Hi,
Hope this finds you well.
A quieter magazine this week but all good stuff - flick through and make sure you are up to date with things.
One thing you can help the church with is on social media. We are on Facebook and YouTube.
First of all we only have 25 subscribers to the church YouTube channel - now, this may be more than BBC Alba but only just.
So, look at the details below and subscribe today! It's free.
Also, while in the real world it is a bit needy to keep pestering random people to like you (as I've found from bitter experience) on Facebook it's a great thing. More of that below.
Another great Sunday to look forward to with another profession of faith too. Whether attending or on live stream it's a great day for giving thanks for all that God is doing in His world.
Enjoy the mag!
Magazine No.27 (9th October)
Shelter
PLAYGROUP NEWS
A big THANKYOU to Jack Cunningham, Bruce Adkins, Brian Waugh and Richard Cunningham spent over 5 hours building the new playgroup shelter... this will enable us to promote more outdoor learning and will also be an asset to our church groups and events.
And as you can see, it works!
Fiona
Reaching Out
Over the last few weeks we have been seeing and hearing how some folk at Maxwell have been using the
Word One to One booklets as a tool for helping them speak about Jesus with their friends.
The material is great - clear, readable, engaging, informative...if you want to see the booklets they are all available to download on ?our Reaching Out page.
At the end of the day though, the booklets won't call up your friend, or invite your workmate. You need to do that. The instruction to make disciples was one of the last things the Lord Jesus said before ascending back to heaven. See Matt 28: 16-20.
However, either side of that rather nerve jangling command are two bits of great news for us to hold on to.
Firstly,
'All authority in heaven and earth is given to me'. All. Heaven AND Earth. That's pretty comprehensive authority. There is no one outside of the call of the Gospel, so you haven't made a mistake when you invite someone to find out about Jesus. Paul reminds us that every single person has their time and place marked out by God too (Acts 17:26) so if someone is part of your life, it's because God has put them there. 'Therefore go!'
Secondly, the other slice of bread in this 'command sandwich' is
'Lo I am with you always'. This pretty much seals the deal. The One with all authority, over everyone, has promised to go with us ALL the time.
Reaching out - at some point we need to move on from people knowing 'our story' ie that we are Christians, go to church and are awfully nice people. After all, your friends will know awfully nice people from other faiths or no faith. And there is always the
danger that they think our faith is about how we live life, our moral stands or our good behaviour. Why a danger? Tim Keller said it well: "The Gospel is good news not good advice. Advice=what we should do. News=report of what was done for us." They need to know more than just about our lifestyle, they need to know about Jesus.
You might not use the Word One to One (we think it's really good though) but Jesus is calling us to speak about Him and using the Bible is a great way to open up to friends about who He is and what He has done.
Our Reaching Out page has all you need to know about the Word One to One material.
The booklets are available as hard copies but can also be used online if you are not meeting in person. All 11 booklets are available to download on the Reaching Out page for you to use on your phone/tablet or PC . Take a look at one of the booklets to see how straightforward the notes are.
Of course having the material is one thing, getting someone to read along with is a bit trickier, isn't it? If you are keen to get going but not sure how, get in touch with Scott or Margo McNicol for a quick run down.
MMCC Social Media
Facebook
If you are a Facebook user we want to encourage you to visit the
Maxwell Mearns Castle Church page and 'LIKE' us. And if you can share our page with others that would be great too. Basically, these are the essential ways of engaging with as many people as possible, letting them know about Maxwell and of course taking them to the place where we currently live stream our services from.
YouTube
Maxwell also has a
You Tube channel.
We would like you to visit the YouTube page and subscribe - it's totally free, and there is no annoying follow up - you will get a flag on your YouTube app to say when there are new videos added.
YouTube will soon be the host for all the church's live streams, multi-media and videos so please click Subscribe now.
Please pray that the content will be a blessing to all of our viewers.
The Pulse Prayer meeting has started again after a short summer break - we are still on Zoom for the time being.
We shall meet every Wednesday night now at 7.15pm - 8.30pm for prayer
Codes will be sent out each week. Look out for the email coming from the office.
All are welcome.
Hizkidz
Last week we delved into Deborah's part of God's story. Our Hizkidz prepared themselves for battle by making shields decorated with the best protection there is - tinfoil, stickers and a Bible verse. Psalm 56:3 "When I am afraid, I will trust in you."
And the spearmint Mentos? (using up open boxes of sweets from the Basement!) Well, of course they represent the spears of Sisera's 900 strong army!
Some of our older Hizkidz were delighted to read the 'uncensored' parts of Deborah's story from the Bible involving Jael and Sisera too! God's story is certainly full of surprises!
"Quotable"
Paul Tripp's book of devotional poems came out last year and has some really excellent reflective poems.Here is an example.
Somebody Else
I really wish I could blame
somebody else.
I wish I could place the responsibility
on somebody else.
I would love to point the finger
at somebody else.
I wish I could convince myself
that it was somebody else.
I tried to feed myself the logic
that it was somebody else.
For a moment I bought my argument
that it was somebody else.
There is always another sinner
who can bear my fault.
There is always some circumstance
that can carry my blame.
There’s always some factor
that made me do what I did.
There’s always somewhere else to point
rather than looking at me.
But in the darkness of bedtime,
the logic melts out of my heart.
In the moments before sleep,
the pain begins to squeeze away my breath.
As my mind replays the day’s moments,
the conclusion is like a slap.
There is no monster to hide from.
There is no excuse that holds.
My war is not external;
the enemy is not outside.
The struggle rages within me
— nowhere to point or run.
No independent righteousness,
no reason for smugness or rest,
I am my greatest enemy
and rescue is my only hope.
In the quiet, I face it.
I cannot blame somebody else.
One more time I close my eyes, admitting that
my only hope is found in
Somebody Else.