Have you booked for a Sunday Morning yet?
Hi,
Hope this finds you well.
We are looking forward to having Scott back with us this Sunday but unfortunately it's a bit of step backwards as only 20 people can be in the building for the next few weeks.
If you're wondering how the decision is made as to who gets to attend we're taking into account those who didn't get to the hairdresser before lockdown...remember we've got the cameras now and standards need to be maintained.
A few things in the magazine this week so scroll down, see what is happening, what you can get involved in, what you can pray for, who you can pray for and encourage.
Enjoy the mag.
Magazine No.33 (21st November)
From the Manse
Dear Congregation,
It is great to be back amongst you – albeit still distanced by COVID-19 restrictions! Many thanks to all who filled the gaps in my absence. We worshipped online with you and were so appreciative of all who made that possible.
Thank you for your support and prayers over these last weeks. I have been amazingly upheld and I praise God for this. My treatment went to plan and nothing unexpected happened. It will take a few more weeks to work through all the lingering side effects but Anita and I are so thankful to the Lord for MMCC and the care you have afforded us. I am now working again from the manse. Do not hesitate to make contact.
East Renfrewshire is now subject to Level 4 restrictions. This will impact our personal lives no doubt. However, we are permitted to continue worshipping (with reduced numbers) and we shall do so.
Lorna Hamilton is organizing attendance over these coming weeks and it is important you register now so that she can plan this effectively. Thank you for your help in this.
Please ensure you sign up in time. You can use the link below.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maxwell-mearns-castle-church-sunday-morning-worship-tickets-117847381691
Our youth work is also permitted to continue on the premises and Daniel will send out the necessary information as usual. Please watch out for these communications and let Daniel know of your participation.
I am looking forward to leading us in worship again this coming Sunday.
See you Sunday,
Scott
Worship in Tier 4
Lorna is co-ordinating the bookings for church. She writes...
Covid 19 is providing a challenge for us in following Hebrews 10 verse 24 in “not giving up meeting together”. So if you are able to attend worship in the Sanctuary for any one or all of the coming three Sundays, please take a few minutes to register for places using the link below and leave the administrative challenge of allocating them to us.
Please do not hold back in registering as this runs the risk of there being empty seats which we are trying to avoid given the reduced capacity.
For those unable to attend in person, the livestreaming on Facebook/YouTube will continue.
The writer of Hebrews also asks us to “consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” so let us encourage one another in our time of worship together, whether in person or one click away.
Lorna Hamilton
The Big Switch Over
From December the Sunday morning service will be moving over from Facebook to Youtube.
Did you know Maxwell has a You Tube channel. Of course you did - we have been asking you to Subscribe to the channel for the last 4 weeks - why haven't you done it yet!!?
Please subscribe to our Youtube channel It's totally free.
Masks that Make a Difference
Thank you to those who donated for masks to the Poppy Fund. I still have a few and they aren't necessarily linked to November! I will also be making some Christmassy masks so if anyone is interested, please give me a buzz.
Sue Amery-Behr
Church Office
Church offices are not allowed to open during level 4 of lockdown. We are however, not closed! I have reduced my hours, but calls are being answered and we are able to run as near to normal as possible.
At this time, I am aware that some folk may be feeling a bit lonely and vulnerable again. Please contact the office if you need anything collected or any shopping done. As in the early stages of covid lockdown, there are people available to help. It may be that you are just feeling a bit lonely and could do with a call. It may be something more than that. Whatever it is, WE CAN HELP!
The office number is 0141 639 5169.
Sue Amery-Behr
PS: At this time of limited Christmas shopping opportunities, I will be happy to help anyone without access to a computer with any shopping they may require via Amazon. I can order it, sort out payment, and have it delivered to your home (usually postage free). Just give me a call.
St.Luke's Hospital, Hiranpur
Ambulance for St Luke's dream realised
The idea for the ambulance sprung from the story of the young girl operated on in St Luke's who had to be transferred post-operatively to PremJyothi Hospital to recover. It was almost impossible to find a vehicle or driver to agree to take an unconscious child on that journey, but it happened, and the child recovered - she was suffering from tuberculosis which had eroded deep into the bone in her chest.
Shortly after hearing this, friends who were celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary, instead of celebrating in usual style, decided to have a ceilidh and ask friends and family to celebrate their special day with them and donate something towards an ambulance for St Luke’s Hospital. They were amazed and delighted to raise over a thousand pounds, and this got the ambulance fund off to an amazing start.
