No.66      14th November

Hi, hope this finds you well.

At the PULSE prayer meeting this week, Tom pointed out that it was two years since many of us first attended Newton Mearns New Church at Belmont House School, and which then became Mearns Free Church.
We took some time to give thanks to the Lord for how He has provided us with such a good venue to meet in - it has suited us so well in many different aspects; in particular the ease of using Belmont and the good relationship with the school management is something we appreciate from week to week. Having the access on Fridays and Saturdays to get set-up makes such a difference, and their patience with us when we haven't got things quite right is something we are also grateful for.

It's not a 2 year 'celebration' as such - we remember and recognise the circumstances of why we are now meeting in Belmont as part of the Free Church of Scotland and why that 'move' was difficult and painful for many, ie it wasn't just a situation where a new church was being planted.
This week in the Home Groups we are looking at 1 John ch4 and in that passage, John points out that it is keeping a clear eye on what God's Word says that must shape everything we do and say as a church. So, there is truth and there is error in regards to the Gospel. Over the centuries Christians have been holding onto what has been accepted as Apostolic truth handed down (and not what seems easier or currently more popular)and it is that which determines how we worship, and our doctrines.  Let's be clear there is not a church now meeting in Belmont because a group of people judged their own behaviour as better, lives more commendable, or faith stronger than others...Individually we should always be conscious that any church would cease to be perfect as soon as we began attending!  (Scott's prayer from the WCF for this week helps us understand our true situation well - see below.)
However, although we might not light a couple of candles on a cake, we are thankful that God has been very kind to us, and the Session have felt His leading and encouragement over the last 24 months.

What do YOU think about being part of Mearns Free? This week’s Tea Break asks three simple questions about being part of a church - wherever it meets! See what you think.

Enjoy the Mag.
MB

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Saturday...

Hope you can support this work by joining us at Belmont.

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Sunday 16th November

Morning service - 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland

Mark 8: 27-33
'The Son of Man must suffer'

Sunday Evening ...


The groups meet again on Sunday evening and over the next few days for session 6 of the Meeting God booklet : 'God is Love'

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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,
I want to dedicate this letter to some extended thoughts on the "Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill" introduced by Liam McArthur MSP.
My sister Linda lived with Multiple Sclerosis from the age of about eighteen. For a prosthetist who relied on her body working properly to measure and make false limbs her career ended early. Parts of her body ceased working properly and she was subject to pain and infections regularly.
On two occasions, years apart, when her health was severely compromised two separate consultant doctors overseeing her care did not consider her life worth living and tried to persuade me to grant permission to withdraw medical treatment. They did not think a life with weekly kidney dialysis, weakness due to MS and other various ailments worth living.
Prior to the doctors managing her pain and getting on top of her general health, what might she have decided in that time of weakness if she could have ended her life with their help?
And, if she had asked them for their "medical opinion" what would they have said and she concluded from their advice? 

Linda actually lived another six years of life in relationship with her friends, family and with a new faith in Jesus Christ. Her life was enriched by these relationships. Jesus gave her not only present comfort and remarkable sustaining grace but also hope of glory in death.

When she emerged from the more difficult moments of ill health, I asked if I had made the right decision on her behalf when I resisted the call to end treatment and therefore her life. Despite all the suffering she was living with, she said I was absolutely correct and she said this on more than one occasion.

The "Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill" seeks to establish a legal right for terminally ill adults to be given assistance to end their own lives. I am very aware that the experience I recount above is not an equivalent issue. Withdrawing treatment is not the same as Assisted Dying.  However, if this Bill were law at that time and "assisted dying" permitted, it would have most certainly added pressure at a most vulnerable moment for all of us. Some of your families have been affected directly by  similar laws in other countries. Some of you know how awful the pressure is to end one's own life where laws similar to the proposed Bill exist!

For this Bill to become law in Scotland, it must pass through various stages of scrutiny, amendment, and acceptance in the Scottish Parliament.
Earlier this year, the first vote in the Scottish Parliament allowed the Bill to proceed with 70 votes for the Bill and 56 against.
Last week, the Bill reached Stage 2. Amendments agreed at Stage 2 are to be incorporated into the Bill as it moves to Stage 3. After further amendments, Parliament will then hold a final vote on whether the Bill should become law in Scotland.

As Christians, we must be clear on this matter.
All human life is a gift from God. The value and dignity of human life are not determined by our calculation, but by the God who created humanity, male and female. It is He who made us in His image and calls us to respect that dignity—even for those who are marginalized, those who feel vulnerable, in pain, fear and those who are most at risk. (Genesis 1:27).

