The 30th meeting of the Scottish Reformed Conference took place on 11 May at Hamilton College.
The Revd Professor Sinclair B Ferguson (4th from left) and Dr Robert Murdock (3rd from left), Principal of the Faith Mission College in Edinburgh, spoke to about 450 people from different Reformed churches and denominations.
Being human
Dr Ferguson considered the theme ‘Who am I’ because of the confusion that surrounds the very nature of what it means to be a human being in our contemporary world.* What was taken for granted in a previous generation is being denied and rejected now.
First, he reflected on the account of creation in Genesis 1 and 2 under four headings: Our dignity in creation; The privilege of our special vocation; Divine reflection; and Filial relation. In his second address, on 2 Corinthians 5, the great doctrine of reconciliation was meditated upon. A profound change takes place in the believer because of being ‘in Christ’.
Dr Murdock spoke on the fruit of the Spirit.* Although we are born again by faith alone, faith is never alone (as both Luther and the letter of James emphasise).
The whole day together was marked by a deep and true sense of the presence of God and a deepening bond of fellowship in the Lord by all who came along. At a time when the glory of the church seems to be at a low ebb in our nation, it is greatly encouraging to meet with others who love the Lord and His word. One pastor had, like King Josiah, recently rediscovered the preaching of the word and his church had literally sprung into life.
