This week is an exciting time for us, as we will celebrate the first marriage held in the Gospel Hall. We are looking forward to meeting friends and family, some of whom are travelling from Canada and USA, as well as neighbours from Bishopton.

The Bible presents marriage between a man and a woman as the building block of society. It was said at the marriage of the first man and woman, ‘for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

The Bible contradicts the legislative views of Parliaments around the world that same sex marriages are legitimate, or that divorce is recognised by God. To believe the Bible in 2018, is to place ourselves at odds with much of what is accepted in society.

During His life on earth, Jesus the Son of God attended a wedding in a village called Cana. There was a man and a woman starting out their life together but they made the very important decision to invite Jesus to their wedding. So many young couples start their married life full of hope but get taken up with things – the house, the cars, the holidays etc. And then, as the years go by, they find that something is missing from their lives. The Christian gospel emphatically tell us that what is missing is Christ!

“For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in Him…” Colossians 2:9,10.

The young couple who are getting married this week believe this and it would be our great desire that others in Bishopton and Dargavel would come to find the fulness that is in Christ.

On this Easter Monday, its is predicted that snow will fall and there will be travel chaos on the roads. For many people, the main thought will be about getting home from holiday in time to get to work tomorrow. ‘This life’ is often taken up with the routine of work, family, holiday.

The Apostle Paul in one of the best known passages of the Bible said:

‘If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable’ 1 Corinthians 15: 19

He added to the definition of ‘this life’ the thought of ‘hope in Christ’. Let us not be distracted by the marketing men! Christ is central to Easter. The Easter bunny, Easter eggs, Easter sales are no more relevant than Christmas trees, Santa Claus and chestnuts roasting on an open fire are to Christmas. Christmas is about the ‘hope in Christ’ that comes through His birth: Easter is about the ‘hope in Christ’ that comes through His death and resurrection. Do you have in this life hope in Christ?

But the hope in Christ must extend beyond this life. What would be the point in believing in Christ if that faith ended at the grave? Many other teachers and philosophers that men follow can support them in this life but the crunch comes on the day of our death. We need a faith that is good for time and eternity! Thankfully the Apostle continued:

‘But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept’.

If we believe that Christ is risen then we not only have hope for the future but ‘this life’ takes on a different meaning. Why not spend time on this cold Easter Monday to read what the Bible says about the resurrection of Christ? It would truly be a happy Easter if you found hope in Christ.

Happy New Year to everyone in Bishopton.

If the busy roads and  trains are any indication, most people are back at work and getting back into their daily routine. 2018 will bring challenges and opportunites for us all. I knew a man who often spoke about, ‘the same old sixpence’. This was his quaint way of describing the fact that people don’t change much from one year to another. In fact, you may have found that no matter how hard you tried to change in 2017, you are beginning  a new year as just the same person you were this time last year. Resolutions don’t work! The gospel message does!

One night a man came to speak to Jesus. He heard something that came as a complete shock to him, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” John 3: 3.

Nicodemeus would be described by us as a good man, a church man, a decent man. In fact, he was just like many of the people who live in Bishopton. Yet he learned that night that if he continued to be same person that he was, he would never see the kingdom of God!

People are offended when the gospel preacher tells them that they are sinners. Immediately they respond by speaking about their church attendence, their charitable works, their neighbourliness, their dedication to their family and many other things. It is crucial that we understand that God is telling us in His Word that we were born with  a sinful nature  which we can trace all the way back to the first man Adam.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” Romans 5:12

Nicodemus learned that God’s remedy was for the old Nicodemus to be removed and a new man to take his place. That’s what being born again involves. It is not that the old man becomes more refined, polite or educated. He is removed by God and a new man is created by the Spirit

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but cans’t not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit”. John 3 7:8

I recently had to speak at the funeral of my friend’s sister. She died in tragic circumstances leaving behind a husband and two children. On such a day we would have no words to say that would provide any comfort but, thankfully, as Christians, we were able to turn to the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

On the day that He visited the grave of His friend Lazarus and wept, He said:

“I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.” John 12: 25

The question, ‘if a man die shall he live again’ is one of the oldest in the Bible. It was asked by the man called Job who found himself in tragic circumstances. As he thought of all that had befallen him in this world, his thoughts turned to the possibility of there being another world – a world after death.

Job’s question is one that every man, woman, boy and girl in Bishopton should ask themselves. There is no need for doubt or lack of clarity. The Son of God came into the world to tell us about the hope that lies beyond the grave for all who believe in Him. There are those who have died believing in Him – the promise to them is they shall live! There are those who live and believe in Him – the promise to them is they shall never die!

The apostle Paul later on said: ‘…the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet them in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord’. 1 Thessalonians 4: 16:17

Dear reader, do you have this hope?

Many people in Bishopton will visit a church over the Christmas period and hear the message of Christmas: “For unto you is born in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” Luke 2:11. Perhaps these familiar words are mixed up with thoughts of celebrating with family and friends, Santa Claus, turkey and reindeer. It is good to strip away all the modern ideas that have attached themselves to Christmas and go back to the beginning and hear the very first Christmas message that was preached in our world!

The good news of the birth of Christ is set against the background of the bad news that the first man and woman, Adam And Eve, rebelled against God, broke His commandments and decided to take control of their own lives. They brought into their lives the principles of sin and death. If you don’t believe the Bible’s account of mankind’s beginnings in the book of Genesis, there is an easy way to prove it is wrong – just stop sinning and don’t die!

The statement in Romans 5:12 has never been successfully challenged: “..by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” This is the bad news that we all need to face – we are sinners who will die and face the judgement of God.

