No.104    11th Sept

Hi, 
Hope this finds you well.
The magazine is huge this week - Pauline's fault😊
The first part of the magazine usually provides details (occasionally with a degree of accuracy) of the events happening at Mearns Free church over the next few days...this week is no different and first out of the proverbial blocks is the Monthly Prayer meeting - note the change of venue this month!

Our Joint Evening Service is on this Sunday at the Baptist church. Now there's no bigger fan of Countryfile than me, and I just can't help myself gushing about The Great Celebrity Pottery Throw Down, but nevertheless I still think that if you can pull yourself away from an evening in front of the telly, the benefits of doubling the amount of time you have on a Sunday of fellowship, worship and Bible teaching are pretty obvious - why not prioritise this space in your diary? And we are encouraging the Mearns Youth to do that too with their activities!

Enjoy the mag,
MB

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Saturday 12th September

9am - 10am
nb - this month the venue is the MacKays'.
see the church directory for the address or email office.
Parking is tricky in this road - best to park at the Scout Hut on Ormonde Drive.

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Sunday 13th September

Sunday Morning
Rev Scott Kirkland
John ch14 

Sunday Evening

7pm (6.30pm for refreshments)
at Newton Mearns Baptist, Greenfarm Road
Join us for the second in the series of studies looking at 2nd Corinthians.

 
Meets on Sunday Evenings
Games, friendship and studies in Exodus this session.
This week it's Exodus chapter four. Moses comes up with all sorts of excuses not to rescue God's people, which God is happy to assure, but it turns out that Moses is simply too scared and unwilling.
Praise God our Rescuer is the opposite, both willing and able!

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Cafe Connect will be starting again on Tuesday 15th September. 

It meets in Newton Mearns Baptist Church at 2pm - 3.30pm

If you want to know more about the Cafe (who it's for, what happens each week, if you can help out etc) then speak with Margaret Boyd.

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Our weekly prayer meeting  on Wednesdays is at 7.15pm
Meeting in the McDougalls'  throughout September.

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This coming Thursday, Young Adults are meeting to study Romans 6:1 - 14.
Pray that we'll rejoice and participate in God's mission, knowing that we are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ!
SH
Speak with Scott H for details on this group.

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What Happens Next?

We are looking at John's Gospel on Sunday morning - jumping straight in at Chapter 14. 
But do you know what the flow of the Gospel is up until this point - have you noticed the signs Jesus has given and the 'I am' statements?
Here is one of the Bible Project videos which helpfully walks through the book - this one tackles the first part of the Gospel and it will set you up nicely for listening to Scott on Sunday. 
Click here to watch the 9 min video.

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Letter from the Manse

Dear Church Family,
This coming Sunday we shall begin a six-part mini-series on chapters 14–17 in John’s Gospel. Knowing his hour had come to die on the cross, Jesus chose to encourage his disciples with vital revelation about himself, his mission, and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The Heidelberg Catechism asks, "What is your only comfort in life and in death?" It gives the great answer: "I am not my own, but belong, body and soul, in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour, Jesus Christ."
We look forward to being encouraged in our own walk with the Lord Jesus as he speaks life to us in these key words from John’s Gospel. To walk with the Lord in life is wonderful; to know him in death is eternally precious.

We have been announcing in church recently the death of two elderly church members. Robert Macrae from NMBC and our own Janette McPhail. Robert is Fiona Waugh’s dad. I know some of you have wanted to know details of the funeral, and it is this week on 17th September at The Hurlet Crematorium (12 noon). The funeral for Janette is now arranged for 1:00 pm on 22nd September at The Hurlet Crematorium. Our prayers continue with both families.

Don’t forget we shall also worship this Sunday night at NMBC (13th September). Scott Hamilton will preach from 2 Corinthians. If you have not been along to one of these joint services, let me encourage you to come this Sunday. All are welcome. Refreshments are served from 6:30 pm and worship is from 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
With warmest regards,
Scott K

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FROM THE OTHER MANSE

How far does the Bible reach into our lives?

