Well, it is now March and on Sunday the 27th of this month British Summer Time begins so it must surely be Spring by now. The year 2011 is now in its third month. The snow of the winter, with all the chaos it brought, is now melted and fading from our memories. We were reminded that God controls the weather and the seasons, as the Psalmist says:

Hoar-frost, like ashes, scatt’reth He;
like wool He snow doth give:
like morsels casteth forth His ice;
who in its cold can live?

He sendeth forth His mighty word,
and melteth them again;
His wind He makes to blow, and then
the waters flow again.

The New Year Resolutions we made in January have maybe also disappeared like sna aff a dyke, and disappeared from our memories. Full of great intentions we promised ourselves we would seek to improve ourselves, and we usually fail. Outside the Presbyterian church on Orchard Road in Singapore I saw this notice last month, New Year resolutions don’t last. Better to have an eternal solution.

If there is a solution then it is logical to presume there is a problem. The problem is our sin which condemns us and deserves God’s punishment. We sometimes try to solve that problem ourselves, and we fail. The eternal solution is, of course, the atoning death of Jesus on the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ has dealt with our sins. His solution to our problem is perfect and eternal. Make a new resolution this month, to accept the eternal solution of Jesus.

Why does Jesus demand that we believe in Him?

The desperate situation we are in.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. . . . . He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. John 3:16-18, 36.

The desperate situation we are in, Jesus says, is that we are under the wrath of God. This is owing to our sin. God is just, and His anger is rightly kindled against human attitudes and behaviours that belittle His worth, and treat Him as insignificant. All of us have done this. In fact, we do it every day.

God sent Jesus to die in our place.

Jesus saw Himself as the fulfilment of the astonishing prophecy of Isaiah 53. Isaiah prophesied 700 years before Jesus came that a Servant of the Lord would come to die for His people.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Isaiah 53:4-6.

The reason Jesus demands that we believe on Him is that there is nothing we can add to this rescue from the wrath of God. Jesus became our substitute. The sins that should have brought condemnation on us, god laid on Jesus. God’s love planned an amazing exchange: Jesus endured what we deserve so that we might enjoy what He deserved – eternal life. And the way we come to enjoy this life is by believing in Jesus. That’s what He said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life” John 6:47.

What does believing in Jesus mean?

But believing in Jesus means more than knowing true things about Jesus. It means trusting Him as a living person for who He really is. This is why Jesus spoke of simply believing in Him. “Believe in God; believe also in me” John 14:1. Believing in Jesus is more important than believing about Jesus. We trust Him.

Being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus

Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” John 7:37. “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” John 4:14. in another place, Jesus connected this drinking with believing in Him and coming to Him: “I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” John 6:35. In other words, believing in Jesus and drinking the water that wells up to eternal life are the same.

Believing in Jesus when He offers Himself to us as life-giving water does not mean merely believing that this water gives life. Water gives life when we drink it. Jesus gives life by being trusted. Trusting Jesus as water, therefore, means drinking the water. That is, it means “receiving” Jesus and all the life-giving grace of God that comes to us in Him. “Whoever receives me receives Him who sent me” Matthew 10:40. Believing in Jesus includes drinking Jesus as the soul-quenching water of life. That is, it means savouring and being satisfied with all that God is for us in Jesus.

The fireman illustration was inadequate.

Jesus came not only to rescue us from condemnation but also that we might enjoy everlasting life, which means that we might experience all that God is for us in Him. “This is eternal life,” He said, “that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” John 17:3. he knows what we need far better than we do. We need rescue from the wrath of God, and we need a soul-satisfying relationship with god. This is what Jesus came to give. It comes to us in one way only – by believing in Him. Therefore, He gives His demand to the world: “Believe in Me.”

Dear Friends,
We are writing to update you on the situation The Well finds itself in. The Well is changing, and it needs your help.

The Well Asian Information and Advice Centre has been open since 1994 as a ministry of local Christians to the South Asian communities in Glasgow, providing information, advice and support to thousands of people each year. Over the past 16 years it has modeled respectful community relations between people of different faiths, while providing an opportunity for Christians to show the love of Christ to their Asian neighbours.