Scripture affirms the value of life from the womb, as recognized in Psalm 139:13–16, to adult life. The Sixth Commandment in Exodus 20:13 says, "You shall not murder" which is a vital prohibition restricting the taking of the life of others but also of ourselves. This value of life and the requirement not to take life is connected in Genesis 9:6. Assisted dying would be collaborating with someone engaging in murder of oneself.

The Biblical commitment for Christians is to full-life ordained by God from womb to ultimate death and that commitment is not determined by an arbitrary assessment of "quality of life". If dignity and value were based on "quality of life", then those experiencing severe illness (or terminal illness) would be defined as of lesser worth. With the same toxicity that we heard Jesus speak of in Mark 8 when he called the disciples to beware the leven of the Pharisees, so an arbitrary "quality of life" criteria would seep through society leading to all sorts of unintended consequences. 

As Christians, our consciences are to be shaped by the Word of God and our actions must align with it.
When we endure periods of suffering, we do not have the right before God to ask someone to end our lives, however attractive the hope of glory may be. We are stewards over human life with no ultimate right to determine the timing of death ourselves.

Government ("the State") is a God-given sphere of authority primarily established for the well-being of society in a fallen world. The authority granted to the State operates through God's common grace. Its principle role is to uphold what is "good" and restrain "evil." (Romans 13)
The State has limited authority in granting the right to take human life (such as in war, self-defence, or maybe even capital punishment). Outside of a limited set of circumstances, the State has no authority to grant permission to end life. 

In saying all the above, we are not being heartless of unsympathetic to the sense of hopelessness many feel and even the fear of future health degeneration. We surely sympathize with those who experience awful health conditions (even great pain). Many of us fear these conditions for ourselves.

However, human beings, male and female, made in the image of God, possess a value and dignity that God determines. This dignity and worth are expressed throughout the Bible, but most significantly, through the incarnation of Jesus Christ, who took on human nature to bring life. A central reason for his coming is encapsulated in John 10:10: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." New life with God begins now, and the eternity Christ gifts to all who trust in Him includes freedom from pain and death.

Our calling as human beings, and especially as Christians in a fallen world, is to bring care and relief to those who suffer, not death (James 1:27 Hebrews 13:16 Proverbs 24:11–12 Psalm 72, 2 Corinthians 1:3–4). We speak the gospel because it is life-giving. 
Biblical compassion requires walking with a person through their suffering with the hope of maximising their dignity and comfort. Facilitating death would be a desertion of this calling.
The biblical onus, is that we care for those who are suffering (Leviticus 19.18, Matthew 22.39, 25:35-40, Galatians 6.2).
By God's common grace in 21st-century Scotland, this is best manifested through our health care systems. For end-of-life care, we tend to call this "Palliative Care." God has gifted our generation new ways to assist one another in easing the most extreme suffering.

However, we have to recognise that living in a secular democracy like Scotland introduces a complexity to living out the biblical truth above.
As Christians, we are given a voice from God to express His will. And, as residents in a democracy, we also have a legitimate right, given by the State, to express our opinion on any proposed legislation.

A key issue in this matter is how Scotland seeks to treat those who are at their most vulnerable. As Christians, we have a clear word on this from God.
Some legal commentators argue that the Scottish Parliament is over-reaching its authority in seeking to create this law. I am not competent to say if that is true. However, for Christians focus on that authority and potential over-reach is less helpful because all that would take is clarification on the law or even changes to devolved authority. However, the matter of "over reach" is a real one nevertheless because God does not give us authoroity to assist in killing someone, even if they give permission. That permission is not within our authority as human beings. 

This legislation is a matter for much prayer as we seek God's glory in Scotland. 

I found the "Caring Not Killing" website helpful. 
May I encourage you to visit it HERE. It highlights several related matters to this legislation (under the "Issues" tab).
Furthermore, it provides a means for us to contact our own MSPs so that we might express our opinion on this proposed legislation.

Warmest Regards,
Scott Kirkland

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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 Justification"  - read it here
Here is a short extract of the prayer which is full of thanksgiving for how God now looks upon and accepts those who have trusted in Jesus...
"We fully acknowledge before you, Lord, that this justification is not because you have worked righteousness into us at that time, nor because we have done anything ourselves worthy of being declared righteous. You do not even declare us righteous because you have taken account of our faith or any other act of our own obedience."