Category: Uncategorized

On Tuesday 30th May at 7.30PM the Free Southern Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) will meet within the building of the Congregation of Knightswood for the purpose of moderating in a call to Rev. Calum Smith.

Reverend Andrew Allan, the Moderator of Presbytery, will preach and preside at this meeting of Presbytery.

An edict was read on the Lord’s Day 21st May by the Reverend Greg MacDonald as part of this process. But for convenience the preacher on Sabbath 28th May will be asked to read this edict again.

The Kirk Session stress the importance of Members and Adherents being present at this meeting. Mandate forms are available for those wishing to support the Call.

The Minister of the Congregation has delivered a series of lectures for the benefit of the Church in South Korea. While his lectures are given in English (and can be enjoyed by us here) subtitles in Korean are provided.

It is good to nourish and care for believers around the world. It is a striking thought that one day the people of North Korea may have the same freedom as those of South Korea to stream lectures and sermons about the Christian faith.

Mr Macleod spoke on Dr John Kennedy of Dingwall, a famous Free Church Minister who is well known in our circles and the subject of the PhD thesis of Rev Dr Alasdair J. Macleod.

Each lecture is posted below.

The Scottish Government, because of the rampant spreading of the Coronavirus, brought out a law banning public worship from Tuesday 5th January 2021 until the end of March and in fact making it now a criminal offence to leave your home for the purpose of worshipping God. In doing this the Government has infringed the liberties of the church as an independent institution under the rule of Christ. As Andrew Melville stated to King James VI in the Sixteenth Century, “There are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland: there is King James the head of this commonwealth, and there is Christ Jesus the King of the church, whose subject James the sixth is, and of whose kingdom he is not a king, nor a lord, nor a head, but a member”. The Covenanter Struggles of the Seventeenth Century and the Disruption of the Nineteenth Century were about the independence of the church. If the Government had produced evidence of the virus spreading in churches and had asked the churches to close that would be acceptable. However by demanding that the churches close we believe they have overstepped their powers. The kirk session met and decided to close the church to normal public worship but only under protest.

Our minister has written to our MSP to protest at what had happened. The MSP had in answer to previous correspondence said there was no intention to close the churches in Scotland. Our minister has also signed a letter from Scottish church leaders addressed to Scotland’s First Minister stating among other things that “Christian worship is an essential public service, and especially vital to our nation in a time of crisis”, and also that “we strongly disagree with the decision to prevent the gathering of the Church at this time, which we believe is profoundly unhelpful and may be unlawful”. Also our minister is involved in the action of a group of ministers in Scotland who are supported by Christian Concern. This group has met with a view to seeking a judicial review of the Scottish Government’s action. Members of the Kirk Session indicated their support for the minister’s actions.

The Scottish Government do however allow church services to be broadcast from churches. A very small group of church members will be involved in this and it is hoped that the services will be broadcast as usual online and via the telephone.

The Knightswood Congregation mourns the loss of Etta Maclean. Her funeral service was held on the 3rd of April, and due to current restrictions many who would have wished to gather for the Public Worship were unable to do so. For the comfort of those who would like to listen again the full service can be downloaded here.

Compounding our sorrow further was the loss of Reverend John J. Murray the same week as Etta. His funeral service was conducted on the 8th of April and a recording of the full service for the comfort of the Lord’s People is available here.

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ”

The Knightswood Congregation mourns the loss of the former Session Clerk, and Senior Elder, of the Congregation Mr John MacPherson who died on Saturday the 31st of August 2019. John was a faithful servant of Jesus Christ and a great friend to all in the congregation.

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them” – Revelation 14:13

The Congregation expressed its thanks to God for another pleasant and encouraging Communion season which ran from Thursday 15th March to the Lord’s Day 18th March.

On Thursday the neighbouring Minister Reverend Andrew Allan spoke on “The Great Catch” recorded in Luke 5. Providentially studies in Luke continued when the presiding Minister for the rest of the weekend (Reverend Raymond Kemp) took his message for Friday from Luke 8, regarding the woman with the issue of blood,  and allowing the congregation to look more closely at “The Faith that Heals“.

On Saturday, prior to the members being given their communion tokens, the congregation again gathered under the preaching of God’s Word and heard a powerful message regarding the saints communion with Christ, taking the Song of Solomon chapter 2 as his focus allowing those under the word to meditate on “The provisions of the Apple Tree“.

When the Lord’s Day arrived, Glasgow had been hit with a flurry of snow which had left road conditions near the Partick Congregation particularly dangerous. It was decided that their services would be cancelled and the congregation invited to join with Knightswood. This lead to a very encouraging turnout.

Those who were able to get out were treated to two fine sermons. Firstly, the congregation was commanded to behold the Lord Jesus Christ, as Mr Kemp laboured on the text “Behold the Man” (John 19:5) while in the evening a challenging message was delivered from Psalm 103. This saw many from the East End of the city join with the congregation.

While much thanks was due to the visiting Ministers and those who behind the scenes who had made the church comfortable, it was pressed home that the real thing that had to be done was that the Lord was to be thanked for his goodness. The evening service is suitably a challenging one then “Remembering to bless the Lord“.

After the evening service, Reverend Kemp spoke of the Lord’s Work in his own life. Despite having been an English teacher, he quipped that he would be providing geography lessons to the Minister of our Congregation after a discussion of the intricacies of the geography of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.

Mr Kemp asked that the Congregation would remember his own congregation in prayer. Rather than asking for money or advertising – Mr Kemp asked that we would seek for the Spirit to work.

Reverend Raymond Kemp labours in the Isle of Skye. In the congregation of Kilmuir & Stenscholl (Staffin) which has greatly changed since the days where Reverend Kenneth Macleod recorded “I saw so many young people present and realised what an influence our Church has got in this place”.

In Knightswood, and in Staffin, our only hope and confidence is placed in the Lord. It is by his grace that the Kingdom shall be built. Indeed, as Mr Kemp has previously declared to the Free Church School in Theology: the Lord Jesus Christ shall build his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Congregation in Staffin maintains a twitter account @StaffinFCC which posts edifying and uplifting content.

As announced on the denominational website the Southern Presbytery hoped to make use of the Knightswood building to hold a Colloquium on Saturday 20th January 2018. This went ahead and was enjoyed by all who attended.

The term “colloquium” indicates that the material was pitched at an academic level.

At the Colloquium 2 papers were given and a sermon was preached, with a time of fellowship between papers.

Beginning at 10am a Paper  on: ‘Musical Instruments in Worship?’ was given by Reverend E. Trevor Kirkland, Minister in Ballyclare & Doagh.

Then at 11:30am a second Paper  ‘Christ and the Covenant’ was given by Reverend William Macleod.

Tables were set up in the Church to allow people to eat a packed lunch and after a few cups of tea the meeting continued with a sermon from Reverend Andrew Allan on Revelation 2:10 entitled  ‘Be Faithful’

The Southern Presbytery of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) held a public lecture in the Knightswood Free Church building on 31st October 2017 – marking 500 years since the great Protestant Reformer Martin Luther kick-started the Protestant Reformation.  The talk by Reverend John J Murray is available on the denominational website.

Luther, used by God to great effect, is perhaps fairly well known by name – but increasingly people do not appreciate the great benefits he brought to the Christian church. Being used by God to encourage the recovery of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

During recent weeks the congregation has benefited from a closer examination of Reformation Principles. Looking at the “Five Solas” of the Protestant Reformation. As a congregation we have examined  “Sola Scriptura“; “Sola Fide“; “Sola Gratia“; “Solus Christus” and “Soli Deo Gloria” under the preaching of Reverend William Macleod.