No.101    21st August

Hi, 
Hope this finds you well.

It's always good to have input in the magazine from others, and we have that this week in the Tea Break section.  If you have something you think would be interesting to have in the magazine (doesn't necessarily need to include a photo of Alastair...although...) then do send it in. Obviously, I don't have final say in what goes in each week - as if! 

I've really enjoyed the series on Ecclesiastes we have had over the Summer weeks. Last week Scott had to curtail his sermon as the service stopped earlier than expected. Being part of a series Scott has made the last part of the sermon available on audio and that is available on our web page here - just select the 16th and the audio version has the complete sermon.

Enjoy the mag,
MB

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Sunday 23rd August

Sunday Morning 
Rev Scott Hamilton
Ecclesiastes ch8:1 - 9:12

Sunday Evening

One of the key elements of church life  is the Joint Evening service with Newton Mearns Baptist.
We meet on 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month at NBMC at 7pm (6.30pm for tea/coffee)
Make sure you prioritise these dates - the evening services for this year will focus on 2nd Corinthians.

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Our weekly prayer meeting  on Wednesdays is not on this week.
We will meet again 2nd September. Venue to be announced.

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Everyone is welcome to our Food for Thought event
at the Eglinton Arms at 7pm on Thursday 3rd September.  

Our speaker , David Nixon, has himself come from a polarised society divided by religion and politics so it is a subject he has wrestled with a lot on his journey. 

The idea is that if you are a church member you invite a guest or guests:
- you can register them HERE on our Eventbrite link so we can keep a track on numbers
-  then pay for the dinner by transferring the money to the Mearns Free Church bank account, using the bank details set out HERE. 
It is £25 per person for a two course fork buffet. Don’t let cost be a barrier to coming. A number of places can be funded by the church – please speak to Sandy McDougall about this.  

David Nixon is particularly keen on expanding on the question and answer session that was so popular last year. So tell your guests to ask anything! Looking forward to a great night 
You could click and copy the image above and send to the person you want to invite along so they have the details to hand.
If you have any questions about the event speak with Margo, Sandy McD or one of the Scotts.

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Letter from the Manse

Dear Church Family,
I am really looking forward to our upcoming “Food For Thought" night on September 3rd at the Eglinton Arms (7pm).
We are delighted to welcome David Nixon again, who will be giving an after-dinner talk on “Making Peace in a Polarised World.”
David is from Northern Ireland and his family left, in part, because of “The Troubles,” giving him a deeply personal perspective on this vital topic.

You can see all the event details and booking information above.

Format: This year we are serving a buffet to allow more time for our Q&A session, which was such a valuable part of last year's evening.
Cost: £25 per head (we hope you will also consider covering the cost for your guest). If finance is an obstacle for bringing someone, please speak with Margo McNicol or Lorna Hamilton.

Target: We are praying for a turnout of around 70 people. (Last year we had 90.) As of this morning (Friday, 21st August), we have 11 reservations. Please reserve your places as soon as possible so we can finalize numbers with the hotel: Reserve your places here
I have every confidence you will benefit from the evening. As you plan to come, pray and invite a neighbour, family member, or friend. I have every confidence it will be a be a significant evening for them also. If you need more information, please reach out to me, Lorna, or Margo asap.

Church Updates & Volunteers
AV Equipment Delivery Team: A huge thank you to David Merriman, who responded to my request last week to take over the weekly storing and delivering of our AV equipment previously handled by Barrie Clark.

Volunteers Still Needed: We are still looking to build a small team to help share the task with me of delivering the bulkier AV equipment on Fridays (between 5:45 PM and 6:15 PM). Only one person replied to this request in last week's letter - so far! This is a significant ministry because we rely on this equipment for Saturday band rehearsals and then our Sunday worship with our online presence. Are you willing/able to go on a roster to help some Fridays? If so, please email me at minister@mearnsfree.org.
See you all on Sunday!
With warmest regards in Christ,
Scott

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FROM THE OTHER MANSE

What is our God like?
Can He rescue His people?

These are questions that are asked and answered, time and time again, in the book of Exodus.
Moses asks the Lord what His name is in chapter three, and in revealing His name as “I AM”, our God teaches us that He depends on nobody, He has no beginning nor end, and He is consistently present with His people to save them. This is often how Jesus describes Himself in John’s gospel, claiming the same identity and authority for Himself as God the Son.
Pharaoh, by contrast, asks in chapter five, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD”. In many ways, Exodus is an answer to Pharaoh’s disdain and disgust, as we listen to Moses song of victory in chapter fifteen and we as listen to the Lord describe His own character in chapter thirty-four.
All of this is what we’ll be studying this term at Youth. We’re going to be asking these questions, over and over again, and seeing the answers that Exodus offers our young people.
We’ll be spending time looking at God’s providence, asking what it means to stand up for the Lord when we are oppressed as His people, seeing the way in which we are all slaves to sin, and seeing how God shows the same providence, provision, and pardon to His people today as He did in the days of the Exodus, to redeem and to rescue us for eternity.

