The Church of Scotland Act (1921) includes the nine Articles Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland in Matters Spiritual. These Articles describe the Church of Scotland as Universal (Article I), Reformed (Article III) and Presbyterian (Article II). It is part of the Universal Church because its origins are to be found in the Old and New Testaments. The Church is Reformed because the authority of the bishop of Rome (pope) in Scotland was repudiated in 1560 by the Scottish Parliament. The leading figure in the Scottish Reformation was John Knox who, with others, drew up the Scots Confession and the First Book of Discipline, dealing with doctrine and church government. The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian. Under the leadership of Andrew Melville, the Church produced the Second Book of Discipline in 1581, and from this emerged the Presbyterian system as taught in the Old and New Testaments. The Presbyterian system of Church government was ratified by the Scots Parliament in 1592.

In the volume The Constitution and Laws of the Church of Scotland we find a further description of the Church of Scotland. The editor, James L. Weatherhead, Principal Clerk of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 1985-96, uses the phrase "broad church", page 26. This description, which is not found in the Articles Declaratory, is often used by liberals who want to water down the teachings of the Bible, but still claim they are part of the Church of Scotland. Those who wish to fudge the Biblical distinctions say there is "more that unites us than divides us." This is simply not true. There is far more that divides us than unites us, and the areas that divide us are vital matters of Scriptural teaching:-

• Concerning the Bible: the Bible is the Word of God, it doesn't merely contain God's Word so that some bits of the Bible are God's Word and other bits aren't. II Timothy 3:16
• Concerning Jesus: the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to fellowship with God through His atoning death on the cross for our sins. He isn't simply one of the many ways to God. John 14:6.
• Concerning mission: the mission of the Church, indeed of every congregation, is to address people's deep spiritual need to know forgiveness of sins. Not simply to address their material needs. Mark 2:5.

Unless we share a common message and love for God and His Word, how can we work with others who deny the great truths of the Christian gospel? Such a position would only dilute the true Gospel which Jesus has charged us to keep. Does this mean we are to exist in 'splendid isolation'? Certainly not! We are to work alongside all who share with us a love for the truth of the Gospel, who thereby show that they enjoy a fellowship with the Father and the Son II John 9. Just as it would be sinful to participate with those who deny the Gospel, it is equally sinful to refuse to co-operate with those who hold to the truth of the Gospel.

There are some folk in church history that I admire, whose books I enjoy reading, and occasionally quote them in the pulpit. I thought it might be interesting to introduce you to some of them through the pages of the STAY magazine. David Martyn Lloyd-Jones is one of my heroes.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (20 December 1899 – 1 March 1981) was a Welsh Protestant minister, preacher and medical doctor who was influential in the Reformed wing of the British evangelical movement in the 20th century. For almost 30 years, he was the minister of Westminster Chapel in London. Lloyd-Jones was strongly opposed to the liberal theology that had become a part of many Christian denominations, regarding it as aberrant. He disagreed with the broad church approach and encouraged evangelical Christians (particularly Anglicans) to leave their existing denominations, taking the view that true Christian fellowship was only possible amongst those who shared common convictions regarding the nature of the faith.

Lloyd-Jones was born in Cardiff and raised in Llangeitho, Ceredigion. Llangeitho is associated with the Welsh Methodist revival, as it was the location of Daniel Rowland's ministry. Attending a London grammar school between 1914 and 1917 and then St Bartholomew's Hospital as a medical student, in 1921 he started work as assistant to the Royal Physician, Sir Thomas Horder. After struggling for two years over what he sensed was a calling to preach, in 1927 Lloyd-Jones returned to Wales, having married Bethan Phillips (with whom he later had two children, Elizabeth and Ann), accepting an invitation to minister at a church in Aberavon (Port Talbot).

After a decade ministering in Aberavon, in 1939 he went back to London, where he had been appointed as associate pastor of Westminster Chapel, London, working alongside G. Campbell Morgan. The day before he was officially to be accepted into his new position, World War II broke out in Europe. During the same year, he became the president of the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Students (known today as the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UK)). During the war he and his family moved to Haslemere, Surrey. In 1943 Morgan retired, leaving Jones as the sole Pastor of Westminster Chapel.

Lloyd-Jones was well-known for his style of expository preaching, and the Sunday morning and evening meetings at which he officiated drew crowds of several thousand, as did the Friday evening Bible studies – which were, in effect, sermons in the same style. He would take many months – even years – to expound a chapter of the Bible verse by verse. His sermons would often be around fifty minutes to an hour in length, attracting many students from universities and colleges in London. His sermons were also transcribed and printed (virtually verbatim) in the weekly Westminster Record, which was read avidly by those who enjoyed his preaching.

