It was wonderful to gather in-person at the Tron Church in Glasgow for the ‘Servants of the Word’ annual conference hosted by Cornhill Scotland.
Seasoned ministers (many displaying the signs of exhaustion from having navigated the occasionally membership-divisive waters of the pandemic-imposed restrictions) and an array of young ministers and those in training; joined together for a feast of refreshment, encouragement, and practical exhortation.
David Jackman delivered a masterclass in unpacking Hebrews chapters 11–13. The opening exposition to ‘Draw Near in Faith’ equipped those who gathered for endurance, inspired confidence, and encouraged the tired soul in light of the coming day of the Lord. The session on ‘Holding onto our Hope’ illustrated how we can only understand the world through the lens of God’s word, and in his final session, considering Faith, Hope and ‘Stirring one another to Love’, the heart was energised amidst the wonder of our redemption to appreciate how Love is the currency of the Eternal Kingdom.
William Philip, minister of the Tron Church, skilfully handled the two ‘Expositions for Expositors’, in the first teaching how God’s people must learn how to fruitfully weep in the pain of life from the four key themes of Calamity, Cause, Chastisement and Covenant in Lamentations, and in the second, how from the intimate picture of sexual love found in the Song of Songs we need to fruitfully woo in the partnership of life.
Paul Rees, Lead Pastor at Charlotte Chapel in Edinburgh, brought the conference to a close with a sermon from Song of Songs 5:2–6:3, encouraging us to overcome the apathy in marriage and ministry and helping us to recover passion and intimacy with our spouse and with the Lord.