Please pray for our young people. I’d love to see a dozen or so teenagers come every single week and really form a tight group. I’d love to see more and more teenagers come along, that we might have a thriving group of youth that we can disciple and encourage. Having said that, I’m never really one to worry too much about numbers. I more feel the weight of responsibility for the teenagers we do have. Please pray for them as they think about what it might look like to know and honour the Lord in their own lives, even when it’s hard to do so at home or at school, and pray for us leaders as we do what we can to serve them well.

Scott H
 

Sunday Nights in Exodus.

23rd Aug - Exodus 1-2
30th Aug - Exodus 3
6th Sept - Gowanbank Weekend Away
13th Sept - Exodus 4
27th Sept - Exodus 5
4th Oct - Exodus 7-10
11th & 18th Oct - School Hols

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TWO EVENTS COMING UP THIS WEEK!

You are invited to a fundraising event organised by the SU SCOTLAND Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire & Inverclyde Action Group.
Enjoy an evening of worship, with stories from the summer, encouragements from last year, sharing our vision for next year
… as well as a great selection of coffee and delicious cakes!

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Terry McCutcheon sends us all an invitation to the 10 year Anniversary of "Hope For Glasgow". 

As a member of one of our supporting churches, we'd like to offer you exclusive access to reserve 2 tickets for our 10th Anniversary Celebration. Over the past ten years, God has transformed countless lives through the ministry of Hope for Addiction UK, and we'd love for you to join us as we celebrate His faithfulness and look ahead with hope to the future.

10th Anniversary Celebration

📅 Saturday 29th August 2026
🕖 7:00pm
📍 The Tron Church at Kelvingrove
73 Claremont Street, Glasgow G3 7JB
Join us for an evening of:
 🙏 Thanksgiving as we celebrate 10 years of God’s faithfulness 
🗣 Stories of lives transformed 
💬 A special message from our Patron, Alistair Begg
As a member of one of our supporting churches, you have priority access to reserve your 2 tickets before they go on general release.
👉 Reserve your tickets here using the password: HFA10 

We would be delighted if you could join us as we celebrate all that God has done through Hope for Addiction UK over the past ten years.
We look forward to welcoming you.
With every blessing,
Terry & The Hope for Addiction UK Team

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Last week we had the link to a Sunday Times article from J John that had sparked a lot of interest. By coincidence Ken and Elizabeth passed onto me an email which had just been passed to them written by J John to a friend. It asks us learn from...

THE UNINVITED GUESTS:

This is part of the email - click here for the whole of what is a short but thoughtful reflection.

"One of the great pleasures of summer is throwing open the doors and windows. Fresh air fills the house. Sunshine streams in. The garden bursts into life. Everything feels brighter.
 Unfortunately, we’re not the only ones who appreciate an open door. Without an invitation . . . without so much as a polite warning . . . the uninvited guests arrive.

Wasps. I have to confess, I’ve never quite understood them. Bees make honey. Butterflies make gardens beautiful. Ladybirds are welcomed almost everywhere. Wasps seem to have been appointed Director of Summer Interruptions.
It’s remarkable what one tiny wasp can do. A peaceful family picnic suddenly becomes an Olympic synchronised arm-waving event. Someone spills their drink. Someone else abandons their dessert. Children scatter in every direction. Meanwhile, the wasp remains perfectly calm.
I’ve learnt something over the years: the more you flap, the more interested the wasp becomes.

There may be a lesson here. Not every irritation deserves a reaction. Some problems become bigger simply because we keep feeding them with our attention.
The Bible says we should be ‘quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry’ (James 1:19 NLT). That’s wise advice. Especially in wasp season.
As I stood watching these tiny summer visitors recently, it struck me that insects aren’t the only uninvited guests. Life has plenty of them. An unexpected diagnosis. A redundancy notice. Financial pressure. Disappointment. Delay. Grief. None of us plans for these visitors.
Yet, somehow, they still find our address. The remarkable thing is that God often does some of his deepest work through the interruptions we would never have chosen.

• Joseph never invited the prison.
• David never invited Goliath.
• Daniel never invited the lions.
• Paul never invited the storm or the shipwreck.

Yet God met every one of them there. Perhaps that’s why the apostle Paul could write, ‘We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God’ (Romans 8:28 NLT).
Notice carefully what he says. He doesn’t say that everything is good. Far from it. He says that God is able to work through everything for our good.
That’s an altogether different promise.
J John

DO YOU PRAY OUT LOUD?

On the back of the article on praying out loud Sam N has given some feedback:

The article in last week’s Church Magazine about praying out loud took me back to circa 1948 when I started at Townhead Primary School in Kirkintilloch. At beginning of class every morning we were required as 5-year-olds to sit quietly, bow our heads, clasp our hands and recite out loud The Lord’s Prayer.

