Preaching in Scotland

Please pray for Angela and me as we go to Glasgow on Sunday, as I have the occasion to preach morning and evening at Govanhill Free Church of Scotland. I will also be preaching at St Peter's Free Church in Dundee (where Robert Murray M'Cheyne was the former minister) on 23 July. This past week, I had the wonderful opportunity to take the mid-week prayer meeting and bible study at Buccleuch (our home congregation) and the Sunday evening service at Bellevue Baptist Church also here in Edinburgh. The Lord is incredibly good in giving us the privilege of worshipping and interacting with other Christians in other congregations.

Also, please remember the church in Scotland and especially the Free Church of Scotland in your prayers. Sadly, the gospel that once thundered from so many pulpits in this great land is now heard in relatively few. The picture above is of the fiery Reformer John Knox, minister of St Giles in Edinburgh in the sixteenth century and probably the greatest Scottish preacher of all time.

We are particularly grateful to God for the ministry of the Free Church. Though a reasonably small denomination, her witness is a powerful testimony to the enduring light of the gospel. The Free Church originated in 1843 due to increasing liberalism in the mainline church (The Church of Scotland) and a desire to remain 'free' from the interference of the state in ecclesiastical affairs - hence the name Free Church of Scotland. One hundred and sixty-three years strong, the denomination continues to uphold and proclaim the centrality of the word of God in her worship and work. With a theological college in Edinburgh for training Free Church ministers (not to be mistaken with where I study at New College which is next store!), approximately 140 congregations in Scotland, 2 in London, 5 in North America, and several sister churches in India, Peru, and South Africa, the Free Church of Scotland is the largest evangelical Presbyterian denomination in the United Kingdom (and perhaps in Europe).