Hi,
Hope this finds you well.
We have some bang up-to-date news in the magazine this week from Scott - I won't steal his thunder. And there are some 'ongoing' items and events, news of which will continue to appear as reminders as we head towards Easter.
At the bottom of the mag there is also the Word 121 booklets available. It's such a good resource. I was using one of these with a colleague online this week...looking at the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus walking on the water. It's exciting to introduce these accounts to people for the first time...she had never heard of Jesus feeding 5000! If you look at John 6, Jesus challenges the crowds (and us) about what really drives us. In the case of the those in Tiberias they were looking for someone who would continue to give them a free lunch. Maybe Jesus was a prophet they thought, but they wanted one who would dance to their tune. They had missed the point of the signs he had given them and he wasn't going to be the sort of King they wanted. His journey to Jerusalem and the cross continued.
Keep looking for opportunities to share the Gospel as we head to Easter - people are intrigued that we are excited by and shaped by this 'story'.
If you are looking for an Easter gift to treat someone (which is less calorific than the usual ideas) then take a look at the new Tim Keller book - details below.
Enjoy the Mag!
MB
From the Manse
Dear Congregation,
I write this letter with “measured” excitement and anticipation! We may be permitted to worship together again soon. The tentative date given by the First Minister for fifty worshippers is 26th March (this will be confirmed by the FM on the 23rd March).
If “the data” continues to permit at that time, it means we shall be able to celebrate Palm Sunday together (28th March) Good Friday (2nd April) and Easter morning (4th April). That would be wonderful would it not? What is even more exciting is that a number of you may feel more confident about joining us for the first time as you will now have had your first vaccine.
Needless to say, we shall retain all the COVID safety protocols implemented previously. These protocols will continue to include hand sanitizing on entry and exit, the wearing of masks, 2 metre distancing, cleaning the premises before and after worship and our track and trace records.
In the anticipation that we can open our doors, I have asked Lorna Hamilton to make our Eventbrite registration system public again - see below for details of how to register.
Lorna did a super job before helping all who wanted to worship do so. Lorna will no doubt make several Sundays available in advance. It is important to follow this advice; if you would like to be in worship on the several Sundays made available, please register for all of them. By registering for all of them you give Lorna the information necessary to schedule worship fairly. You will not be depriving others of the opportunity to worship if they have registered also. Lorna will ensure that all who register have a fair opportunity to worship.
We will continue to have on-line worship in the same way we have presently for those who cannot attend worship in person.
Again, on the assumption that all is well with the plans above, the Kirk Session is planning that we share in the Lord’s Supper on the 18th of April.
The rest of the church premises will not yet be opened more generally. However, we will do so as soon as we think this can be done safely.
Please pray that this is the beginning of some kind of normality returning to our church life.
Warmest regards,
Scott
Congregational Stated Annual Meeting Intimation
All members are invited to join in with the Stated Annual Meeting of the Congregation to be held on Zoom at 12:30 after the Morning Service on Sunday 21st March. (Look out for the zoom link in next week's magazine.)
The main business will be to review aspects of the life of our Church in 2020
The Finance Committee will present the Accounts for 2020 and the proposed Budget for 2021. Copies of these and the Minutes of last year’s Stated Annual Meeting will be emailed directly to you and will also be available on the Congregation Website.
The Property and Grounds Convenors will report on the work done over the year.
This meeting is open to all members of the Congregation and provides a chance to nominate and vote for individuals to join the Congregational Board for a three-year term of office. Nominations, which need a Proposer and Seconder, should emailed to Jack Geddes at jgeddes0802@gmail.com or any Elder before the meeting.
Further information from
Lorna Hamilton 0141 571 3884
Jack Geddes 07714 983075
Registering To Worship
BOOK NOW
The Eventbrite link is now open to register for worship from 28th March through the Sundays of April. Click HERE
Those who are on AV, door duty and assisting in worship need to register also please.
We shall have a cut-off for registering for Sunday worship at 11pm on the Thursday before worship.
Glasgow City Mission
Glasgow City Mission are one of the charities who will benefit from the Virtual Kiltwalk on 23-25 April. As this is a virtual event you can tailor your challenge, or activity, to you or your family and friends as long as it’s within the Covid guidelines.