The reciting of the prayer needs no explanation, but it occurs to me that the bowing of heads and clasping of hands is no longer seen as a necessary part of prayer.

When in prayer at Mearns Free on Sunday mornings I do not look around to see if any of the congregation have bowed heads but am fairly confident that few if any will have clasped their hands.

Watching recent royal occasions on TV when knighthoods etc are conferred it is usual to see the recipients actively bowing their head when approaching the monarch. Surely we should at least bow our heads when approaching the King of Kings in prayer.

According to Professor Google the meaning of the act of clasping hands is multi-faceted but generally indicates submission to a higher authority. Apparently in Roman times slaves would kneel before their masters with their hands clasped in front of them in anticipation of being bound to their masters. Although slavery is abhorrent in modern times, the symbolism remains relevant. As Christians, we are bound to the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost, so clasping our hands in prayer may be a natural expression of that bond.

Our Lord Jesus said “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Maybe I need to take myself back to Mrs Clark’s primary class in 1948 and relearn the lesson.

What’s the new expression “Just Saying”

Sam

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We are missing having Jamie Taggart around church these days - he is heading for Abernethy Outdoor Centre to start work there on 5th September. He is currently back with his parents in Argyll.
He sent a short note, and we will hear more from him as he starts work: 
"Leading up to work I’d like to pray that I would be as well prepared practically and spiritually that I can be. Also that Abernethy’s summer programme was blessed and seeds planted in young hearts. Could you also pray for the other two guys I’m training with that they would be well prepared too?

You can get a flavour of what Jamie will be involved in at their website here.

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Ladybird Book of Mearns Free Church

  

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These two posts above can help us reflect on what Scott K reminded us of last week from Ecclesiastes, ie  that even if we gain wisdom, we are never omniscient or given insight to understand every up or down, or joy and sorrow of life.
Isaiah 55:8–9: "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"

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LOST AND FOUND

If you have left behind any of these items at Belmont over the last few weeks please speak with Scott K.

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Women for Mission Conference

Saturday 12th September
When Strivings Cease: Learning to pause in a world of unrest.
The WfM Conference will be held at Smithton Free Church on Saturday 12th September, 9:30am-3:30pm. Our main speakers on the topic of rest are Cathy Steed and Mairi Smith. Throughout the day, we'll hear from our main speakers as well as a Q&A, lunch and craft stalls and a bookstall hosted by Christian Focus Publishing. Booking details are available here.
Alongside the bookstall, we're facilitating a number of craft stalls to sell goods at the event. In previous years, these have August 2026 Free Church of Scotland, 15 North Bank Street, The Mound, Edinburgh EH1 2LS T: 0131 226 5286 E: offices@freechurch.org included handcrafted decorations, cards, artwork, knitwear and jams - we'd love to have a variety of things on offer. contact@womenformission.org.



Saturday 26th September
Scotland’s most urgent need in 2026 is for the gospel.
That gospel needs to be heard, believed and followed all across our nation. But for the gospel to be heard, it needs to be offered.   
This year’s ETS Conference focuses on the Free Offer of the Gospel – a subject that has been a source of controversy and tension in the history of the Scottish Church and which today remains an urgent priority as we seek to meet the deepest needs of our nation. 
Join us as we explore the rich theological history and discuss the immediate contemporary relevance of this profound and priceless topic.
See details including ticket info here


Thursday 1st October
A Night of Worship and Prayer for Scotland: The Revival 2026
An evening of worship and prayer will take place at the SEC in Glasgow on Thursday 1st October. The Revival 2026 will feature worship led by Michael W. Smith and Celtic Worship, with a message from Nicky Gumbel. Doors open at 6pm, for a 6.30pm start. For more details and how to book your tickets, go to: The Revival 2026 page here or the SEC page here


Thursday 17th December
Celtic Worship
Experience an uplifting night of traditional Scottish folk and contemporary praise as Celtic Worship head to the O2 Academy Glasgow this December alongside the incredible Zerua Music!
Go to Celtic Worship webpage here or see ticket details here. 

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It's been great to see people supporting Govan Free Church's Food Bank.
Thanks to those who brought items in recent weeks.
Look out for the Green Box at the back!

Coffee, Teabags, Cereal, pasta / pasta sauce - all these are welcome- remember any size of jar/box will be divvied up into smaller bags - can you help?
If you have any questions about the Food Bank speak with Sue A, Mary R or Martin B

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COFFEE AND TREATS AFTER CHURCH

BAKING  - it's great that so many people are on the baking rota - this means that it is around every 7-8 weeks that they are called on. Can you join this group - or know someone in your family who is a great baker, who could make something which you can pass off as your own work? Speak with Margaret Boyd
CUPS - already a lot of people bring their own cup along - this does save on costs for paper cups so if you can bring your along that would be great,  and the team will almost certainly speak about you behind your back less than they currently do!