11.7.21 pm and David Cameron Testimony

[0:00] Good evening and a warm welcome to the service this evening to those who are in the building here and those who are tuning in online as well. Sorry for those who are tuning in in the morning for the distortion of the sound. I think Joyce has fixed that now so hopefully it will be clear this evening. And for those who are tuning in maybe specifically to hear a testimony, the testimony of David Cameron, it's good to have you also. And we pray that God will bless us and speak through David's testimony this evening. We're going to begin this time of worship by singing to God's praise. Psalm 121, the whole of the psalm. Psalm 121, a psalm where we're called to lift our eyes and look to the Lord. So we'll stand to sing this psalm to God's praise. And after we've sung this psalm, Stuart will lead us in a short word of prayer. So let's stand to sing.

[1:08] I to the hills will lift my eyes from whence of combining. My safety cometh from the Lord whoando hath now joked In the hills and pamphets That he was Jesus Hopefully he That he Is Behold He If These slumbers, no, nor sleep.

[2:04] The Lord be keeps the Lord thy shame, All my right hand doth stay.

[2:17] The moon by night thee shall not smile, Nor yet the sun by day.

[2:31] The Lord shall keep thy soul, He shall preserve thee from all will.

[2:45] Henceforth thy going out and in, God keep forever will.

[3:03] Let us join together in prayer. Our eternal and ever-blessed Father Lord, we give you thanks for this opportunity that you've given to us. We were able to gather in your most precious name.

[3:16] We were able to sing praises to a God that is so wonderful, Lord. A God that is our almighty Father. A God that's our creator.

[3:28] And a God that is so loving in the sending of his only Son. Sending him who knew no sin, who became sin for us, Lord. And we pray that we would be reminded of that gift.

[3:38] Reminded of that glorious gift that you've sent for us, Lord. And it's indeed as a gift. It's one that all we need to do is reach out and take it. You don't require any works from us, Lord.

[3:51] Just that we trust in your Son. And we ask him to enter into our lives. We give you thanks, Lord, that when we look to you, we do indeed see a just God and a loving God.

[4:03] And we are so thankful that we have opportunities as this to pray to you. To petition to you and to speak to you, Lord. Knowing that you are a God that seeks to commune with us.

[4:14] You are a God that's near and not a God that's far. You're a God that not only hears our prayers, but you answer them as well. Each and every prayer that is laid up to you, Lord, we know that you answer them.

[4:27] They may not be answers that we expect. They may not even be answers that we understand, Lord. But we pray and trust in you, knowing that those answers are perfect. And it sees your will done here on earth as it is in heaven.

[4:40] We bring before you those that are sad at this moment. Those that are grieving at this moment as well, Lord. We ask that you will comfort them. That you would be with them. And that you would strengthen them and uphold them during these difficult times, Lord.

[4:54] We pray that you'd be with those that are unable to be with us today. Whether it's through illness or for any other reason, Lord. We ask that you would be with them. But we specifically bring before you those who have had no desire to come here today.

[5:07] Who made no effort to come here today. It didn't enter into their minds to come into your house today to hear your word, Lord. We pray for them. We ask that you would make yourself known to them.

[5:18] That you would reveal your peace and your light to them. And that they would be able to one day repent of their sins. And that they would cry out for mercy and seek your face, Lord.

[5:29] And as we look to your word, we give you thanks for David. And we give you thanks for his ministry, Lord. And ask that as he opens up his word, Lord. That it's you that speaks through him, Lord.

[5:41] And that we're able to see you on each and every page. We're able to see your salvation plan from the beginning of Genesis 1 right through to the end of Revelation. And we pray that it would be continually illuminated to us.

[5:54] We give you thanks for David as he diligently studies into your word, Lord. As he brings it to us each and every week. And we pray for him in the coming weeks as well. As he has a bit of time off as well.

[6:06] And ask that you'll be with him. That you'll refresh them as a family, Lord. And that they'll be able to come back and to continue your work for them, Lord. And we pray for all congregations in our islands as well, Lord.

[6:18] We pray particularly for those that are vacant at this time. And we ask that you would set it upon the hearts of young men to go into the ministry. To be able to reach out to these congregations.

[6:29] And reach out to areas with no congregations. That we can plant many churches in a nation that was once a nation that knew your word well. Yet we have continually turned away from it, Lord.

[6:42] And we get further and further away each day that goes by. We pray that we would once again be a nation that knows your word. A nation that as they wake up that they turn to you.

[6:53] They seek your face before they seek anyone else's face or anything of this world, Lord. And we pray that those of us that are Christians would be able to be a witness to that, Lord. That they would be able to see something different in our own lives.

[7:06] And as we hear from David Cameron later on, Lord. We give you thanks for testimony. We give you thanks for David's testimony. And let it be a reminder to us that it's you that works through each and every one of us that know you.

[7:20] And we pray that it's something that would be seen by others. That this church here would be a beacon of light for you. Not just a light, but a radiant fire that produces a warmth as well.

[7:32] That we would be able to be warming to those around us. And that they would see something different in us. And that it would let them ponder, maybe not with their own mouths. But at least within their own hearts as to what's different about the Christian.

[7:45] And that it would ultimately lead them to you, Lord. So go before us just now. Be with us as we look into your word. And as we hear of your glorious work in the lives of people on Harris, Lord.

[7:55] So be with us just now. Forgive us. Go before us in all that we do. And all that we ask is in the name of Christ our Saviour. Amen. Amen.

