WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.840 It's been a brilliant day, hasn't it? 00:00:04.040 --> 00:00:07.660 I don't know, it reminds me of stuff I've forgotten all about. 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:13.780 Some of you I'd known very well, and yet my memory failed me. 00:00:14.820 --> 00:00:16.039 I don't know if that's the same for you. 00:00:16.500 --> 00:00:19.199 But it's been brilliant to renew old friendships, 00:00:19.699 --> 00:00:22.379 to be reminded of things that had happened. 00:00:22.900 --> 00:00:25.199 Good things, and not such good things sometimes, 00:00:25.719 --> 00:00:27.940 but that's what the church is like, isn't it? 00:00:27.940 --> 00:00:34.800 I don't know about you, but there are lots of phrases in everyday speech 00:00:34.800 --> 00:00:37.799 that I find quite irritating. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:42.079 I could give you a fairly lengthy list, 00:00:42.219 --> 00:00:44.079 but one in particular that gets me going 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:48.680 is when people talk about their plans for the future going forward. 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:52.799 Maybe you say that, so I apologise. 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:57.380 Going forward as if it were possible to go backwards or stay where you are. 00:00:57.939 --> 00:01:02.079 It seems to me that lots of these expressions are simply redundant. 00:01:03.339 --> 00:01:05.959 You hear them a lot in news broadcasts, 00:01:05.959 --> 00:01:08.259 or where people are expressing their opinions, 00:01:09.060 --> 00:01:12.299 so that they don't appear to be saying nothing. 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:17.900 They just pad out what they are saying with these unnecessary phrases, 00:01:18.379 --> 00:01:21.799 so that it sounds as though they're saying a lot of erudite stuff. 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:26.799 Simply allow them to take up our time with empty words. 00:01:27.780 --> 00:01:28.420 Does it annoy you? 00:01:28.959 --> 00:01:30.239 Maybe you say it, so it doesn't. 00:01:30.340 --> 00:01:31.479 Maybe you've never thought about it. 00:01:32.459 --> 00:01:34.780 Nonetheless, going forward says a lot to me. 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:39.120 And I'm repeating some of what's been said already. 00:01:39.239 --> 00:01:40.159 I apologise for that. 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:43.060 But as I say, we can't move backwards in time. 00:01:44.140 --> 00:01:45.519 We can't stay in the present. 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:48.019 The present has gone as soon as we've experienced it. 00:01:49.119 --> 00:01:51.859 In a real sense, it hardly existed at all. 00:01:52.099 --> 00:01:53.679 But we are all moving forward. 00:01:55.739 --> 00:01:57.359 And that brought to mind the question, 00:01:57.539 --> 00:02:01.780 what are we really doing when we celebrate an anniversary like this? 00:02:01.780 --> 00:02:07.159 It's a major milestone in the history of this fellowship. 00:02:07.299 --> 00:02:11.800 And I count myself very blessed that I was part of it for a number of years, 00:02:11.900 --> 00:02:13.199 mainly through the 70s. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:16.939 I came in 1969 to work at the Scottish Prant Reading Station. 00:02:17.060 --> 00:02:17.819 It doesn't exist now. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:21.819 And then moved down to Cambridge later on in the late, 00:02:22.039 --> 00:02:23.060 well, in the 80s actually. 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:28.479 And I have many good memories of that time on my own Christian journey. 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:32.879 I remember with great fondness and thankfulness 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:36.959 some of the men and women of the church from that era. 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:40.359 They taught me, some of you are here actually. 00:02:40.979 --> 00:02:43.219 They taught me many things and helped me to work through 00:02:43.219 --> 00:02:47.859 some of the difficult challenges that are involved in Christian teaching. 00:02:49.519 --> 00:02:52.139 That's not to say that I ended up agreeing with all of them. 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:56.439 But they helped me to see where biblical teaching needed to be clarified, 00:02:57.120 --> 00:02:57.839 I think anyway. 00:02:59.179 --> 00:03:02.060 Some of them might be quite horrified to know where I've ended up, 00:03:03.139 --> 00:03:05.719 but I don't want to get into any of that just now. 00:03:07.280 --> 00:03:11.679 One of the highlights for me in those days was the Friday night Bible reading. 00:03:11.780 --> 00:03:12.639 Anybody remember that? 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:13.259 Room 3? 