The Well was started by The Church of Scotland in recognition of the need for cross cultural mission to immigrant communities, particularly in the South Side of Glasgow. (Govanhill is the most diverse area in the whole of Scotland, with around 62 people groups resident there!) Many lives have been touched, including some who have come to faith in Jesus Christ. The Well is highly respected by other agencies working in this area because it provides free personal service to those in need.

Sadly, as a result of budget cuts, the Church of Scotland is no longer able to take responsibility to fund The Well’s work, and early in the New Year it will become an independent charity. To reflect the changing nature of the diverse communities of Glasgow The Well will change its name to ‘The Well, Multi-Cultural Advice Centre. The past few years have been challenging, but we believe that God wants this work to continue and so we so we are writing to invite you to consider partnering with us to secure a sustainable future for The Well . The Well gives churches the exciting opportunity of being a part of cross-cultural mission right in our own city!

What difference does The Well make? Just listen to the words of one woman who found help at The Well:

“I am writing to thank The Well for their immense support when I was facing a difficult period in my life. It was comforting to know that I could drop by and talk to a staff member in confidence. I was feeling completely disillusioned about my life, but being at The Well made me confront my feelings in a constructive way, which allowed me to regain my confidence back again”

And to one of our 25 volunteers:

“The possibility of going overseas to witness for Christ is very limited these days especially if you are over 70!!!!. But now we have a whole mission field on our door step and with the Well and its services a place where the love of Jesus can be shown sometimes by a word, always by our attitude and the way we show concern for those we meet there each week making very effort to help them as best we can. I see being a volunteer at the Well as a continuing part of my life of work and witness for my Lord. Something I can still do in my old age .Like so much of our work for the Lord we put a little in, but gain much.”

As part of our campaign to “Fill the Well” we are asking churches to hold a Soup (or Samosa!) Lunch for The Well, on the 11/9/11. The 10th anniversary of 9/11 – so what better time to focus hearts and minds on the Muslim communities of Glasgow?

The Well creates a community and you can be a part of that community by praying for us, or by giving of your time to volunteer with us in the advice work, or as we still have some skills gaps on our board, maybe you have a skill that we require, or by financially supporting us. Lots of small drops together will indeed ‘Fill The Well’. You may never have the opportunity to go to Pakistan or Somalia, you will probably never visit Iran or The Congo – but The Well’s very existence provides the opportunity for people from these countries to encounter the One who can give living water, and you can have be a part of that.

As we look to 2011 and beyond we don’t want to just survive. We want The Well to go from strength to strength. We want to make a difference in people’s lives. We want more people to have the opportunity to see Christian love in action – will you join us in making this a reality?

Yours sincerely in Christ,
Rhoda

Contact Details
Address: The Well,
48-50 Albert Road,
Glasgow
G42 8DN
'The Well' Website - click The Well to go direct to its website
To e-mail 'The Well' - click to e-mail an enquiry to 'The Well'
Telephone: 0141-424 4523

The Ladies and Gent thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas Dinner on 20th January – the menu being the same as they would have had in December if the weather had been better.

This was followed by discussion about out Summer outing – Carlisle – here we come!

The following week we welcomed Caroline from C.J. Millinery who showed us how she makes hats and fascinators. Then it was our turn and those who wished could try their hand at decorating hats which Caroline had brought. What creations! Perhaps you will spot them in Church some Sunday!

There would normally be no Tea Room open on the fifth Saturday of the month, so the Guild decided to hold a Coffee Morning on 29th January to raise some funds. The hot rolls and home baking proved popular and we were delighted with the total of £380.00. Thanks to all who supported us.

On 3rd February the “One Way Gospel Singers” shared their faith and their musical talents with us. The ladies greatly enjoyed the evening and appreciated the songs and the poems – each containing a strong message.

Wilma Miller gave us a wonderful cookery demonstration on 10th February. Deserts were her main focus and how she managed to make so many in such a short tome was amazing. Some were partly prepared beforehand (in true Blue Peter fashion) and our mouths were watering as she made trifle, pavlova, Bavarian Cream, sticky toffee pudding and a healthy salad! We then had to force ourselves to sample the goodies since Wilma had thoughtfully brought paper plates and plastic spoons for that purpose!