One of the things that has struck me in Ecclesiastes is the widespread, far-reaching application that seems to knock on a number of doors that might surprise us.
The Teacher wants us to enjoy life. That was something that I noticed throughout our series. We should be grieved by the things that grieve our God, but He didn’t create us to be miserable all the time. He made variety, taste, choice, and diversity within His creation, that we should explore, sample, try, and create for ourselves. We remember that He knows and sees all that we do. We remember that nothing we do should be the sort of thing that would incur His judgment. Yet we should feel His pleasure in our own actions, conversations, and pursuits.
What struck me is that the Teacher wants us to find joy in every area of our lives.
God’s way is for us to accept our limitations under the sun and to leave Him to control things and care for us. That applies so broadly, into our work, our wealth, our relationships, our planning for the future, and perhaps most importantly death itself. This is so evidently where we need to trust God the most.
God’s Word applies not just to our salvation, or our convictions, but everyday decisions and lives.
That means that there isn’t a single day, a single decision, where I leave God’s wisdom at the door of my workplace, or my home life, but it also means that there is genuine joy to be found in spiritually shrugging our shoulders about the things we do not understand and getting on with the things that our God has called us to do under the sun. We will need to accept that there are some things we won’t be able to do, some outcomes we’d love to see but might not see, yet Godly contentment is not only possible but might be closer to us than we think.
Blessings,
SH

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High School 'Club Showcases'

Every year the high schools in our area run Clubs Showcases to allow pupils to see what lunchtime activities they can get involved in and our SU groups have been featuring.
 
Lucy and Cara and some other helpers ran a successful stall at Eastwood and for the first couple of weeks back have had 12 pupils attend each week. 
Colin reports that at the Williamwood  Showcase 62 'New Testament and Psalms' were given out and they got 10 new signs ups for the SU group. 
The group at Woodfarm is quite small but faithfully led by Sandra who claims that they had the best stall at the event!(The Magazine is actively involved in investigating the veracity of this claim - Ed) 

The Mearns Castle  event was the final one in the diary. The stall was set up and manned by Zara, Molly and Matilda who did an amazingly creative job! Molly even crocheted the SU logo for it!
Please pray for these groups as they get underway -that the pupils will come to know Jesus, grow in faith and be a light in their school communities and for our pupil, staff and church leaders to lead wisely. 

SU Secondary Weekend Away

Last weekend nine of us from Mearns Free joined others at the Renfrewshire, East Renfrewshire and Inverclyde SU regional secondary weekend at Gowanbank. There were 29 young people and 9 team from across the 3 parts of the region from Gourock to Eaglesham. 

Our theme this year was The Traitors however instead of 'murdering and banishing' young people which is generally frowned upon we played a game produced by Open Doors Youth called Faithfuls. The young people became Bible Smugglers trying to smuggle as many Bibles as they could into China through taking part in different challenges however, there were spies among them who did all they could to thwart their attempts. Along the way we found out a little about the persecuted church before our final roundtable at the fire pit where the identity of the remaining undiscovered spies was revealed. Sadly on this occasion the spies won the game however s'mores for supper made up for the loss.




Sandra and Sarah fed us exceptionally well over the course of the weekend and we were also spiritually fed. 
Our Bible talks looked at the importance of the Bible to Christians, identity in Christ and transformation through Christ and we're accompanied by some great worship and discussion times. 
Pauline

NEXT FEBRUARY!

Below are the details of the SU Regional Primary Weekend - don't hang about!
Bookings are open and places are going fast! click here to book. 

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💎Diamond Wedding Anniversary💓

Congratulations to Ken and Priscilla Fisher who celebrated their Diamond Wedding Anniversary on 10th September.
We are going to get a chance to congratulate them properly (with some cake!!) on a Sunday later in the month.

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Ladybird Book of Mearns Free

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Who is our Hatch Hero?

Last week some help was needed to access the kitchen via a less conventional means...so, at the risk of turning this into a weekly competition (??) can you tell who the kitchen hatch hero was?

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It's important to share what we know about Jesus and the Bible calls us to be witnesses for the truth - but we are never to give the impression that somehow we are better than others, or be angry with someone who has a critical view of Christianity ..this short list from Jonny Ardavanis is helpful:

How did YOU ever 'see'?

