No.73      9th January 2026

Hi, 
Hope this finds you well.

Scott's sermon last week encouraged us to 'Draw near to God'. Regular Bible reading is a key part of hearing what God is saying about Himself, learning about His Ways, His plan of salvation, and what he says about us and our relationship in Christ. Last week we had some suggestions for how to do this - it's in the mag again this week...it's not too late to start a good habit like this.
Choosing to meet together regularly was also a focus of what it meant to draw near to God - to be growing together in faith and encouraging one another. With that in mind there are lots of dates for your diary in the magazine as weekly, fortnightly and monthly events start up again and we head into another busy year.
First out of the blocks this weekend is the church's Monthly Prayer Meeting - see details below for this and the other dates.

Volunteering. Serving in God's Kingdom happens in various ways - but rather like regular Bible reading it rarely becomes part of your life accidently - you need to be intentional about it. In the mag this week we flag up some possibilities, so do take a look at the Glasgow City Mission article and see if you can be part of the Mearns team. Or you can consider attending the UFM conference and see what God might have for you in that context. Nearer to home, each Sunday we need to set up and down lots of kit. It takes just a handful of minutes when a few people step up to help. We realise that people want to help but are not sure what's involved, so here is a quick overview of one aspect of clearing up after a service - take a wee look so, if/when you can help, you know what is required. Thanks!

Enjoy the Mag,
MB

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Sunday 11th January

Morning service - 10.30am
Rev Scott Kirkland
Mark ch9

Joint Evening Service - 6.30pm for 7.00pm
in NMBC - Rev David Lazenby
“A Bride with Jesus our Groom”
(See full programme for 2026 Q1 below)

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 The Wednesday mid week prayer meeting will start again this week. 
We are meeting chez les Cooper
7.15-8.15pm 

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As you can see from the programme above, the Joint services with NMBC start this Sunday.
The focus each week takes us into the rich way Scripture describes the character and work of the Lord Jesus and His relationship with HIs church.

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Letter from the Manse

Dear Church Family,

We are so grateful to everyone who helped make our Christmas and New Year services so special. The sheer number of people involved—both visible and behind the scenes—was truly staggering.

If you were a participant in any (or all) of these, please do thank God for them. And if given the opportunity, thank those you saw assisting even if just in the smallest way. There was a staggering number of people involved up front and behind the scenes. (Just think about the website detail, social media, flyers, PPT, AV desk, music selection/performing, door attendance, cleaning, catering, chair moving, desk moving, lights assembling, wreath arranging, ceilidh/quiz prep, children's outreach, additional participants in worship reading/praying/preaching etc.)

If you would like to get involved in 2026, there are countless ways to serve. Please chat with me, Scott H, or Margo McNicol to find out where you can help (Margo is responsible for the weekly opportunities connected to our use of the premises).

I want to highlight a couple of significant matters.

Service of Profession of Faith (January 25th): The elders have been praying for this upcoming service for new members. Please include this in your prayers. Does a service of this nature hold significance for you? Has the Lord drawn you to repentance and faith, and is He now calling you to make a public profession? Or, have you have been worshipping with us regularly for a time now and think it right to commit to Mearns Free Church as your church home and family? Please speak with Scott H or me as soon as possible.

Overseas Mission (February 7th): We are eager to develop MFC’s role in global missions. Please consider attending the UFM Conference at Chalmers Church, Edinburgh on 7th February. We have a long-standing relationship with UFM (being blessed by several UFM missionaries attending our prayer meetings when we were part of MMCC) and now with our own Catherine A. Mary and Eric Robertson recently joined our congregation. Mary is one of the organisers of the conference.
Let’s attend in large numbers to seek the Lord’s heart for how we as a local church can participate in His global mission.
The conference is free, and further details can be found in the article below.

Warmest regards,
Scott K.

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Parent's Evening

Thursday 22nd of January, from 7 - 8pm
at the McNicols in Waterfoot.
This one hour meeting is open to any parent with a primary school aged child, or anyone involved in teaching HizKidz - or even if your child might be heading to HizKidz after the summer.
Included in the meeting is a look at what the church's vision is for teaching our primary school aged children and to discuss some of the joys and challenges, and pray for one another. It would be great to have at least one representative from each relevant household there.
(We'll be running one for secondary school aged children later on in the spring!)
 - Also, kids can come and there will be a film on in another room for them.
Speak to Scott H or Pauline for more details.