As this is 2021, one of our volunteers is walking 21 miles, cycling 21 miles and then swimming 21 lengths of his local baths. If this doesn’t suit you why not climb a mountain, trampoline, walk, jog, run, have a family treasure hunt or play 21 games of chess. Whatever suits you.
All those who participate and raise funds for the Mission will have 50% added to their total by the Tom Hunter Foundation, what an incentive! In addition each participant will receive a bespoke Glasgow City Mission Kiltwalk t-shirt.
If you are interested in fundraising for Glasgow City Mission please follow this link - where details of how to get involved and register can be found. Remember when registering to select “Glasgow City Mission” as your charity.
If you have any questions please contact Jack Geddes 07714 983075.
Quotable
You may have read one of Tim Keller's books before, or used his videos in the Reason for God series, or just listened to a sermon on his podcast 'Gospel in Life'. He has certainly been a real blessing for many in New York and beyond. His latest book is written as Keller goes through treatment for cancer and looks at how Jesus' resurrection gives hope and meaning for any situation.
"This is a book on the resurrection of Jesus. I am not truing to do the same exhaustive work on the historical sources and evidence for the resurrection that N.T. Wright did – nor am I capable of it. Early in the volume I try and summarize much of his work, which I don’t think can be bettered at this time. Because I am a preacher and not an academic, I am concentrating on the resurrection as a key to understanding the whole Bible and to facing all the challenges of life – suffering, personal change, injustice, moral clarity, and the uncertainty of the future.
During a dark time for most of the world, and for me personally, as we all long and grasp for hope, there is no better place to look than the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
Available in the usual places, but try and support a Christian supplier if possible. You can buy from 10ofthose
here
Q30. What is faith in Jesus Christ?
Faith in Jesus Christ is acknowledging the truth of everything that God has revealed in his Word, trusting in him, and also receiving and resting on him alone for salvation as he is offered to us in the gospel.
Wednesday at 7.15pm - 8.30pm
Sinclair Ferguson in his book
Devoted to God's Church recalls a conversation with an elder who said,
'I had to drag myself to the prayer meeting'. Ferguson continues,
'I really admired him for that. He understood that prayer is work. And as - not least through his participation - these gatherings had become such vibrant and spiritually helpful occasions, I was able to say to him, 'Yes, but you usually didn't have to have to drag yourself home afterwards, did you, such was the blessing we experienced!'.
We are still online for this important meeting in weekly church life. Perhaps you will need to drag yourself to the laptop or ipad, but it is a good thing to do.
Look out for the link emailed each week for access.
Wonder Walks #5
The Scottish Bible Society have created a Wonder Walks series for Lent and Easter.
As we lead up to Easter use these to help you focus on God when you are out for a walk or in your garden. On each map you will find something to read from the Gospel of Mark, questions to think about, games to play, and ideas to pray about. You don’t need to prepare anything in advance, just download your map and head off for your weekly Wonder Walk!
We'll include each walk in the magazine (click here for the Wonder Walk pdfs) or visit their website to download and print.
This year the Art for Easter competition is online. Feel free to pass this information on to any children you know who might want to take part.
SPRING HARVEST 2021 - 4th to 8th April,
It will be strange again this year not to be sending our team to Spring Harvest with David Cameron as Chief Steward as in a normal year!
SH will be going online with ‘Unrivalled: Why we worship’ and will be exploring why we worship, which starts with who we worship. Every new challenge we face brings a new opportunity to tune into God and join in with his mission. Whatever comes our way, our God is unchanged, our God is unshakeable, our God is Unrivalled and we will worship him. It’s the perfect time to consider how and where we worship, whether on our own, together, all the time and everywhere, in singing, in silence, in service and in the soundscape of our whole lives. If we need to discover some different ways of worshipping together, we will!
Spring Harvest Home is far more than online teaching and worship. Using a new platform, it's the first Christian event of its kind in the UK. It's exciting, interactive, family-friendly and a brilliant shared experience!
Tickets at £55 from the Spring Harvest web page will access all the brilliant content online, both live and on demand until the end of April. You can access Spring Harvest Home on two devices (laptop, desktop or smartphone)
Sue
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.