00:03:13.699 --> 00:03:16.339 I was looking at room 3 today and it's totally changed. 00:03:16.699 --> 00:03:18.699 If only we had those seats in there then. 00:03:19.599 --> 00:03:21.780 Maybe we could sleep through some of that stuff. 00:03:21.780 --> 00:03:25.699 But I really enjoyed those Friday night Bible readings. 00:03:25.859 --> 00:03:28.000 And so you know I'm really deranged now, don't you? 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:33.439 In those days it was an opportunity for mainly men, it has to be said, 00:03:33.699 --> 00:03:36.539 to chew over some of the difficult passages in Scripture. 00:03:37.679 --> 00:03:40.780 I remember the first time they asked me to lead one of those studies. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:43.500 We were somewhere in the book of Revelation, 00:03:44.539 --> 00:03:45.979 probably chapter 7, 00:03:46.519 --> 00:03:50.639 because I remember getting the identity of the 144,000 wrong. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:52.719 Or did I? 00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:00.199 I was too green to see those pitfalls and I duly took the challenge. 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:03.859 As a young person, I was only 22 years old, I think. 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.739 I had no real study aids of my own apart from the Bible, 00:04:07.859 --> 00:04:11.259 so I took myself off to the George IV Bridge Library 00:04:11.259 --> 00:04:14.939 and found all the wrong commentaries, as it turned out. 00:04:15.239 --> 00:04:18.980 I walked past that library today and I was intrigued to notice 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:20.199 that over the doorway it says, 00:04:20.339 --> 00:04:21.079 Let there be light. 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:23.659 I don't know if you haven't noticed that. 00:04:23.660 --> 00:04:26.180 Would that prayer have been answered on that day? 00:04:26.340 --> 00:04:27.939 Anyway, maybe it was, who knows? 00:04:29.939 --> 00:04:33.360 My thoughts were not in, or the thoughts of those commentaries, let's say, 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:36.400 were not in line with Cyrus Schofield, 00:04:37.260 --> 00:04:40.140 the only authority that really mattered, it seemed, to some. 00:04:40.139 --> 00:04:46.199 And when I had laboured through my introduction on the following Friday evening, 00:04:46.459 --> 00:04:49.519 I was graciously thanked by dear old Mr. Leaf, 00:04:49.579 --> 00:04:50.659 who was a very gracious man, 00:04:51.860 --> 00:04:58.879 who commented that I hoped I didn't mind if they didn't agree with me. 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:02.939 Talk about being dropped in at the deep end. 00:05:04.459 --> 00:05:06.180 But it was a good discipline for me, 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:08.800 those Friday evenings, 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:11.420 because it helped me sort out quite a few things 00:05:11.420 --> 00:05:14.840 which have stood me in good stead in subsequent ministry. 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:18.259 There were some great saints of God among those men, 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:19.520 and women, of course. 00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:23.580 One I remember with particular fondness was Wee William McCann. 00:05:24.080 --> 00:05:24.900 Anybody remember him? 00:05:26.819 --> 00:05:30.540 Sweet William, he would sometimes jokingly call himself. 00:05:30.620 --> 00:05:31.620 He was a humble soul, 00:05:32.780 --> 00:05:35.500 of small stature, but a giant of God. 00:05:35.500 --> 00:05:38.759 On one particular Friday evening, 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:41.139 I was sitting just behind him where I could see, 00:05:41.220 --> 00:05:43.399 because they had benches there, not those comfy seats. 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:45.180 I was sitting just behind him, 00:05:45.399 --> 00:05:49.379 and I could see the notes he had studiously prepared for that evening's study. 00:05:49.459 --> 00:05:51.639 I can't remember what the subject study was, 00:05:51.740 --> 00:05:54.220 but he had made three alliterated points. 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:56.519 This is one of the sins of preachers, alliteration. 00:05:56.519 --> 00:06:00.560 And all those points, those three points, began with the letter E. 00:06:01.079 --> 00:06:02.159 I remember that quite clearly. 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:04.180 I can't remember what the other two points were, 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:07.099 but his third point was illumination. 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:17.279 So he wasn't the best educated man among God's people, 00:06:17.359 --> 00:06:19.240 but he was truly a man of God. 