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 Church Volunteering Week (Evening Drop-In)

Invitation to Partner with Glasgow City Mission again in 2026.


(MFC team volunteering last year)

GCM’s vision is to work alongside the local church to extend Jesus’ model of the Kingdom of God—living out love, truth, mercy, and forgiveness.  They are asking us to partner with them again this year for the evening Drop -In.
The Drop-In is a warm, safe space where guests receive a hot meal, share meaningful conversations, and begin to build trust with staff and volunteers.

Thank you to those who volunteered last year (See above). 
WHAT ABOUT THIS YEAR!?
Monday 2nd February to Friday 6th February
6:00pm to 8:30pm.  
We are currently looking for another 4 folk to fill our rota. 
You will be fully supported by the City Mission team and you will get a hot meal, so come hungry!
What's involved?:
You will join City Mission team made up of staff and regular volunteers to run the Evening Drop-in. They will provide a hot and nutritious meal to many needy guests - this is important and rewarding work!
Your job will be to assist in serving food to an allocated table, to sit with the guests over dinner at that table and share in conversation /friendship in Christ's name.
The staff will lead in a brief bible message that might become the topic of conversation at your table.

We need to complete our team ASAP.
Interested? Contact Sue Amery-Behr (amerybehr@gmail.com or speak to her this Sunday morning).
Sue will provide further information and talk through which days you might be able to serve.

For all of us, let's pray for the work of Glasgow City Mission and for this ministry especially.

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Happy 100th!

We want to send Birthday wishes and congratulations to David Arthur - 100 years old on the 12th January!
Visiting David is welcomed...he is in Bonnyton Care Home, Oliphant Cres, Busby, G76 8PU  - this can be at any time except 12.30-1.30pm and 4.30-5.30pm
David's age is a reminder of the story attributed to Winston Churchill on his 80th birthday: When photographer Cecil Beaton mentioned that he hoped to photograph Churchill again on his 100th birthday, Churchill reportedly replied with his chacteristic wit, 'I don't see why not, young man. You look reasonably fit to me.'

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Above is the outline for the next few weeks as the Home Groups start to meet again.
You can see that they sit between the Evening Service programme which is above.
Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays are the times when the groups are meeting and if you are not involved yet, speak with Scott K or Scott H to be fitted in.

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From the other Manse

Hi,
One of my roles around the church family is to oversee the work happening with our young people on a Sunday evening. This broadly covers our teenagers who are in secondary school. I’m not the youth worker for Mearns Free Church, but in my own experiences working with that age group, I’ve always felt really strongly that a teenager can understand the gospel and grow as a committed follower of Jesus in the same way that anyone of any age can. A teenager is able to understand and enjoy the deeper matters of the faith, able to press beyond spiritual milk onto spiritual solids, so to speak.

However, one of the things that I’m also really committed to is ensuring that our teenagers understand exactly what the Gospel is, and therefore what alternatives to the Gospel they should avoid. I don’t want to leave anyone behind by assuming that they are clear on the basics of the Gospel when, in reality, they are not.

• I’m really keen that our teenagers understand that Christianity is not simply a group of nice people living in a way that is just and friendly to one another.

• I’m really keen that they understand that Christianity is neither a myth which brings us comfort nor just another road to get to the same God.

Some of them might hear such things during the week at school, or online, and I count it a real joy to be able to show them how God’s Word contradicts such false gospels.
With that in mind, this term, between now and Easter, we’re going to be studying some basic tenets of the faith through Two Ways to Live.​


TWO WAYS TO LIVE
Some of us might be familiar with Two Ways to Live, or familiar with the diagram. It covers creation, sin, judgment, redemption, forgiveness, and eternal life, before presenting us all with the urgent call of Jesus to repent and follow Him.

We’ll take five weeks to cover the content before the mid-term holiday in February, and then for a few weeks after we’ll cover some more fundamental topics, all in the Gospel hope that these young people are presented with Christianity as objectively true, a faith for them as much as their parents, and are encouraged to respond to Jesus by bowing the knee to Him as King.

