From the States to Stranraer

Why would a group of 20-somethings from Texas, Virginia and South Dakota take time off their jobs and spend part of their summer in Stranraer? That’s a question that some of our summer visitors from the States have been asked.

In merely practical terms, the answer is quite simple. They’ve come to serve the church and the community. Since they arrived on Saturday, they’ve been giving out leaflets advertising special meetings we’re holding this week, spent some time with residents in retirement housing, carried out some practical work at Stair Park and helped some of our church members in practical ways.

But why would they chose to do those things? They’re not getting paid – in fact, they had to pay their own way here. The real answer is that each of their lives has been transformed by Jesus Christ – and they want to see the lives of people in this community changed as well.

Their vision is broader than simply helping a particular ‘brand’ of church. Only one of them is from a Reformed Presbyterian Church back home, yet they’ve come to serve a small congregation in a denomination most of them hadn’t heard of before – because they recognise that we’re all part of something bigger. The things we have in common as Bible-believing Christians are far more significant than the issues on which we differ.

It’s easy to be cynical about naïve Americans – but some of them have been through experiences I wouldn’t wish on anyone. They’ve experienced more of the hardships of life than their sunny dispositions might suggest.

Above all they’re here because they believe that everyone needs Jesus: bad people, good people and religious people. And in fact, those are the titles of the three meetings that we’ve been holding from Tuesday through Thursday this week.

Come along and you can meet them and hear their stories yourself. But their great desire is that long after they’re back home and forgotten, the one story that our town will remember is that of the Son of God. Our American friends may have come from somewhere more glamorous to Stranraer, but he came from Heaven to earth. He lived a life of perfect obedience to God and then went to the cross to face God’s wrath for our disobedience.

We may hear a lot on the news about our visitors’ President – but they’re far more eager to talk about their King.

Published in the Stranraer and Wigtownshire Free Press, 14th June 2018.

2018 Mission: Who needs Jesus anyway?

Update: The audio from the Mission sermons is now available here.

From Tuesday 12th - Thursday 14th June, we will be holding three special meetings on the theme 'Who needs Jesus anyway?' All are welcome, and each meeting will be followed by tea and coffee.

American visitors

We recently had the opportunity to hear about the work of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America. Jason and Michelle, who were over visiting from Indianapolis with their two children, gave us a bit of a flavour of church life Stateside at our Wednesday morning Bible study.

Stephen and Jason had previously met on a mission team in Newry, and Carla and Michelle had previously met on a mission team in Airdrie. Because of their vision for the Global RP Church, they said that they had decided to spend their European holiday in Airdrie and Stranraer rather than Barcelona and London.

After sharing some traditional Scottish food, Stephen and Carla took them to Wigtown to show them some Covenanter sites.  We are grateful for another opportunity to spend time with brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world!

Banner of Truth Ministers' Conference

At the end of April, Stephen attended the Banner of Truth Ministers' conference in England. It's a great opportunity to meet fellow ministers from the UK and around the world, and be encouraged by talks on the subject of ministry.

Breakfast with brothers from Chile, Albania and Larne!

The conference gave Stephen the opportunity to meet Simon Arscott, the minister of All Nations IPC (Ilford) where one of our members, Gareth, is attending while he's working in London.

It was also a chance to catch up with fellow RP ministers from Ireland who had made the trip over. Warren Peel (Trinity RPC) was one of this year's main speakers.

Videos of the talks are available here.

All the lonely people

‘All the lonely people. Where do they all come from? All the lonely people. Where do they all belong?'

The Beatles’ lyrics seem more relevant than ever. In January, Theresa May appointed a Minister for Loneliness. Someone joked that they couldn’t work out why the government had only appointed one of them – but loneliness is no laughing matter. A 2017 study found that 9 million people in Britain often or always felt lonely. Government research found that 200,000 older people had not had a conversation with a friend or relative in a month. But it’s not just a problem for older people - 83% of 13-34 year olds in the UK say they feel lonely, as do a third of new mums. And loneliness can be lethal – research shows that being lonely and isolated increases the risk of early death by a third.

The Bible recognises the dangers of loneliness. God created a world where there was no sickness, suffering or death, and declared it ‘very good’. But there was one thing which wasn’t good – ‘it is not good that the man should be alone’. One solitary human being wouldn’t reflect a three-person God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) – and wouldn’t cope well with life.

One of God’s solutions to loneliness is marriage – yet the Bible recognises that not all will marry, married people can feel lonely too, and one partner is usually left alone. God’s other solution to loneliness is one that you might not expect. It’s called the church.

For many today, church is a building. It’s something that you go to, not something you’re part of. But the idea of church as just something you go to once a week is radically different from the New Testament descriptions of the church as a family and as a body. That’s a picture which our congregation seeks (albeit imperfectly) to live out. When our daughter was born last year, people in the church brought meals to the house for weeks afterwards. Our people are regularly in each other’s homes for meals. The sick and housebound are visited in hospital and at home.

None of this is because anyone has been told to do it. It simply reflects the fact that through faith in Jesus we’re now brothers and sisters in Christ, and we want to reflect that in how we live our lives. And of course, the great Christian hope is Heaven, a place where none are strangers, because all are members of the one family.

Published in the Stranraer and Wigtownshire Free Press, 26th April 2018.