Others joined in, including Sanjeev Dayal, one of Shubhro's close friends from CMC Ludhiana and Sarenga days. Then in the summer Mearns Castle Church in Glasgow made a special appeal, and many folk gave generously. Finally just a couple of months ago Lerwick Baptist Church gave a generous donation which realised the sum for the ambulance.
Lis and Shubhro have been working in Scotland since coming back from India and due to the pandemic haven't been able to return. Their latest newsletter will be out shortly and we will give a link to it in the magazine.
This Wednesday at PULSE prayer meeting we will hear from Mark from Word One2One.
Mark spoke very briefly at the start of a service in October to give an introduction of Word One2One. That was just a teaser shall we say, and it will be good to hear more on Wednesday and have an opportunity to pray for Mark and this important ministry.
Make sure you watch out for the zoom link which will be sent out for Wednesdays meeting at 7.15pm
New Addition
Congratulations to the Smith Family
Martin and Elizabeth Smith are grandparents again and we want to send our best wishes to Stewart and Ciara, and to baby Jack Darryl Smith born on 18th November.
News from the Balcony
It was mentioned last week that we will be moving our livestreams from Facebook to YouTube on the 6th of December. We are striving to provide the best experience to those at home and in church and hope that this latest improvement will allow more people to access our streams. YouTube, unlike Facebook does not need a login to use (although we would recommend making an account and subscribing to our page so you can be alerted when we go live).
We have come a long way from Scott streaming from his laptop webcam, first adding microphones and a camera, before transitioning to the balcony in preparation for the church opening its doors again.
I would like to thank all those who have been involved on the tech side of things, its amazing what they've managed to achieve. I would also like to thank our growing team of volunteers for giving up their time to help.
Eilidh Hamilton
FIXATED
If you are looking for an Advent devotional then you might want to try this latest offering from Tim Chester. 'Fixated' has a short reading and comment through December to help us think about the promise and coming of the Lord Jesus.
Tim takes his Scripture passages all from Hebrews so it's a move away from Luke's shepherds and Matthew's Wise Men. If you going to be Fixated on something this December avoid thinking about Amazon, worrying about lockdown and whether you look cool in a Christmas jumper (you don't!) and make it something full of Light and Life!
Get a copy here
Quotable
From Terry Virgo's excellent short book
'Life Tastes Better- The Surprising Truth about what Jesus Offers'
So I knelt down that night in my home and I asked Jesus into my heart. The problem was, I didn’t really understand what that meant. I wanted Jesus to do his thing for me, but not to be in charge of me. I wanted to love other things and chase other things too. It was as though I said to all those other things that I was looking to to satisfy me and make my life better, “Please can you shove over a bit in my heart—I just need to let Jesus in as well”.
And my life was a misery. I started to wonder what had gone wrong; and whether it was even worth keeping up. Then I was in church one Sunday morning and the guy preached and I suddenly realised that God wanted my life. He wanted to take charge—not coexist with a load of competitors. I’d never really understood that before but I could feel God saying to me, Are you mine or not? I was suddenly really aware of the awesomeness of God. I want your life. Do I have your life? I had to choose. Who was really going to have the steering wheel of my life? Was I going to let Jesus drive only until his agenda didn’t line up with mine, and then say, “Erm, I’ll just take the wheel now, Lord”? Was I going to keep saying he was my Lord but not actually let him be? Or was I going to let him take charge? I went home from that meeting and I got on my knees at home and I said, “Lord, I give you my life. You run it.”
That was a battle, living with him in charge. I lost all kinds of friends. My parents said to me, “What are you doing?” But when I look back now, I just had no idea of what Jesus had planned. I had no idea of the adventure God had for me. He was in charge of me, and he changed me, and he changed my life, and it’s never been easy but it’s always been infinitely worth it.
I wonder if you need to do the same thing. Jesus wants to be part of your life. He wants to help you with all those things going on under the surface of your life. He is committed to you, even to death. He offers to deal with your greatest need, and to bring you into peace with God and to bring you into eternity with God. He wants to take charge of your life to change your life. You won’t find anyone like him. You won’t find any life better than the one that’s transformed by him. He wants your life. That’s how it works: you do whatever he says to you. And you find that life tastes so much better.
The Kirk Session has been encouraging us to build into our lives a desire to share the Gospel in a simple way with friends and family. To this end, we are being encouraged to use “The Word One To One” material.
Let’s all try and find one person to open John’s Gospel with. Remember to share online by zoom or by some other platform, you can download the exact same booklet. Simply go to our website; www.maxwellmearns.org and press the “Church Life” tab > then press the “Reaching Out” tab and scroll to the bottom of the page. You see all 11 booklets listed and available for download.
Speak to Margo McN if you would like to see a copy of a booklet.