Lloyd-Jones provoked a major dispute in 1966 when, at the National Assembly of Evangelicals organised by the Evangelical Alliance, he called on all clergy of evangelical conviction to leave denominations which contained both liberal and evangelical congregations. This was interpreted as referring primarily to evangelicals within the Church of England, although there is disagreement over whether this was his intention. As a significant figure to many in the free churches, Lloyd-Jones had hoped to encourage those Christians who held evangelical beliefs to withdraw from any churches where alternative views were present.

Lloyd-Jones retired from his ministry at Westminster Chapel in 1968, following a major operation. He spoke of a belief that God had stopped him from continuing to preach through the New Testament book of the Letter to the Romans in his Friday evening Bible study exposition because he did not personally know enough about "joy in the Holy Spirit" which was to be his next sermon (based on Romans 14:17). For the rest of his life he concentrated on editing his sermons to be published, counselling other ministers, answering letters and attending conferences. Perhaps his most famous publication is a 14 volume series of commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans, the first volume of which was published in 1970.

Despite spending most of his life living and ministering in England, Lloyd-Jones was proud of his roots in Wales. He best expressed his concern for his home country through his support of the Evangelical Movement of Wales: he was a regular speaker at their conferences,[4] preaching in both English and Welsh. Since his death, the movement has published various books, in English and Welsh, bringing together selections of his sermons and articles.

Lloyd-Jones preached for the last time on 8 June 1980 at Barcombe Baptist Chapel. After a lifetime of work, he died peacefully in his sleep at Ealing on 1 March 1981, St David's Day. He was buried at Newcastle Emlyn, near Cardigan, west Wales. A well-attended thanksgiving service was held at Westminster Chapel on 6 April. Since his death there have been various publications regarding Lloyd-Jones and his work, most popularly a biography in two volumes by Iain Murray.

Perhaps the greatest aspect of Lloyd-Jones' legacy has to do with his preaching. Lloyd-Jones was one of the most influential preachers of the twentieth century. Many volumes of his sermons have been published by Banner of Truth, as well as other publishing companies. In his book, Preaching and Preachers (Zondervan, 1971), Lloyd-Jones describes his views on preaching, or what might be called his doctrine of homiletics. In this book, he defines preaching as "Logic on fire." The meaning of this definition is demonstrated throughout the book, in which he describes his own preaching style which had developed over his many years of ministry.

His preaching style may be summarized as 'logic on fire' for several reasons. First, he believed that the use of logic was vital for the preacher. But his view of logic was not the same as that of the Enlightenment. This is why he called it logic "on fire." The fire has to do with the activity and power of the Holy Spirit. He therefore believed that preaching was the logical demonstration of the truth of a given passage of Scripture with the aid, or unction, of the Holy Spirit. This view manifested itself in the form of Lloyd-Jones' sermons. Lloyd-Jones believed that true preaching was always expository. This means he believed that the primary purpose of the sermon was to reveal and expand the primary teaching of the passage under consideration. Once the primary teaching was revealed, he would then logically expand this theme, demonstrating that it was a biblical doctrine by showing that it was taught in other passages in the Bible, and using logic in order to demonstrate its practical use and necessity for the hearer. With this being the case, he laboured in his book Preaching and Preachers to caution young preachers against what he deemed as "commentary-style" preaching as well as "topical" preaching.

Lloyd-Jones' preaching style was therefore set apart by his sound exposition of biblical doctrine and his fire and passion in its delivery. He is thereby known as a preacher who continued on in the Puritan tradition of experimental preaching. A famous quote on the effects of Lloyd-Jones preaching is given by theologian and preacher J.I. Packer, who wrote that he had "never heard such preaching." It came to him "with the force of electric shock, bringing to at least one of his listeners more of a sense of God than any other man".

