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July 2016

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Blinded or just badly sighted?

I confess, I stagger between utter frustration and a measure of understanding. Because I thank God for the Bible. I recognise these 66 books (for ‘Bible’, from the Greek Biblia, is a plural and not a singular noun) as the revelation of the truth of God and of the good news of the Kingdom of God, that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God initiated and instituted in Him and through Him.

But I am concerned. I see an insidious infection that can blind people to the truths found in the Bible. A blindness that sounds and sings convincingly. But a blindness, nonetheless. It is a disease that can steer us from the path of discipleship into the pit of deception.

What is this infection? Perhaps it is best to start with the clarity of Biblical revelation. Scripture testifies that our faith is to be in Jesus Christ, the fulfiller and fulfilment of all the faithful promises of God (2 Corinthians 1.20). Jesus Christ is the one whom we are to know, joined with Him at the Cross (1 Corinthians 2.2) and united with Him into His resurrection (Romans 6.1-14). Jesus Christ is the one who draws together all my humanity into His own body (Ephesians 1.1-10). Jesus Christ is the one who is the perfect , atoning sacrifice for my sin (Romans 3.25). Jesus Christ, as my Lord, now lives in me (Galatians 2.20). This is the wonderful truth. Jesus Christ can be anyone’s Lord and Saviour, when He is received by faith (Romans 10.9).

The problem is when the focus moves from Jesus Christ who died on the Cross to a cross that is a mere place of transaction, hell’s bargain-basement. To a pathology that confuses a message simply of a price paid with a true invitation: the call to repentance and faith in Jesus, who paid the price of my sin at the Cross, as Lord. The loss of sight that arises is very subtle. But it is very real. The terribleness of it hit home to me at a recent conference, when an excellent speaker told the tale of a young preacher who is known

to actively solicit students for casual sexual relationships. Uncensured? How? Because the message preached in that independent congregation was that salvation was to be had by simply believing in that a price had been paid, supposedly a message of salvation by grace and grace alone! But the failure of that message was it had no call to repentance, no bowing to Jesus Christ as Lord.

Our gaze can never be on a cross alone. Our focus must be on Jesus Christ, our only hope, who died on the Cross. Through a faith expressed in believers’ baptism, we share in the death

Rev Dr Jim Purves

Mission and Ministry Advisor

Baptist Union of Scotland

He died; and come to know the power of the Holy Spirit at work within us, raising us to life again in Jesus Christ.

When the apostle Paul speaks of the power of the Cross in 1 Corinthians 1-2, it is in the context of an admonition towards sharing in the ‘weakness’ of Christ, that we might know the power of His resurrection at work in our lives. The call of the Cross is towards a life, consecrated to share in God’s way, with Jesus who paid the price. The call of the Cross is to know the power of God at work, not only justifying but also sanctifying us, working true holiness and godly fruitfulness from within us.

There exists, in the spirit of this age, an attempt to commodity and make a consumer message out of the truth of Jesus Christ and His Cross. Such short-sightedness needs to be resisted and rectified. We need a refocussing on the radical faith of Christian consecration that finds expression in both Baptist and Reformed roots, sounding out in Scotland through such as the teachings of the Puritans and in the great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Godly morality and an ethical quest towards righteous justice in life, married to a testimony of salvation through Christ. Let us strive to be clear-sighted in holding to such a faith in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again.

The Final Lap

My final Sports Day in post was a glorious day, with the sun beating down in Stirling. As always there was a hive of activity setting up for the day and we’re really grateful to those that came early to help put up tents and move equipment about. Registration opened and then it felt like I blinked and it was mid-afternoon already. Looking around the field there was evidence of churches having a great time together as they cheered on competitors in their various sports.

There were 18 churches in total this year, with several hundred competitors and spectators. While the number of churches entering has declined slightly over the past few years, for those that are there on the day, the atmosphere is still great and you can hear people having fun all around the University complex. This was particularly true in the middle of the field as churches set up tents and gazebos, laid out folding chairs and picnic blankets, lounging about between sports, chatting together and deepening relationships.

We asked each church entering this year to also provide two volunteers to help during the day, and this eased the pressure of the day a lot. It was amazing to see so many people from our different churches come together to help create a space for our young people to compete in Sports. We also had a Volunteer Coordinator, Dez Johnston (South Beach, Saltcoats) who organised the team of people brilliantly on the

day and made sure everything ran as smoothly as possible. This year we dropped the dance mat competition and set up a volunteers lounge instead, hosted by the Scottish Baptist College, but it was such a nice day people lounged out on the roof looking down instead.

