Mission Statement

Baillieston St Andrew’s parish church, as part of the universal Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, exists:

• To witness to a needy world, by making known the Good News of salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15),

• To edify and nurture God’s people in and through the Scriptures (II Peter 3:18),

• And to seek to be effective in uniting Christians in the oneness that we have by virtue of the new birth (John 17:21).

All modern major translations of the Bible use original sources - never adapted from previous translations as some people believe. In translating from one language to another there are minor problems of meaning (cultural differences, idioms, etc). Even today, Greek and Hebrew scholars themselves can experience these difficulties reading the original texts. And that is true of all ancient documents. But Bible translators usually work as teams, translating sections at a time to try to ensure that the essential message is faithfully transmitted to their target audience.

The Scriptures as contained in the Holy Bible (limited to the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament), are, we believe, the inerrant Word of God. As such, we believe that it is the primary, and supreme source of inspired revelation given by God to mankind. It was inspired by God the Holy Spirit to bring glory to God the Father through faith in God the Son (Jesus Christ). We believe that God continues to reveal His will through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in and through His saints on earth (that is Christians who truly believe and put their faith in their Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ) BUT such revelation MUST agree, and be compatible with, the Word as contained in the Holy Bible. Logically, this must be so, because the Bible was written under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit and it is He who continues to reveal God's will and the Holy Spirit cannot lie nor disagree with Himself. So we accept tradition only when it accords with God's revealed Will in Holy Scripture. We agree with Martin Luther's pronouncement 'Sola Scriptura'.

We believe that the Holy Bible is uncorrupted and based on thousands of ancient passages and manuscripts dating from before AD300. There are in effect many sources of almost all of these passages and manuscripts all of which agree in essence, so that when compared with one another they are found to confirm the Word of God to a remarkable extent. The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in a cave near Qumran in 1947 (and in numerous other locations) were written in the 3 centuries before the birth of Christ and hidden in the caves in AD 67, when the Romans destroyed the Jewish Temple (as prophesied by Jesus 30 years earlier). As the New Testament was written round about AD 60 to AD 90, the Dead Sea Scrolls do not contain New Testament passages as such. But the scrolls do contain large parts of the Old Testament (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Job are well represented in the scrolls) and these substantially agree with the Old Testament books that we have today in the Holy Bible. This is proof positive that not only were the Jewish scribes diligent in their work of copying the Scriptures, but that God graciously and miraculously preserved His Word for 300 years after the death of Jesus when it was a matter of death if you were found with a fragment of Holy Scripture in your possession - just as it is today in many countries where Christians are persecuted for their faith and where the Holy Bible is banned. Why should the Holy Bible be feared and why should Christian's be put to death for possessing a Bible? Paul, explains why ...

• Pauls first letter to the Corinthian church states: "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate' (Isaiah 19:24). ... but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jew and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength." (ICorinthians 1:18-25)

The following quotations, from the lips of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, are taken from the New International Version (NIV English translation of the Holy Bible):

• Towards the end of the sermon on the mount Jesus warned "Watch out for false prophets. They will come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruits you will recognise them." (Matthew 7:15-16)

• Speaking of Himself, Jesus said "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many". (Mark 10:45). Some try to imply that 'ransom' is not the same as 'sacrifice'. Ransom implies the need to 'pay a price' to 'buy' someones freedom. The 'price' Jesus paid was to sacrifice Himself on the cross (even unto death), 'paying' for our sins so that we, who put our faith in Him, could go 'free'. Only the sinless Son of God could do this - there was no other good enough to pay the price of sin. This is in essence the Gospel or 'Good News'. The sinless Son of God died on the cross in your place, paying the price that a righeous God demands for your sins so that you can enter His glory - thanks be to God.

• Jesus, in the synagogue at Nazareth, read from Isaiah 61:1-2 starting "The Spirit of the Lord is on me ..." and concluded "to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." He then stated "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing". (Luke 4:16-21)

• Just before Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, he declared to Martha (Lazarus' sister) "I am the resurrection and the life, He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26).

• After Jesus' resurrection, speaking to 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus, Jesus explained "Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:26-27).

Paul, who was converted to Christianity on the road to Damascus when the ascended Jesus miraculously met with him, wrote a letter to the saints (that is the Christians) in Rome.

• Paul, Having considered many persecutions (including death) that Christians will encounter because of their faith, wrote "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:37-39).

The following quotations, are taken from the Old Testament and prophesy regarding Jesus Christ:

• Approximately 1000 years before the birth of Jesus and long before the Romans invaded Israel and introduced crucifixion as a means of punishment, David wrote "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me" (Psalm 22:1). And later "Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet...They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing" (Psalm 22:16-18)

• About 700 years before the birth of Jesus, Isaiah wrote "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:2-6)

• These are only two of the many Old Testament verses that are clear references to the coming Messiah, who we now know to be Jesus Christ - God incarnate. Indeed the Old Testament has many types and patterns that point to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ, just as the New Testament frequently points backwards to this same event. The Old Testament sacrificial system was introduced by God so that the Jews would understand that there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood (of a sacrificial spotless and perfect animal). This sacrificial system culminated in the once off sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross at Calvary when His blood - that of a sinless perfect human sacrifice - was shed for the remission of the sins of all those who believe in Him.