• Do we realise, I wonder, what a privilege it is that we have the Scriptures, New Testament as well as the Old? Do we realise the advantage of having an open Bible? Do we realise the advantage and the privilege of having these living oracles of God?
• If you want realism, come to the Bible. Here is the only book in the world that tells me the truth about myself.
• There are no contradictions in the Scriptures.
• The Christian is a man who can be certain about the ultimate even when he is most uncertain about the immediate.
• The life of faith is never a life of ease; faith is always practical.
• We should be more concerned about the state of the Church than about the state of the world outside the Church. It seems increasingly evident that the explanation of the present state of the Church is to be found inside the Church and not outside.
• I believe that the state of the Church is to be explained by one thing only, and that is that the message of the Gospel is not being preached.
• Criticism in its true sense is never merely destructive; it is constructive; it is appreciation.
• Is it conceivable that God would have sent His only begotten beloved Son to the shame and suffering and the ignominy of the Cross if it were not absolutely essential? If teaching could have saved us, the necessary teaching would have been given.
• Emotion is a vital part of the Christian faith; but emotionalism is not.
• Once someone has the love of Christ in their hearts you need not train them to witness; they will do it.
• There is no better index of where we stand spiritually than the amount of praise and of thanksgiving that characterises our lives and our prayers.

Far from desiring people to thank us for our so-called beautiful prayers, we should rather be troubled when they do so. Public prayer should be such that the people who are praying silently and the one who is uttering the words should no longer be conscious of each other, but should be carried on the wings of prayer into the very presence of God. What I try to do when I enter a pulpit is to forget the congregation in a certain sense. I am not praying to them or addressing them. I am speaking to God, so I have to shut out and forget the people. Yes; and having done that, I shut out and forget myself.

God made us and redeemed us for fellowship with Himself, and prayer is an important part of that relationship. God speaks to us in and through the contents of the Bible, which the Holy Spirit opens to us and applies to us and enables us to understand. We then speak to God about Himself, ourselves, and people in His world, shaping what we say as response to what He has said. This unique form of two-way conversation continues as long as life lasts.

The Bible teaches us how to pray both privately (Mtt 6:5-8) and in company with each other (Acts 1:4, 4:24). In prayer, God’s people express adoration and praise; confess their sins and ask for forgiveness; give thanks for God’s goodness; and make petitions for themselves and others. The Disciples’ Prayer (Mtt 6:9-13, Lk 11:2-4) includes adoration, petition, and confession; the Psalter provides models of these three and of petition and intercession as well.

In petition the persons praying make their requests known to God, expressing their faith and dependence on Him for all things. Petition is the dimension of prayer most often highlighted through the Bible. As with the other aspects of prayer, petitions should ordinarily be directed to the Father, as the Disciples’ Prayer shows; but prayer may be directed to Christ, as in the days of His incarnation (Rom 10:8-13, II Cor 12:7-9), and to the Holy Spirit (Rev 1:4).

Jesus teaches that prayer to the Father is to be made in His name (Jn 14:13 & 14, 15:16, 16:23 & 24). This means invoking His mediation, as the One who secures our access to the Father, and looking to Him for support as our intercessor in the Father’s presence.

We may pray to the Father with fervent persistence when we bring our needs to Him (Lk 11:5-13, 18:1-8), and know that He will answer our prayers. But God knows what is best in a way that we do not, and He may deny our specific requests. If He denies us, it is because he has something better for us, as when Christ refused to heal Paul’s thorn in the flesh (II Cor 12:7-9). To say, “Your will be done,” surrendering our own preference to the Father’s wisdom, as Jesus did in Gethsemane (Mtt 26:39-44) is an explicit way of expressing faith in the goodness of what God has planned.

In intercession, we represent to God the needs and concerns of others. In doing this we exercise God-given love for them. Moses is a model for such a prayer in the Old Testament. In the New Testament it is at the centre of what Jesus came to do, as John 17 reveals. The same prayer shows that the glory of God gives the ultimate purpose of intercession. In the same way, the Disciples’ Prayer puts God’s glory first, making God’s Name the guide for our petitions and confessions as well.

"Christ" she said from habit, meaning nothing except vexation. Nothing? But if that Name means everything to me, what should I say?
Nothing? And so disown my Lord as Peter did. Or tell her who He is and what He has done for me? Will it sound too pious? Will it offend? For she's my friend.

All the same there is a voice that says, "Your heavenly Friend and Saviour too, has at this moment none that can defend His Name but you."

We sing -

• "Sweet Hour of Prayer" and are content with 5 to 10 minutes or less.
• "Onward Christian Soldiers" and wait to be drafted into His service, and then, we want to pick our own battlefield.
• "O For a Thousands Tongues to Sing" and don't use the one we have, unless it it to criticise or gossip.
• "Blest Be the Ties That Bind" and allow the least little offence to sever it, and forget Who binds us together.
• "I Love to Tell the Story" and never mention it at all.
• "Take My Life and Let it Be" when we just want God to "let us be".
• "The Whole World for Jesus" but never mention Him to our next door neighbour.
• "Have Thine Own Way Lord" and throw a tantrum if we don't get ours.