As we enter the final part of the session, we are pleased to report that a regular attendance of fourteen Boys has been maintained Friday by Friday over the past few months. This has been encouraging to the Officers and we are hopeful this number can be retained next session; hopefully further supplemented by the transfer of some Boys from the Junior Section in September.

Our classwork is drawing to a close for this session as we begin to prepare for our Annual Display in May. Our four youngest recruits in their first year in the Company Section have been working towards their Compass Badge since the beginning of the session. This badge involves learning about fundamental BB topics such as our Object, Motto, Founder and the history of the Boys’ Brigade. Boys also learn about our Patron, President and the proper way to clean and wear BB uniform. The Boys also learn the BB Vesper which we sing at the end of every Friday evening. The Boys were tested on all these subjects in an examination held in January and all the Boys passed. Our congratulations go to Private

Matthew Bain, Brandon Leconte, Jack McLeish and Ross Smith.

In contrast, our two Seniors and oldest Boys in the Company, are now approaching the end of their programme of work for The Queen’s Badge. Corporal Andrew MacGregor and Sergeant Martin Smillie will attend a Queen’s Badge Completion Course to be held from 11th -13th March at the Auchengillan Outdoor Centre. This is the final part of the requirements for The Queen’s Badge and is the culmination of two sessions of work within and outwith the Company. The Boys will be presented with their Badges at our Display in May.

Finally, due to recent correspondence from The Glasgow Battalion, who have been updating their archives prior to them being issued online, it has been revealed to us that we are the fourth Company in the history of the Glasgow Battalion to bear the ‘111’ designation. This was an interesting insight into the history of the ‘three candlesticks’. The previous 111th Glasgow Companies were as follows:-
Free St. Enoch’s Church – enrolled 23rd June 1891.
St Enoch’s Kelvingrove Church – Session 1929-30 until Session 1933-34
Condorrat Church – Session 1936-37

Our Company was enrolled on 23rd December 1941 within Baillieston Old Parish Church. This means our current 111 Glasgow Company will be 70 year old later this year.

In the December STAY we mentioned the sponsored walk; 5 miles along the Forth and Clyde Canal to raise money for our National Campsite at Guay. The total raised by Glasgow Division was £4058: the 95th’s contribution to that total was £1350, thank you to all who supported this event.

We also mentioned our plans to return to Dalguise in Perthshire for an outdoor activity weekend, unfortunately we were unable to proceed with those plans due to lack of response from the girls, instead we plan to have a day out at Exscape Breahead.

District Explorer fun day planned for December was cancelled due to the weather but we were able to rearrange this in January and the girls all enjoyed the activities.

The company bag pack at Morrison’s on 18th December was a great success, it wad hard work but well worth the effort as we raised £1064.50. Thank you to the girls who helped and to all who contributed. These fund raising events are necessary as our costs increase; this year the amount paid to Girls’ Brigade Headquarters on Capitation Fees was £1509.00, in respect of 58 Girls, Chaplain, 9 Officers, and 2 Auxiliaries.

As part of the badge work our Juniors had a visit from the Fire Brigade. Juniors and Brigaders have coin collecting boxes for Tear Fund, we all enjoyed an evening of tasting Fair Trade produce.

We hope our Brigaders will join with others from the district for a social evening to be held in Rutherglen on Friday 25th Feb. A fun day for Juniors is still in the planning. The Glasgow Divisional Service will take place in Springfield Cambridge Church Bishopbriggs on Sunday 20th March. Plans are now underway for our Company prize giving to be held on Tuesday 3rd May.

As of January this year the word Causeway has been dropped from our name. We are now known as Prospects.

After Jacqueline Feggans’ funeral the full total donated to the Baillieston’s Prospect Group was £630.40p. Again a big thank you to all who gave a donation.

Approximately 40 team and group members attended our usual annual trip to ten pin bowling on Friday, 28th January 2011, where I can assure you the competitive side of us comes out. We had six separate teams playing and the winners of each team are as follows: Joan Pareson, George Brady, Iain Muir, Myra Scott, Jane Keery and Ian Brown. Congratulations to all the winners and well done to the remainder of the group who took part.

We finished the evening with a well deserved hot burger with chips and a soft drink.

Funerals