I’ve been reminded a few times over Christmas that following Jesus is not a miserable life of submission to arbitrary laws. Following Him as a good, kind King, who yearns for our spiritual safety and flourishing as His people, is the very thing for which we were made and the very thing to which He is completely committed. As we introduce Jesus to these young people, we’re introducing them to a King who loves and cherishes them with an eternal ferocity and dedication.

Please pray that our youth understand that for themselves, that as we cover the basics, they’ll see Jesus with their own, open spiritual eyes and they’ll see that following Him brings God glory, that following Him is good for us, and brings them the forgiveness and eternal life that we all so desperately need.

Scott H.

(If you want to know more about the 2 Ways to Live course - and learn it for yourself  - take a look here)

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Local Church, Global Mission

– Edinburgh

How can members and leaders of the local church be more effective in serving and reaching the nations?
Join us for Local Church, Global Mission, a half-day conference with inspiring teaching, discussion and prayer.

Saturday, 7 February 2026
Time: 9.15 for 9.30 start (refreshments included).
We will finish at approx. 14.00.
Venue: Chalmers Church
Free
Keynote speaker: John McLernon, Mission Director at Crosslinks – a global mission society with ministries in 35 countries across five continents.
Programme details and booking link is here.
For more details look at the page or speak with Mary Robertson...  she writes:
"It’s a conference for everyone because God’s call to all believers is to share the gospel with nations. We’re hoping people involved in children’s and. Youth work will come along to a seminar tailored to them. We’re praying for church leaders and members to be stimulated to think more about the role God has for them in his global plan. We trust some will be called to go overseas too"

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Daily Devotionals

There's no shortage of ways to dig into the Bible day by day and week by week and grow faith and knowledge - whether taking up reading or audio options.

Here are some examples we mentioned in last week's magazine:
Truth for Life - Alastair Begg  (Read more/order here.)

Reading Between the Lines - Glen Scrivener. 
Read more and watch video here

Take Heart: Daily Devotions to Deepen Your Faith
David Powlison, learning t

The magazine has previously promoted John Lennox's short, daily podcasts 'THINGS UNSEEN' - 5 mins or so long. 
This is the link here via Spotify or go to the webpage here.

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Each week Scott K has been using the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) as a framework for prayer - helping us to pray through the great truths contained there... This week's focus is on the Perseverance of the Saints. 
You can read the prayer here.

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SU Scotland News

Next Friday

Come and join us for an SU Scotland ceilidh and quiz Night on Friday 16th January. Details are in the image above.
This will be a family friendly event with ceilidh dancing, a Scottish quiz and entertainment.
We will be raising money to support the work of SU Scotland in the region of Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde. 
Light refreshments will be provided. £5 per ticket or £20 for a family ticket. Please pre-order these using this link  . Money will be payable on the night. 

SU regional primary weekend

There are still spaces remaining for the Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde weekend for P5-P7 pupils. 
6 - 8 Feb, Gowanbank , for P5 - P7 children,  £105.00
Pauline and Lynne Hamilton are leading this weekend and it should be filled with fun activities, good food and exploring the Bible together. Book here. 

SU Holidays - Easter, Summer and October
Bookings are underway for 2026 SU Holidays.
What a great gift for kids and grandchildren! There are also new camper discount for those who haven't been to an event that's longer than 3 days before - enter the code NEWCAMPER26 at checkout and there is a refer a friend scheme too. Browse all the holidays available here or pick up a flyer at church on Sunday. 

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  Ladybird Book of Mearns Free

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Safeguarding Training

Everyone who has PVG certification through Mearns Free Church must undergo safeguarding training (or refresher training) every 3 years. Some have still to undertake this training. The Free Church provides excellent online safeguarding training (places can be booked through the following link: Safeguarding Training Booking – Free Church of Scotland). The next training sessions are on:

Monday 26th January – 19.30
Thursday 26th March – 19.30
Tuesday 28th April – 19.30
Monday 25th May – 19.30

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Starts again - Tue 27th January

The Cafe is a really popular weekly meeting for lots of older people in the church - why not join us if you haven't been before.
 If you need more information (or need transport) speak with Elizabeth S.