The good news that was declared to Adam and Eve at the beginning of time came from God Himself! God preached the first Christmas message to a sinful man and woman; “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise His heel” Genesis 3:15. God told them of a man who would come into the world who would be born of a woman but would have no earthly father. He would come to undo what the devil had done and what man had introduced into the world. This Man is the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ was born  for a purpose and that purpose was to crush Satan’s head! On the cross, Christ destroyed sin, death and Satan! The picture is of a champion taking his heel and grinding the head of the serpent to destroy it. The heel of the champion would be temporarily wounded, but the serpent would be destroyed. This is exactly what Christ did upon Calvary. His heel was wounded, he suffered temporarily upon the cross. But His suffering upon the cross was the means by which the head of Satan was crushed and his works destroyed forever. That’s the Christmas message!

“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself took part of the same that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Hebrews 2:14

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended and we are not saved.” Jeremiah 8:20.

I have been driving through different parts of Scotland recently and enjoying the autumn light shining on the leaves. The farmers fields are full of bales that have been harvested and prepared  for the winter months ahead. In a few days time the clocks will go back and British Summer Time will have ended for 2016.

The verse in Jeremiah is a lament made long ago by Jewish people who were captives in Babylon. They saw the seasons change and opportunities pass for them to be freed and returned to their land.

I hope that you and your family have enjoyed the summer of 2016 but as it finally comes to and end, could I ask you a very pointed and important question – are you saved? Perhaps during this summer, you have passed by a street preacher , or you have read a gospel leaflet, or visited a Christian friend and the challenge of the gospel message came to you. Yet you are still in bondage to sin and there seems to be no way out for you.Could it be that somewhere in Bishopton there is a man or woman, a boy or a girl, who can say, ‘…the summer is ended and we are not saved’?

There is no need to continue like this! You can be saved! The Bible declares that ‘Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners..’1 Timothy 1:15 The Lord Jesus said, ‘the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost’ Luke 19:10

The 2016 Olympic Games are drawing to a close and continue a heritage of games that stretches back to ancient Greece.

Athletes throughout Greece would converge on the Isthmian Games every two years during the spring. The athletes would compete in footraces, wrestling, boxing, throwing the discus and javelin, the long jump, chariot racing, poetry reading and singing.  Since there were no permanent accommodations at the site, the people stayed in tents in the surrounding fields.

The Apostle Paul in several passages of the New Testament uses the games as illustrations of his life. Towards the end of his life he said: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth , there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me at that day, and not to me only but unto to all them also that love His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7,8

If we were to view our life like a race in the Olympic Games, how well do we think we will do at the end? Do we expect to receive a reward from God at the end of life, as Paul did? Could it be that as we think of all we have said and done over our ‘course’ that all we can reasonably expect from God is judgement? The Lord Jesus told of a man who  died and, ‘in hell, he lifted up his eyes being in torments’ Luke 16:23

Thankfully, all who come to see that they are failed sinners in the sight of God, that they will never win His favour, can turn to the hope of the gospel message: “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:17

In last 10 days we have heard more from politicians than we usually hear in a year. The Chilcot Report, the EU referendum and the resulting leadership changes in different political parties has revealed a sad feature of political life – it is difficult to know who to believe.

It was an accomplished politician who asked the question, ‘what is truth’? John 18:38

Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea at the time of Christ found it difficult to decide what was true or not. One thing he was quite clear about at the trial of Christ was: ‘I find no fault in Him at all’ John 18:38. Three times he declared Christ to be innocent yet sentenced Him to death to please the crowd. That sums up man’s politics! Truth is often sacrificed for political popularity and gain. Sadly Pilate, did not understand that day that he had standing before him the personification of truth in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

In these days of unrest and uncertainty, how good it is to hear the clear, unapologetic statement of the Lord Jesus:

‘Thy word is truth’ John 17:17

When we feel we cannot trust the word of men, is it not time to give God’s word a place in our lives? Why not start to read the Bible today?

‘I have chosen the way of truth:thy judgements have I laid before me’. Psalm 119:30

Over the May holiday weekend we have seen every kind of weather, commencing with snow on Ben Lomond, sunshine, hail, mist, wind and rain. The weather can sometimes make or break our holiday plans but the Psalmist encourages us to take a wider a view and recognise the weather cycles as an evidence of the kindness of God to us:

The Bible makes it clear that belief in a Creator God is a fundamental requirement for all who will know His salvation. It is not just a general belief that millions of years ago a ‘higher power’ may have ‘kick started’ the earth and then it has evolved into what we see all around us today. True faith understands that ‘the worlds were framed by the word of God’ Hebrews 11:3

The May holiday weekend weather in Bishopton has been a demonstration of the power and word of God! He is waiting for us to praise and trust Him.

Today is the anniversary of the death of Henry Bell who died in 1830. He pioneered the development of Europe’s first successful passenger steamboat service, a paddle steamer named PS Comet, which ran between Greenock and Glasgow on the River Clyde. The ship was built by  shipbuilder, John Wood at Port Glasgow, and in August 1812 the vessel made the first journey as a commercial steamboat between Broomielaw and Greenock, with a regular service continuing for some time between Helensburgh, Greenock and Glasgow. By 1816 more sophisticated vessels started competing with Bell’s Comet. Bell upgraded the Comet with the increase in engine power offering passengers a four day journey from Glasgow to Fort William along the Crinan Canal.

After his death a monument was built to him on the banks of the Clyde, a little to the east of Dumbarton Castle and opposite Bishopton. At the base of the monument is inscribed on the rocks the following sentences: —

God is Love.

Eternity — Where?

Flee from the wrath to come.

The modern world has moved onto more sophisticated means of transport since the Comet but the human condition remains the same – ‘For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God’ Romans 3:23. Henry Bell has left us a legacy of three statements that we all should consider and make certain we understand on 14th March 2016.