I am loving our church family more and more and am very thankful that everyone was able to be back in church today and nobody was out with illness. The only regular missing this morning was my wife as she is still in the States. I'm thankful for the solide core group God has given us and we enjoyed our time together this morning.

This was our second SS watching the film, "Sheffey." Every time I watch this film it stirs me and I'm thankful for these three times we can be challenged by Sheffey's life.

I preached a message this morning on, "Unrealistic Obedience Expected" from Leveticus 25:17-22. I put this description statement on our sermon audio account, "Sometimes human reasoning argues against obeying God. But, if we give into human reasoning instead of obedience, we miss the blessing God has for those who take Him at His Word."

I'm caring for my boys and so I'm not doing my outreach ministries just now, but I'm still handing out tracts in normal life. I had a short witnessing opportunity with a young lady yesterday. I did make a new brochure advertising our new location in Loanhead. I look forward to putting this out once the property purchase is finalised. Thanks for all your prayers. They are much appreciated.

I visited Keith and Mariella at the hospital yesterday. She was able to get up yesterday but in doing so she got sick. They had also been unable to take a blood sample yesterday. I was there for an hour. She is in good spirits, but understandably just wanting to get home.

They were successful today in taking bloods and when I spoke with Keith this afternoon she had not been sick today. So, thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for Mariella's rehab and return home. Thank you for praying for Keith as well as he carries the burden of ministry all on his own in her absence. (Those who are in ministry know how important your wife is to your ministry.)

We were excited as a church family to meet together in person for prayer meeting after not having Wednesday nights for a little while. Over the holidays, we switched our midweek service to our special services on Saturday (Christmas and New Year's Eve services.) We had to cancel some services due to illness. 

So, it had been a while since we had a normal midweek service together. Praise the Lord, Tommy, who has been out of church for 6 weeks with illness was able to be back with us. God gave us good attedance and a good time together. I picked up our study of 1 Peter and we looked at how to live godly in an ungodly world.

Thank you for your continued prayers for our church health. We are getting there and are thankful for God's grace.

Some friends of our who have been missionaries in Scotland for 30 years, are going through a health trial. I'd like to ask you to pray with us for God to turn the corner on this illness for them. On 26 December, Mariella fell and broke her femur. She had surgery two days later. Surgery was delayed because she has had an extended illness.

She has been very sick to her stomache and has some fluid in her lungs. The surgery was succesful and they have started some rehab, but the stomach problem has been ongoing. She is remaining in the hospital for now.

 Would you please pray with us for God to raise her up. Please also pray for Keith to have wisdom about their church needs during this time. Thanks for taking this request to the Lord.

It was so good to be back together as a church family. It's been two weeks since we had seen everyone. Our attendance was good. One man in our church has been out six weeks with a bad cough. Please pray for his healing. Otherwise, we were all present this morning.

I enjoyed preaching a message from Genesis 32 on Prayer Warriors Needed. It is the text where Jacob wrestles with God. Our generation needs men and women of prayer. Thank you for your prayer support of our ministry as it is vital.

The pic below was taken before church got started.

Thank you for praying for Kay Lee and Benson as they traveled to the States yesterday with Katie. This will be our first time having two of our children at Bible College. They are both students at Ambassador Baptist College in Lattimore, North Carolina.

God allowed Katie to go with them to help them get settled. All of Katie's family live within an hour of the college and some of my family are there as well. So, it will be good family time. Please pray for Katie to be refreshed and that God will bless our children as they settle into the school year.

Those of us who were ill are getting better. We appreciate your continued prayers for a full recovery. Lord willing, this Sunday we will have all thee services. Thank you for your prayers.

Well, in less than three hours Scotland will enter into another calendar year. Praise God for new beginnings! Our church is excited about what God has for us this year. We're also very thankful for what God has done for us this past year. It's been a great year to grow in our faith as a church family.

This weekend is different than we anticipated. Due to illness, our church canceled our film night tonight and will be going online tomorrow (New Years Day). I don't know what kind of a bug we have, but it has impacted most of our families. Your prayers for God's healing would be appreciated. Please also pray for those in my family who will be traveling to the States on Thursday. Right now, all of them are healthy.

Meanwhile, we're going to catch up on the film (Sheffey) by showing it in our 10 AM hour starting next Sunday. So, we'll still get to benefit from that great story of a godly man. 

May God bless you and your families with an awesome 2023!

God blessed our Carol Sing service and our Christmas day service. It was fun to see numbers of guests present for both services.

On Christmas day, we enjoyed a baby dedication at the end of the morning service. That seemed appropriate as the message that morning was on Jesus being dedicated unto the Lord at the temple.

This coming Saturday (New Year's Eve) we are showing the film, Sheffey. Thank you for praying for these special events.

It is so good to have our daughter back from the States. Kay Lee arrived here on Sunday morning. Her flight was delayed and so she missed SS but got here in time for the AM service. We are enjoying some very good family time.

Sunday was a good day. We had a few people away because of illness and treachorous ice. However, our attendance was good. I enjoyed preaching on the Gospel in Bethlehem from Luke 2.

Today is a special ministry day as well. We took a group of 10 down to Princess St. and handed out Christmas flyers and candy canes. I street preached focusing on the Christ of Christmas. Tonight Katie is hosting a ladies' Christmas tea at our home. There are going to be a lot of fun activies, Christmas goodies and focus on the nativity. We have two more Christmas ministry dates. On Christmas Eve we are having our annual Christmas Carol Sing service. On Christmas day we are having a morning service. Thank you for praying for these special events.

Because of the jet stream and the gulf stream, Scotland has a moderate climate. Our temperatures fluctuate between 33 and 65 degrees. Anything outside of those parameters is unusual. When I ran this morning it was 19 degrees. We've also have some beautiful snow on the ground and the boys have enjoyed "sledging" (British english) on our golf course hills. 

God blessed us with a good services yesterday despite heavy snow early on and temperatures plummeting. The new temporary location works really well. I enjoyed starting the Christmas story yesterday. We looked at the three main characters, Mary, Joseph and Jesus from Matthew 1, "The Story Above All Stories." We had good attendance with just a few of our regulars unable to make it out. Thank you for praying for our services.

I snapped a picture last night as Benson was leading the singing. We're going to miss him when he departs. We'll also be losing a song leader. I'm happy to lead singing, but it's been nice having him take that responsability off me. Thanks for praying for our family as the kids grow up and leave home.