Christians in Sport (CiS) partnered with us, providing quite a few volunteers on the day. Graeme Shanks was the CiS speaker at the awards ceremony,

speaking eloquently about his passion for sport and for Christ, capturing our attention and giving us something to take away from the day to think about. It even turned out that he used to compete at Sports Day himself as a teenager! We’re really grateful to Kirsten Ross and her team and are so thankful for the way they serve at Sports Day. Each church will have gotten a pack from CiS in their registration bundle, but we would encourage any church with folks interested in sports to check them out as they have some amazing resources!

Our overall winners this year were Stirling Baptist, with Bearsden being the runners up. During the awards ceremony it was great to hear lots of names being read out as we celebrated with those who had won in various events, whether that was individual races/competitions or trophies in events. We gave out medals at the 10 and Under race finals (as well as lots of Haribo!) which gave the children competing something to take away from their day. Also awarded during the ceremony was the Sportsmanship trophy that was introduced for the first time last year. This award is given out to someone/a team nominated by an event Coordinator for showing integrity, sportsmanship and character in their event and is now a firm fixture in the awards line-up with it going to the Stirling Baptist Under 16s netball team this year.

As this was my last Sports Day, I’d also personally like to thank Jenny Wilson (and Ivy Young who did it before her) for all the hard work, time and effort they put into Sports Day. A lot of this goes unnoticed, but it really wouldn’t be possible for the day to go as well as it does without them and all they bring to it. Thank you!

It’s been a great day to be involved with!

The Olympics and Paralympics, Euro 2016 and The Ryder Cup are just a few of the major sporting events taking place this summer that many in your local area will be excited about. We know that these major sporting events present great opportunities to reach sportspeople with the gospel.So, to help you and your church to make the most of this massive summer of sport, Christians in Sport are excited to announce that a fantastic, free resource called the Sports Mission Pack 2016 is now available.The pack includes:• Guides to hosting sports tournaments, dialogue dinners and big-screen events• Resources for use in schools • A 6-round multimedia sports quiz• A 2-minute gospel film called ‘Born to Play’ along with a 5-minute sports-themed gospel talk• Help on how to follow up with people coming to your events• Information about readysetgo.ec - a website with a whole host of resources for running events in your

communities

For more information and to register online visit our website:baptistassemblyinscotland.org

#BUScot16

Jenny Wilson, General Director’s PA, BUS

Greenock Baptist ChurchHamilton Baptist ChurchHarestanes Baptist ChurchPraise Our “new” “Young People’s Thursday Club”. We have almost 30 kids on register and up to 20 kids coming along on any one day.Our monthly “Songs of Praise” event. (Last Sunday of each month). Supported by folks from 3 other neighbouring Church of Scotland congregations.Prayer request. For some families to attend our Sunday morning Worship Services to encourage our mainly elderly congregation

June Prayer LinkJuly 3rd

Lynn Scott, Administrator, BUS

Granton Baptist ChurchThe church at Granton has a lot to be encouraged about as God is growing his church in this area of North Edinburgh, and in ways we would never have expected. We have a number of African families who have come and made their home with us. They are from different countries and from differing Christian traditions; with them they bring a relaxed way of doing things, a deep spirituality, and a real sense of God’s worldwide family. We continue to work alongside the City Mission with our food bank. New ministries are settling into place, some to meet needs within the fellowship, and others to reach out to our community. Our prayer point is that we will continue to be open to what God is doing and wants to do, that we will have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Grantown-on-Spey Baptist Church

Mo Gibbs, Youth Development Coordinator, BUSWe shall pray for her as she leaves and settles in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire.Inverkeithing Baptist ChurchPraise God for the congregation’s willingness to review where we are going as a fellowship, with special focus on outreach.Pray for wisdom and guidance as to the way forward to make a breakthrough within our community events and contacts.

Inverness Baptist ChurchIrvine Baptist Church

Peter Dick, Finance Director, BUS

Hillhead Baptist ChurchHillview Community ChurchHopeman Baptist Church

July 24th

July 17th

July 31st

July 10th

Ivy Young, Ministry Administrator, BUS

Hawick Baptist ChurchPraise –We give thanks for the increase in attendance at our weekly “Drop In” (record attendance of 22 there last Thursday!) – this is run in partnership with the Church army and is for people struggling with addiction or other issuesPrayer –Please pray for wisdom as we seek to

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replace our p/t community pastor who recently left us and for financial challenges as we resolve the “dry rot” problem in the church building

Helensburgh Baptist Church

High Blantyre Baptist ChurchPraise: we praise God for such committed members and adherents, serving the Lord together with a tangible spirit of unity and a strong sense of being the family of God in High Blantyre. The Church maintains a steady evangelical witness in the town and celebrated its 120th Anniversary this year. We have extensive school contacts, two SU groups and a healthy Sunday Club.Prayer: for God’s provision for continuing to sustain a full-time ministry, for our senior SU group in the local Academy (the Christian teacher who has hosted the group for 30 years retires this summer and no other staff member has expressed any interest yet), and for our newly-elected Deaconate as they settle into their term of office.