Following the success of past social nights, we decided to nominate a charity which we will raise money though out the year for. On the first Sunday in September, we all nominated a charity, which we then had a vote for. Yorkhill Children’s Hospital was the most popular choice. We felt this charity was a great choice as most children have been helped by the wonderful staff who work there.

We have many ideas for fundraising and would welcome any suggestions from the congregation. We will be starting fundraising events soon with a soup lunch. We look forward to you supporting us with this and hope we have a lot of fun.

Any ideas for fundraising, please speak to a member of the Bible Class.

Thursday 6th October Business Meeting
First night of our new session consisted of welcoming all members, and we were delighted to welcome Agnes McGregor our first new Guild Member this session.

13th October. Silverdeal
This evening turned out to be an enjoyable and somewhat unexpected experience for us all as we endeavoured to complete a series of Keep fit exercises. Plenty of laughter was heard above the few groans.

20th October Scottish Bible Society
We were visited by Mr & Mrs McNeish, who were Bible Society volunteers and gave an excellent talk on their experiences in Romania and elsewhere.
They also informed us that some Members have travelled as far afield as Brazil distributing Bibles to the natives in the Amazon jungle and many other places around the world.

The Company Section programme of badgework is continuing Thursday by Thursday and as part of this we commenced this year’s Christian Faith syllabus at the beginning of this month. This session we will be studying a series of lessons from the Old Testament entitled ‘Preparing The Way – God’s Men’. We have also been looking at Money, Debt & Credit with the Boys over the last few weeks as part of the Community section of the Award scheme.

November sees all sections of the Company participate in the annual Remembrance Sunday Parade on 13th November. All parents, friends and relatives will be most welcome at the Church’s Remembrance Sunday service.

BB Week will be held this year from Sunday, 20th November to Sunday, 27th November. All donations will be gratefully received during this week. As usual we will be holding a Hot Dog Brunch as part of our fund-raising at this time. The Brunch will be held on Sunday, 27th November after the Morning Service in the New Hall. A warm invitation is extended to all members of the congregation.

Finally, L/Cpl. Drew Howie formally commenced his Queen’s Badge course on 13th October when the Eastern District Queen’s Badge advisor, Gary Munro visited the Company to hold a Candidate’s Conference with Drew. This meeting outlined all the requirements which he will need to undertake over the next two sessions, leading to the award of the Queen’s Badger in 2013. We wish Drew well in all of his endeavours.

The 2011/12 session is now well underway with a good number of girls attending. 17 Explorers, 18 Juniors and 17 Brigaders.

Our Explorers have been learning about travelling to different countries and creating their own picture passport, they will learn about some of the journeys we read of in the bible.

Juniors and Brigaders enjoyed a visit from a member of the armed forces who was able to answer their questions about life for our soldiers in Afghanistan. The Brigaders held a swimathon in aid of Help for Heroes; as a team swam 726 lengths. We do not have a total as the money is still coming in and our Junior section have still to hold their event. Thank you to all who have already contributed.

Girls’ Brigade Glasgow is hosting a big party for Explorers and Juniors in the Kelvin hall and a number of our girls will be going along. Brigaders will be given the opportunity to join in an event for older girls later in the session.

Two of our Brigaders have attended a Brigade Knowledge workshop and two have attended leadership 1 training.

Planning is ongoing for all the usual events like fancy dress night, Christmas treats and we plan to take a number of girls for an activity weekend next March.

Our first meeting for the new session took place on 23rd September 2011. It was well attended by old and new members of the group and it was great to catch up on their news of what they did over the summer period.

Our next few meetings for 2011 will take place on the following dates:

Our annual sponsored walk will take place on 5th November 2011. This occasion is well attended by the group and well supported by our friends and members of St Andrews Church Baillieston, for which we give thanks.

The Prospect Shop at 37 Tollcross Road, Parkhead, was closed for renovation during July and August. This has now been re-opened and we would like to invite anyone wishing to give us a visit where you will receive a very warm welcome. The new opening hours are:-

• Monday 10.00am – 3.30pm,
• Tuesday 10.00am – 4.00pm,
• Wednesday 10.00am – 3.30pm
• Saturday 1.00pm – 3.30pm

The Prospect Café recommenced in September and takes place in the New Hall every 4th Saturday of the month between 10am – 1pm. All are welcome.

On behalf of all who helped at the Coffee Morning on Friday 30th September I would like to thank those who came along on the day for helping us to raise the sum of £1038. Thanks also to all who although unable to join with us for their many donations towards this final total.