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:25.259 In fact, it's been my experience that it has not been so much the erudite 00:06:25.259 --> 00:06:28.699 among God's people who have influenced me most. 00:06:29.079 --> 00:06:31.540 It has been the more humble men and women of faith 00:06:31.540 --> 00:06:35.900 who have demonstrated to me what a true believer should really look like. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.360 And I'm particularly grateful for William McCann and his dear wife 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:45.860 as they supported and prayed for us, myself and Elizabeth, 00:06:45.860 --> 00:06:48.439 when my spiritual life jumped the tracks. 00:06:49.080 --> 00:06:50.500 Some of you may remember that time. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:52.500 I'm not going to go into any details. 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:56.819 There were others too who supported us through that very difficult time. 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:02.259 And I shall be eternally grateful for their faithfulness in prayer for us. 00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:04.500 I could go on reminiscing. 00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:05.220 I'm not going to. 00:07:06.600 --> 00:07:10.980 Some who are here this evening are among those who have helped shape me as a Christian 00:07:10.980 --> 00:07:16.900 and whose example and experience have blessed me far more than they will ever know. 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:20.360 Good to recall the past, isn't it? 00:07:21.840 --> 00:07:23.000 There's a danger there. 00:07:24.680 --> 00:07:29.160 I think one of the most difficult things about church life is managing change. 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:31.480 We've talked a lot about change tonight, haven't we? 00:07:31.500 --> 00:07:32.140 We've all thought a lot. 00:07:32.520 --> 00:07:36.300 How things were, how things are now, how things might be in the future. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:38.740 Change must happen. 00:07:38.740 --> 00:07:43.920 And change is here to stay, as someone once wisely said. 00:07:44.019 --> 00:07:48.699 But problems arise when we want to hold on to the ways we always used to do things. 00:07:50.340 --> 00:07:51.780 Please don't hear me wrongly. 00:07:52.120 --> 00:07:55.980 I'm not advocating abandoning scripture or godly standards. 00:07:56.100 --> 00:07:59.079 But I have certainly come across dear saints of God 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:03.540 who have wanted to hold on to what one godly lady from my time here in Edinburgh 00:08:03.540 --> 00:08:05.519 called the old paths. 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:09.939 It's a reference to Jeremiah 6.16, which says, 00:08:10.039 --> 00:08:11.199 This is what the Lord says. 00:08:11.299 --> 00:08:13.719 Stand at the crossroads and look. 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:16.199 Ask for the ancient paths. 00:08:17.039 --> 00:08:21.000 Ask where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls. 00:08:22.379 --> 00:08:25.479 In that case, the issue, the old path, 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:30.659 the issue of that time was whether or not we should have tea or coffee served 00:08:30.660 --> 00:08:32.279 after the morning service. 00:08:35.940 --> 00:08:37.500 There's great value in looking back. 00:08:39.060 --> 00:08:40.740 And please don't hear me saying otherwise. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:43.879 That's one of the great blessings of baptism, for example. 00:08:45.019 --> 00:08:46.500 As we look back to the day, 00:08:47.220 --> 00:08:49.160 that day should be an anchor for the soul. 00:08:49.159 --> 00:08:53.679 The day we finally submitted to the Lordship of Christ. 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:58.319 A day that should remind us of where we have been in our Christian journey 00:08:58.319 --> 00:08:59.860 and encouragement to keep going. 00:09:01.579 --> 00:09:04.299 The prophet Isaiah bids the people of ancient Israel, 00:09:04.500 --> 00:09:08.879 Look to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord. 00:09:09.339 --> 00:09:11.259 Look to the rock from which you were cut 00:09:11.259 --> 00:09:14.100 and to the quarry from which you were hewn. 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:16.360 Isaiah 51 verse 1. 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:20.440 We need those kinds of milestones so that as we look back, 00:09:20.919 --> 00:09:23.220 we can see that we are not what we were. 00:09:24.560 --> 00:09:26.659 And that should encourage us to press forward, 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.039 to become more of what Jesus wants us to be. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:35.740 We are predestined to be conformed to the image of God's son. 00:09:36.899 --> 00:09:38.399 That's what he wants us to be like. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.960 So as we celebrate 50 years of God's goodness, 00:09:42.960 --> 00:09:46.220 as we reflect on the past and how God has shaped us, 00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:48.600 and the church through a half century, 00:09:49.220 --> 00:09:50.980 let's not live in the past. 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:56.039 Let's use the past to instruct us and encourage us. 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.720 But in the words of Paul to the Philippian church, 00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:00.259 Philippians 3 verse 13. 00:10:00.840 --> 00:10:02.440 But one thing I do, he says, 00:10:02.820 --> 00:10:08.240 forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:16.320 I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. 00:10:17.180 --> 00:10:19.919 And then he says, verse 15 and 16, 00:10:20.560 --> 00:10:24.740 all of us who are mature should take such a view of things. 00:10:25.680 --> 00:10:26.580 Anyone here mature? 00:10:26.580 --> 00:10:31.000 And if on some point Paul says you think differently, 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.320 that too God will make clear to you. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:37.500 Only let us live up to what we have already attained. 00:10:38.400 --> 00:10:39.000 Let's pray. 00:10:40.920 --> 00:10:43.900 Lord God, we thank you for the past. 00:10:45.620 --> 00:10:49.920 And for many of us here, as we think back over 50 years, 00:10:49.919 --> 00:10:52.500 perhaps for some of us it's not been as long as that, 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:56.259 because we were not born 50 years ago. 00:10:56.539 --> 00:11:00.319 But Lord, all of our lives you have been shaping us. 00:11:01.259 --> 00:11:04.839 You have been calling us to that aim of our predestination, 00:11:04.959 --> 00:11:05.779 to be like Jesus. 00:11:08.059 --> 00:11:12.259 And we thank you for the measure in which that has been achieved. 00:11:13.579 --> 00:11:18.439 The Apostle Paul talks again about being changed from one degree of glory to another. 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:23.940 And we thank you for that daily experience of your Holy Spirit in our lives, 00:11:24.040 --> 00:11:27.500 moving us, challenging us to be holy people. 00:11:28.940 --> 00:11:30.860 And so we thank you for the past. 00:11:31.340 --> 00:11:34.340 We thank you from the rock from which we were hewn. 00:11:36.020 --> 00:11:38.660 But Lord, we look to you for the future. 00:11:39.760 --> 00:11:43.120 For the future, take us, says one more modern song. 00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:47.820 Lord, we pledge ourselves this night. 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:49.680 To be your people. 00:11:50.180 --> 00:11:52.760 To be whatever you call us to be. 00:11:54.200 --> 00:12:00.040 And we pray that you will help us to set aside all that will hinder that aim, that end. 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:03.940 We pray that by your Spirit you will move within us 00:12:03.940 --> 00:12:09.860 to give us wisdom to perceive where you are calling us and how you are calling us. 00:12:09.860 --> 00:12:12.740 What work you call us to do. 00:12:13.779 --> 00:12:15.720 That we may bring glory to you. 00:12:16.720 --> 00:12:19.840 And that we may bring blessing to many people. 00:12:19.980 --> 00:12:25.639 Those among whom you call us to serve both in the church and in the wider community. 00:12:25.639 --> 00:12:32.720 Lord, we think of the precious souls out there who need to hear about Jesus. 00:12:33.879 --> 00:12:38.860 And we pray that you will equip us and enable us, motivate us. 00:12:39.539 --> 00:12:40.639 You have called us. 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:44.059 Help us to be faithful to that calling, we pray. 00:12:44.059 --> 00:12:45.059 Amen. 00:12:45.059 --> 00:12:52.059 And may many more precious souls be added to your kingdom because of the witness of our church 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:53.879 and of us personally. 00:12:55.019 --> 00:12:58.019 Lord, we give you grateful thanks for all that is past 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:00.359 and for all that is to come. 00:13:00.879 --> 00:13:02.359 In Jesus' precious name. 00:13:03.019 --> 00:13:03.339 Amen. 00:13:03.339 --> 00:13:03.459 Amen. 00:13:03.459 --> 00:13:03.959 Amen. 00:13:03.959 --> 00:13:04.059 Amen. 00:13:04.059 --> 00:13:04.079 Amen. 00:13:04.079 --> 00:13:04.139 Amen. 00:13:04.139 --> 00:13:04.199 Amen. 00:13:04.199 --> 00:13:04.239 Amen. 00:13:04.239 --> 00:13:04.279 Amen. 00:13:04.279 --> 00:13:06.199 Amen. 00:13:06.199 --> 00:13:06.239 Amen. 00:13:06.239 --> 00:13:08.239 Amen. 00:13:08.239 --> 00:13:08.279 Amen. 00:13:08.279 --> 00:13:10.239 Amen. 00:13:10.239 --> 00:13:10.279 Amen. 00:13:10.279 --> 00:13:10.319 Amen. 00:13:10.319 --> 00:13:10.359 Amen.