND

Tom sent in a note of a meeting to hear from Andrew Brunson - you can see the details of this below - over a number of months Tom had faithfully brought news updates of the Brunsons' experiences in Turkey to the Pulse prayer meeting.
Tom writes: 
Together with Christians all over the world we prayed in Pulse for Andrew and his wife Norine over the two years Andrew was held in Turkish jails on false charges, enduring all the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual hardships of such an ordeal, then we prayed our gladful thanks to God when he was released.
Our prayers were answered back then, and now we have the opportunity to see and hear Andrew and Norine in the flesh, and pray with them as they tell us about their new ministry that has been born out of that dreadful hardship.
Andrew and Norine are in my view living examples of the power of prayer and the power of God.  James expressed this so beautifully in his letter... "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much". ch5:16

 

OPEN DOORS

Open Doors has asked us to 'stand in the gap for the persecuted church' through taking part in 3 upcoming events


IDOP Prayer Vigil - Saturday 15th November
The Scotland Prayer Vigil for the Persecuted Church will run alongside the Prayer Vigil in Witney (see above)
In Scotland, the drop-in event will be 10am – 1pm at St Mungo’s Church, Ladycroft, Balerno, EH14 7AG.

Arise Africa Online Webinar- 7.30pm on 22nd October
The Arise Africa campaign aims to ensure people are talking and praying about the crisis of extreme violence against Christians in sub-Saharan Africa. Please encourage your church to be represented. Registration is here: Arise-africa-online-tickets

International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) - 2nd November
Could you take some time on Sunday 2nd November to pray with the persecuted church?
Check our latest news for how to pray here: Open Doors Latest News

PLUS: register for the 7pm online Prayer Vigil here: IDOP Online Prayer Vigil
Thanks for your support for the persecuted church.
Chris Greenhalgh 
Church Relations Lead, Scotland 
Open Doors UK & Ireland 

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Bake Off Pressure

There is no shortage of fantastic baking at church these days -A big thanks again to those on the rota who give us these treats each week...and some of them are also baking for Cafe Connect too.
It seems a bit much that they are actually being judged though - Sam must have felt the pressure of both Alastair and Paul Hollywood scrutinizing the Anniversay cake on Sunday, looking for overbaking, or soggy bottoms!

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The Coffee Afternoon has the double benefit of being able to support the work of Blythswood AND to let visitors and guests see where we meet on a Sunday morning. 
There are events over Christmas that will be particularly good for inviting friends and families too and this informal setting is a good starting point. The image above will be available to WhatsApp people and there will be some paper flyers too.

Sunday Evening 14th December, 7pm

Christmas Musical Evening

Hear the events of the first Christmas explained and celebrated through traditional and modern music and readings.
Followed by Tea/Coffee and Mince Pies.
More details and ways of inviting friends will be in the magazine over the next few weeks, but this is a good time to start thinking about who you could invite.

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Lord's Prayer - corporate version

We have been noticing how the English language can take different shapes and forms depending on who is actually using it -
we have looked at a youth version, so here is one which might be more in keeping with the board room and a powerpoint presentation.

Heavenly Father,
Your reputation is a best-in-class benchmark.
Let’s align so that Earth executes Heaven’s strategic vision.

Provide us today with key nutritional deliverables.
We regret prior missteps and request exoneration —
we will extend the same courtesy to stakeholders
who have failed to meet targets even when assurances had been given.

Please don’t schedule us for high-risk initiatives,
but enable us to mitigate exposure to negative outcomes.

For yours is the market dominance,
the core competency,
and the long-term sustainability,
until end-of-quarter and beyond.
Full stop.

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This week's coffee break is only 4 mins long -  but covers a lot of ground... watch it here
In this video, Dr. Sinclair Ferguson describes how union with Christ affects the believer’s daily life.

"I think it may be true that many Christians go through many years of their lives without ever thinking about the New Testament’s teaching on union with Christ. And yet, when you read through the New Testament—especially Paul‘s letters—but not only Paul‘s letters, you discover he keeps on using this expression: We are “in Christ” or we are “in Christ Jesus."

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SU SCOTLAND
Local Hubs

SU Scotland’s vision is to see every child and young person in Scotland exploring the Bible and responding to the significance of Jesus.
There are 705,000 children and young people in 2,500 schools. These are big numbers, but there are 360 high school clusters with associated primaries, sometimes with a local independent or special school.

SU Scotland’s aim is to have a local ministry hub at the heart of every high school cluster. A local ministry hub will be local Christians coming together so that each school in the cluster is prayed for regularly. Local knowledge will be shared cultivating community and opportunities to serve the schools and share the Gospel will be explored. SU Scotland's Director of Local Minstries - Zonya Bewick shares her passion for this in this video



Due to the overlapping nature of the schools and ministries in our area we have created a 'Super-Hub' currently covering the High Schools of Eastwood, Mearns Castle, Williamwood and Woodfarm and their associated primaries.
We are gathering on Monday 27th October, 7.30pm in Cartsbridge Church and would love any parents, grandparents, teachers and those who want to support our local schools to come along. 
Pauline
Regional Worker, Renfrewshire & Inverclyde
E: Pauline.Forster@suscotland.org.uk  

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Fire Exits

Did you know there are three different ways of exiting the school building in an emergency? Where do you normally sit? Take a note of the exits below for each of the three areas.