No.74      16th January 2026

Hi, 
Hope this finds you well.

Slightly later magazine than usual this week and Saturday mornings, all being well, will be the new time the magazine will be live -
although being a Saturday edition does not mean it will include a sports pullout and glossy fashion magazine, no matter how much Sandy C and Chisholm continue to lobby for these features.

Last week Scott H told us about the youth looking at the 2 Ways to Live course - an outline of the Gospel designed to help someone know and then explain the good news of Jesus. For the next few weeks in the magazine we will track what they are looking at, which means learning to draw the images and understanding what they are conveying - there are bullet points to help us get to the heart of the teaching at each stage. In fact, feel free to stop any young person, take out a blank bit of paper and do a spot check on what they have learned (or not) each week...of course they can do the same to you. 

This Sunday we are in miracles territory again as we look at Mark 9 - do miracles make us feel nervous? Ie what if someone said 'Miracles are just a lot of nonsense and the Bible account of Jesus life is undermined because of them'- what would you say? This week's Tea Break tries to help answer those sort of 'push backs'. 

Lastly, one of the people answering the question about the Bible in the Tea Break is Glen Scrivener - you will hear more about him in the weeks to come as he heads up the 3-2-1 Course which is designed for introducing people to Jesus and the Gospel message -the plan is to run this in March but we need to start thinking about this asap.

Enjoy the Mag,
MB

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Sunday 18th January

Morning service - 10.30am
Rev Scott Hamilton
Mark ch9:14-29

HOME GROUPS are on this week
See below...

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 The Wednesday mid week prayer meeting
meets in the Coopers this month.
7.15-8.15pm 

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The Home Groups start again this week - meeting Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.
We are continuing with the Meeting God studies.
Make sure you speak with your leader and know which study you are looking at this week - and, of course, if you would like to be involved in a group speak with Scott K or Scott H.

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Letter from the Manse

Dear Church Family,
It is super being part of the Free Church of Scotland because it gives us opportunity to assist congregations all over Scotland in various ways as a congregation.

Last Sunday Scott H was in Argyll leading worship in Lochgilphead and Tarbert. This Sunday I will lead worship morning and evening on the Ardnamurchan peninsula. I will have to travel on Saturday and return Monday morning as it is something like 4-5 hour drive.

There are many ways our elders but also, we as a congregation can minister with our gifts within the Free Church. Colin F assisted by driving a mini-bus recently and as you know we are developing ways of assisting in Govan Free church. Go to the Free Church website as it is a great source of information but also opportunity – not least for prayer.
Our own Glasgow and Argyll Presbytery is looking for someone to help with the administration of the Presbytery. They ask if congregations have someone who could give about half a day a month (in addition to attending most presbytery meetings). The job would be to help with administrative tasks such as collating presbytery papers, issuing and following up on related paperwork and giving general assistance to the Presbytery Clerk. The exact role could be tailored to the gifts and experience of the person. This would be ideal for someone who wants to serve the Lord, has a spiritual maturity, is able to act with discretion and has administrative competence. You? Pray and speak with me or John McNicol our Presbytery elder.

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? Alternatively, if you have been worshipping with us regularly and feel led to commit to Mearns Free Church as your church 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. We have a long-standing relationship with UFM (being blessed by several UFM missionaries attending our prayer meetings when we were part of MMCC). Catherine A is connected with the UFM missions work and Mary Robertson 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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From the Other Manse

I was away this week at a ministers’ conference in Edinburgh. The content had one eye on newly trained ministers, such as me, but also carried an understanding that we’re all always learning more and more about God’s gospel and what it means to share it with others. One of the big thrusts of the week, as we looked through Lamentations together with Christopher Ash, was to grieve the effects of sin as we see it across our nation and across our church. Sin distorts God’s word, twists our understanding of the gospel, and causes us to believe in things that aren’t true. We see that across our country in our politics and in our pulpits. God’s enemies rejoice every time a church or a country refuse to listen to His voice.

How do we respond as God’s faithful people? The clue is in the name of the book. We lament. With no hint of pride, or self-righteousness, we reflect with sadness on the lack of God’s Word in places where it really ought to be seen. We realise that His faithful church is only aware of what God says to us because He has chosen us and revealed these things to us, so that we may not boast.

Put simply, we’re no more righteous than anyone else around us because we still teach the Bible. We’re only righteous because we’re clothed in our Saviour’s robes. There cannot be any hint amongst us that we’re naturally more spiritually astute than others. God has kept us and prompted us to stick to the truth of who Jesus is, what He said, and why He came. We are totally secure in Christ, kept and guarded by Him, without any fear of condemnation, but we must never rest on our laurels.

As a denomination, and as local churches, we want this year to be a year where God’s Word continues to be right at the heart of all that we say and do. This is a prayer that Christ delights to answer and has done for many a church across the city and across the country. However, if we want to continue to have God’s Word at the heart of all we do, we keep on praying that God will keep it there. We want to humbly throw ourselves at God’s throne of grace, praying for all of our various ministers and ministries this year, that God will keep and guide us, urge and inspire us, and cheer us on our way.