Scripture says, “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

• You were not naturally more discerning.
• God graciously opened your eyes.
• And that means you cannot open theirs.
• You cannot argue someone into spiritual sight. You cannot debate someone into regeneration.
• You cannot make a blind heart see what only God can reveal.
• Your job is simply faithfulness, not transformation.
• Speak the truth. Expose the error. Plead when necessary.
• But do not carry a burden God never gave you.
• False teaching should grieve us. Lost people should break our hearts. But their blindness should never make us proud, bitter, or angry.
• You were once blind too.
• If God was patient while He opened your eyes, you can be patient while you wait for Him to open theirs.
• So when they refuse to listen, pray.
• When they return to lies, pray.
• When you have said everything you know to say, leave the outcome in God’s hands.
• You can plant. You can water.
• But only God can give the growth.
• And remembering that should turn our anger into compassion

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Govan Free Church

Mearns Free Church has developed a really positive relationship with Govan Free Church. Our main area of cooperation is their foodbank every Thursday when we have four members of our congregation involved – Sue A, Martin B, Mary R and Jack C. Govan Free are delighted with our support and our folks are enjoying this practical ministry.
After a suggestion from our team, and further to discussion with their minister, David MacPherson, we are now looking at the possibility of a small number of us attending worship at Govan at 11am on a Sunday from time-to-time. Depending on interest from you, our members, we anticipate this would be on an ad hoc basis with no strict or prescriptive attendance.
Interested? If so, please email Jack Geddes at jgeddes0802@gmail.com and Jack will be happy to coordinate the visits so that two or three of us can go along together.

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CAN YOU HELP?!

If you are on Facebook or Instagram please engage with the Mearns Free pages.
One of the ways we would like to raise the profile of Mearns Free is by using social media. We have been highlighting our services and the teaching on Ecclesiastes recently on social media, above is an example from Facebook a few weeks ago (we did the same for the Easter day earlier this year and the Community Weekend).
However, we really need YOU (if you use social media) to like, comment or forward etc these posts in order for as many people in the area to notice them. Can you help!?

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Greetings from Abernethy!
We're reaching out to invite the men in your church to join us for an adventure-filled weekend in the heart of the Scottish Highlands... a great weekend to step away from everyday life, go deeper in faith, and embrace the outdoors. 

Rooted for Men | 18 - 20 September 2026 | Abernethy Nethy Bridge
Rooted for Men is a weekend packed with great food, laughter, meaningful conversation, and space to deepen your relationship with God. You can push yourself physically and mentally through a range of adventurous outdoor activities or take things at a gentler pace — whether that’s coasteering, rock climbing, hiking in the mountains or a relaxed stroll to the local coffee shop in Nethy Bridge. The weekend is intentionally designed so you can engage at a level that suits you and find what you came looking for.

Book on with a group of guys from church as a "ready-made" weekend away, without the hassle of planning. Or, come as an individual, and connect with other men who love God, the outdoors, and good food. All men age 18+ are welcome. 

Read more about what is on offer and book your spot here
We're really excited about what we have planned, and hope to see you there. If you have any questions contact the office team at nethybridge@abernethy.org.uk or 01479 821279.

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The unstoppable wave of God's glory

As part of God’s great mission, Habakkuk 2:14 declares: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” This powerful promise reminds us that God’s glory is not confined to one place or people – it is spreading across the nations like an unstoppable wave.

This year, our Week of Prayer theme is O.C.E.A.N – The Unstoppable Wave of God’s Glory. Across five days, we’ll journey together in prayer around the world, asking God to move powerfully among the nations and bring many people to know and worship Him.

Throughout the week, we’ll pray for churches, mission workers, unreached peoples and gospel opportunities across different regions of the world. As we hear stories of what God is doing globally, let’s ask Him to deepen our vision for His mission, strengthen those serving cross-culturally, and raise up more workers for the harvest.
Click here to ask for the details to be sent to you through the week and join with many others praying across the globe. Its' free.

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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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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 own along that would be great,  and the team will almost certainly speak about you behind your back less than they currently do!