No.65      7th November

Hi, hope this finds you well.

There’s been a few things going on this week that have somehow led to the magazine having a musical theme.
Those planning Christmas events have been looking ahead to the Musical Evening that is on the 14th December  - details below and you'll be hearing more about that over the next few weeks - who will you invite?
And then this week, one of the best Christian writers in the UK at the moment, Andrew Wilson had contributed to Christianity Today and they have made his article available.
He points out something we all know, ie that when a song gets stuck in your head it can be really annoying (I'm thinking "Macarena" by Los Del Rio, or "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley...what about you?). However, there is another side to the coin -or a B-side to that 45'  if you like - which can actually be really helpful - very much depends on what the content of the song is doesn't it?
Then aongside that the musician Ian White, along with the Inspiration Orchestra (a ministry for handicapped folk) have released an album this month.
But first of all, as it is Remembrance Sunday this weekend, take a moment to listen to this  'Remembrance Hymn' -  written to help us worship as we consider those who have given so much for us over the decades. We will sing it this Sunday, so you can 'rehearse' over the weekend.


Watch and listen to the hymn here.

The final verse is:
O Lord we look ahead in hope
To see the dawning of the day
When swords are beaten into ploughs
And every tear is wiped away
When wounds are healed and fear dispelled
And all who trust in you arise
When Christ the Prince of Peace has come
And glory, glory fills the skies

Enjoy the Mag.
MB

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SATURDAY

Saturday 8th ....9am - 10am
at the Smiths, Eaglesham
All welcome ! 

Sunday 9th November

 

Morning service - 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland

Mark ch8
 

in Newton Mearns Baptist Church
7pm-8pm
(Come along at 6.30pm for refreshments)

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Wednesday...

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

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From The Manse

Dear Congregation,

When the Lord calls us to faith in Jesus Christ, He uses a variety of life circumstances. Yet, regardless of the situation, the means of His grace remain constant. Into these circumstances, He speaks to us through the gospel of Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit makes us alive to receive it.
While our psychological assessment of a situation may dominate our focus, we must remember that the circumstances are merely the time and place where He is powerfully communicating grace in Jesus to us.

This truth is beautifully illustrated in Acts 16 with the story of Lydia. Lydia's "circumstances" brought her to a women’s prayer meeting, where Paul then proclaimed the Good News of Jesus.
The sequence of events in Acts 16 is wonderfully reflected in the prayer from the Westminster Confession of Faith in the magazine this week: "Of Effectual Calling."(See below) 
Although these women were already religious and diligently gathered for prayer, they still required the forgiveness of sin through the cross of Jesus. They still needed the gift of His resurrection life and new hearts regenerated by God the Spirit.
As our recent prayer stated:
"We understand with sorrow that those who do not profess faith in Christ will not be saved by any other means—neither by following the light of nature nor by adhering diligently to other religions and their laws. Lord, we know that to suggest otherwise is neither loving toward them nor honouring to you!"
Acts 16 tells us what happened next:
"The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And, after she was baptised... ‘if you have judged me faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay’ (vs 14-15)."
As a new believer, Lydia opened her life to Christ and opened her home to the apostles. She was not saved to be a solitary Christian, but to be part of the community—the family of God's people. Lydia immediately became part of a new church family in her location—Philippi.

The Lord has brought some of you into a wonderful, living faith in Jesus Christ, and has therefore also brought you into union with His other children.
I am aware that some of you now profess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour but have never formally become part of a local church family.
We want to give you the opportunity to publicly profess that faith (be baptised if appropriate) and join in membership at Mearns Free Church.
If this is the right time for you, I am planning a service of worship for this purpose on Sunday, December 7th.
Please think, pray, and speak with me as soon as possible if this is timely for you.

On two separate matters: this Sunday, we shall include an Act of Remembrance, including a period of silence at 11 am.

And, next Saturday (November 15th) please invite your friends to a Coffee Afternoon in aid of Blythswood (2:00 PM - 4:00 PM at Belmont House School). This is the same Blythswood for whom we fill shoeboxes each year. We will have a representative from Blythswood speak about their work, and there will be an opportunity to donate to their ministry via cash or QR code bank transfers.

Warmest Regards,
Scott

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Caleb's Baptism

Here he is with his Great grandmother, and his grandparents and uncle on Thane’s side. 

This second photo is one where they managed to find Thane jnr.!

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Each week 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 looking back at previous magazines. 
This week the focus is "Of Effectual Calling." 
Here is a short extract of the prayer which helps us express our thanks and wonder as we consider the remarkable way God brings us to Himself...
"We know that our true and free decision to come to you is only possible because you first made us alive by your special grace through the Spirit’s power.
Lord, you saw no inherent merit in us to compel your saving grace. We were passive to your divine demands. We marvel that only through your Word, working within us by your Spirit, were we enabled to embrace the grace offered in your call...."
Read the prayer here.