Scott H.

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We want to support the Govan Free Church Food Bank and one obvious way to do that is bring things that can be taken down to Govan each week.
Sue A and Martin B are regularly at the Food Bank and are planning to have a box on Sunday where you can donate foodstuffs for taking to the Food Bank. We will have details of the sort of goods which are looked for most of all. Look out for more details next week.

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Parent's Evening

Thursday 22nd of January, from 7 - 8pm
at the McNicol's 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)

Monday 2nd February to Friday 6th February
6:00pm to 8:30pm.  

THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE VOLUNTEERED FOR THIS YEAR - however still need at least two people and would benefit from a couple of spares or folk who could step in the week before in case of an emergency!  And anyone being able to help with transport would be a bonus.
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.

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. More details of what is involved are in last week's magazine (here) or speak with Sue. 
For all of us, let's pray for the work of Glasgow City Mission and for this ministry especially. 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.

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Israel Tour

Donald Martin is an old friend of several of us in MFC. He has sent some news about the tour running to Israel in May...
JOIN US FOR A LIFE-CHANGING 10-day Israel Tour
19 – 28 May, 2026
‘Where the Bible comes to life’
Journey in the footsteps of Jesus, Old Testament Prophets and Kings

Dear Friends,
AT LAST we have plans for  a return to blessed touring days in Israel after a 3 year absence.
Having visited Israel for the first time in 1997, then again in 2002, but it wasn't until 2008 that I led my first group of 40 people. I have been back many times, with the most recent, being 2023.
Visiting the Galilee, where Jesus spent much of his ministry, Bethlehem where he was born, Nazareth where he grew up, and Jerusalem where he died, as well as sites linked to patriarchs and prophets is deeply moving and spiritually beneficial.

The main details for the 2026 Israel Tour, 19th – 28th May for 10 days are here.

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DATE FOR THE DIARY

Actually, it's FOUR dates for the diary!


We are planning to run the 321 evangelistic course - starting on 1st March.
321 is a four-week course that invites you to see life the way Jesus does.
Inspired by Jesus’ vision of reality, 321 is designed to help you think about God, the world and yourself through immersive videos and thoughtful illustrations.
It’s great for someone new to Christian things - no prior knowledge is needed and you’ll be helped to think through some of the big questions of life in a simple and easy to understand way.
Here is a taster VIDEO - more details to follow.

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Could you explain the Gospel?

How would you explain the Gospel to someone?  What would you want to include, what would you want to focus on...and where to start?
Scott H told us last week that the young people were working through the 2 Ways to Live Gospel outline in order to know what the central truths of the Gospel are, so they can know these truths for themselves and respond to the King they meet in the Gospel...and also spot false gospels.
For the next few weeks the magazine will follow their teaching - can you learn this outline too, and if you had a blank piece of paper could you draw and explain the part of God's salvation you are wanting to convey?

2WTL - Image 1:

• God is the ruler of the world.
• He made the world.
• He made us to rule his good world, giving thanks and honour to him. This is how God created things to be. But it’s fairly obvious that this is not our experience of the world now. What happened?

(If you want to read more about this image and the rest of the  2 Ways to Live course  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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Chris Greenhalgh from Open Doors has written to update their ministry at the start of 2026
On Wednesday 14th January, Open Doors launches the NEW World Watch List  - an evidence-based research project which records persecution against Christians and results in a list of the Top Fifty countries where it is most dangerous to follow Jesus. for 2026 at Westminster parliament.)
So far, we are expecting 137 MPs to attend the launch and hear about the persecution of Christians in 2026.



Join us for a special online event on Wednesday 21st January to find out more about our 2026 World Watch List and the global trends of persecution. We will also share highlights from the Parliamentary launch, hear from an international speaker and have an opportunity to pray for the ongoing impact in our government. Register for Open Doors WWL webinar here.
Can’t wait? Go to our webpage here...
- Read and watch the newly revealed story of the late Evangelist Cho and his impossible ministry to people escaping North Korea.
- Or meet Aweis, and his defiant ministry in Somalia, one of the most dangerous places in the world to declare for Christ here.

Coming Soon: order the new World Watch List booklet and prayer map here.

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Congratulations!

David Arthur celebrated his 100th Birthday this week- congratulations!
The photos show a visit from some important local dignatories ...and below those is one with Ken Macintosh the Deputy Lord Lieutenant and Mary Montague, the Provost of East Ren council who have both known David for years.




 

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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 Assurance and Grace. Take time to reflect and pray what is a realistic prayer about the Christian life, dealing with very real struggles we face as they deal with assurance or temptation and even 'looseness in holiness'.
You can read it here.

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Rehearsal days and dates are on the PG webpage here
Glasgow rehearsals are Monday evening at Clincarthill Church

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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.