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Boxes

The Annual Box Check has started - Weekdays from 9.30 to 3.30 in the garage at Maxwell Mearns Castle Church
Can you help?  Denise and Lesley will c make you welcome and clear guidance is given on what to do.
The boxes are off to Ukraine again this year.
Same place - just knock firmly on the shutters at the garage.


This photo proves that really anyone can get involved, and it's so good to see cross-generational work being done too.

Not sure what's involved? Speak with Margaret B or Pamela M if you want to know more about the Box Checking.
And there are lots of Shoebox stories from Blythswood here.

This is a very practical way to support the work of Blythswood but...
DON'T FORGET Mearns Free Church are running a Coffee Afternoon....

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Moon Landing

Many of the Mearns Kids have been brought up in a world of scepticism - an easy target over the years has been the veracity of the Moon Landing account from 1969 and so they were really encouraged to hear that Alastair had been there at the time to confirm that Neil Armstrong had indeed made that one small step for man.

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Did you know there was a local Christian book shop on the Southside?
Beside the Victoria Infirmary, 36 Battlefield Road, you can find Galillee books.
Rather than give more money to Amazon when getting a Christian book, you can support this local business AND you get a chance to handle the books and even ask for recommendations or advice.
Their most recent newsletter is here - featuring some Christmas devotionals.

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Last Friday was Culture Day at Eastwood High and the SU group were asked to run a stall.
After a bit of head scratching as to what a stall could be about we decided to show that Christianity crosses all cultures with a Christianity around the world theme

 The table had a world map with images of churches and congregations from each continent. The concept of a secret underground church in China generated some discussion and questions as to why people would take that risk to meet together. They also had some questions for pupils to guess the answers.

Do you know the answers? Scroll further down to see how much/little you knew!

• How many Christians are there in the world?
• How many languages has the Bible been translated into?
• Which countries have no Christians?
• Which languages was the Bible originally written in?
• Which modern day countries are mentioned in the Bible? There are 15 to get.

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Above are two posts which were around this week and have a helpful connection.
Albert Mohler recognises something that Paul encourages us to do in Ephesians, which is to not just stop doing the wrong things, but to fill that void with better things. Put off the old person and put ON the new person' (Ephesians 4:22-24)  Having Christian hymns and songs in our minds is one way to do this.

Complementing this is Andrew Wilson's article in Christianity Today about how the right sort of song words filling our minds is key - not just relying on a nice tune. It's a not a long article but helpful to see why we choose songs carefully for a Sunday morning and why having a good 'Praise' playlist as part of what we listening to reguarly is a beneficial thing.
Click HERE to read the article.
 

More music...

Some of us have been along to the Inspiration Orchestra's Festival in the summer over the last couple of years.
Ian White's music is well known by many and he also heads up The Inspiration Orchestra (a registered Scottish Charity) which gives people living with profound disabilities an opportuntiy to take part in musical activities, and play together. 
They have released an album this month and it can be found on Spotify, or go to their webpage. www.theninspirationorchestra
Some of the orchestra members can only play a few notes, or eg. use percussion very simply, and Ian and the team were able to 'sample' their music and build it into the tracks.

Ian is most well known for his very popular work on the Psalms  - now these volumes and other albums are back on Spotify and still sound great. 

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Ladybird Book of Mearns Free

 

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This week's tea break features a couple of videos which cover a lot of hard questions people get asked (or don't want to be asked so they keep quiet about their faith and the Bible!!) 
These two videos have lots of really well thought through answers to hard questions - interestingly they show that the athiest's own views are often on really shaky ground when pushed and they are the ones who should be feeling awkward about some of the views they hold as they just don't make sense!

Rapid Fire Wes Huff answers questions HERE
Wes is the Central Canada Director for Apologetics Canada, an elder at West Toronto Baptist Church, and a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto's Wycliffe College, where he specializes in New Testament studies. Huff gained wider public recognition in late 2024 after a viral debate with Billy Carson, which led to an invitation to appear on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. 

In this video Rebecca McLaughlin and Sam Chan handle the questions - some of us read Sam Chan's book about how to speak about Jesus in a sensible way a year or so ago.Watch it HERE.
 

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Scripture Union in Eastwood High QUIZ answers

• How many Christians are there in the world? Around 2.26 billion
• How many languages has the Bible been translated into?   Fully translated into 776 languages
• Which languages was the Bible originally written in?   Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic
• Which countries have no Christians? None!
• Which countries are in the Bible? Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Palestine, Ethiopia, Malta, Italy, Cyprus

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