[8:06] Let's sing again to God's praise. We sing this time from Mission Praise 279. Mission Praise 279. Very fitting words for an evening where we have testimony.

[8:19] I know not why God's wondrous grace to me has been made known. Nor why unworthy as I am. He claimed me for his own. But I know whom I have believed. And I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

[8:36] So we'll stand to sing to God's praise in just a moment. Amen.

[8:46] I know not why God's wondrous grace to me has been made known. Nor why unworthy as I am, he claimed me for his own.

[9:05] But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able To keep that which I committed, and to him I guess that day.

[9:25] I know not how the saving faith to me he did impart, Or how believing in his work brought peace upon my heart.

[9:46] But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able To keep that which I committed, and to him I guess that day.

[10:07] I know not how the Spirit moves, convincing men of sin. Revealing Jesus through the word, creating faith in him.

[10:28] But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able To keep that which I committed, and to him I guess that day.

[10:49] I know not what of good or ill may be reserved for me, Of weary ways or golden days, before his face I see.

[11:11] But I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able To keep that which I committed, and to him I guess that day.

[11:41] If you could turn now in your Bibles, please, to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. Just for our prayers, for our continued prayers, We've been mindful of various people over the last week or so.

[12:06] The family of the late Kirsty Cathy, and Cathy Ann, and Murdo Farreker, And the family of the late Myrat, and mindful of Alistair, Having lost his granddaughter.

[12:20] And I mentioned last Sunday evening, about a message I'd had just before the service, From a guy that I knew in the past, Fraser McKenzie. His father was coming close to the end, and he'd asked that we would pray.

[12:36] And so we have been praying. I got a message just before I came in here just now, To say that he just passed away about five o'clock very peacefully. So we can maybe keep Fraser in our prayers, having prayed for them last week.

[12:52] Let's continue to pray for him. You actually may meet him. He has occasion to come back and forth to Ardazig. So if we could pray for Fraser and those who grieve at this time.

[13:08] We'll read from Luke chapter 12, and we'll read from verses 22 to 34. Jesus said to his disciples, Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear.

[13:30] Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens, they do not sow or reap. They have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds.

[13:43] Who of you, by worrying, can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow.

[13:55] They do not labour or spin, yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendour was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?

[14:13] And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink. Do not worry about it, for the pagan world runs after such things, and your Father knows that you need them.

[14:24] But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.

[14:35] Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out the treasure in heaven, that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

[14:49] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Amen. And may God bless that reading of his word to us.

[15:00] I want to just take a few minutes to speak about this passage before I ask David to come up and share testimony.

[15:16] It was earlier in this week, or last week now, and I was actually out visiting over in Scalpy one day, and I was speaking to someone just in the passing, and it's someone who doesn't come to this church, but who will watch services online from time to time.

[15:35] And he said to me in the course of the conversation, I love the testimonies. There's lots of things going on, but the thing I really love, the thing I always tune in for, is the testimonies.

[15:51] And over this last strange year, one of the blessings that we've had, that we probably wouldn't have had in a normal year, is we've heard a good number of testimonies.

[16:03] We've heard from quite a number of people in the congregation of how they came to know Christ. And thinking back over these months, we can think of names, we can think of people, we can think of stories.

[16:18] Hugh Brownie, I think he was the first one who might have shared testimony, and then we had Stuart and Joyce, and we heard from John McSween and Dol McSween, Alistair from Ardazic, and we heard from Myrdo Ferry McSween, Cammie and Cresalda, Neil Cameron, Faragher, and that's just to name a few.

[16:45] We've heard quite a number of testimonies, and they've come through a wide variety of people, different ages, different backgrounds, different experiences, different stories in terms of how they came to faith.

[17:01] But the one thing that there is in common in all these lives and all these testimonies is there's faith in Christ. Each person has seen their sin, seen Christ as Savior, and believes.

[17:17] So each testimony, there is that endeavoring to point us through the testimony to Jesus. It's not a case of us standing and saying, listen to me.

[17:32] We share our story, but we're pointing to Jesus. And tonight we're hearing more testimonies. And we'll hear David Cameron in just a few minutes.

[17:43] But before he comes up, I want to just highlight two testimonies that Jesus alerts us to in the passage that we read. And the first thing that Jesus alerts us to is we're to consider the testimony of the ravens.

[18:01] Consider the ravens. I don't know if you've ever thought about the fact that every time a raven flies overhead, sometimes too close to our heads, there's a testimony.

[18:13] Jesus says in verse 24, consider the ravens. They do not sow or reap. They have no store in our barn. Yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds.

[18:27] Now, ravens, we know them. We recognize them. They're the largest in the crow family, I think. They're scavengers. They don't follow an agricultural plan to ensure they have enough foods.

[18:42] They don't have barns and storehouses to store their stuff. But God feeds them. And he doesn't feed them with delicacies.

[18:55] They raid bins when we leave them open. We see them pecking about in dumps. But not only do they survive through what they get, they thrive.

[19:09] They're strong birds that won't think twice about attacking a runner out in Westloch that comes too close to their nest. And the reason they survive and the reason they thrive is because God feeds them.

[19:24] That's what Jesus says. And ravens, when we think about them, they're not the most lovely birds. They weren't much loved back then. In the time that Jesus was speaking, they were considered to be religiously unclean birds.

[19:38] And you can go to Leviticus 11, 15 to read about that. But they weren't much loved back then. And ravens aren't much loved today.

[19:51] Not by us when they decide to swoop down on us. Not by crofters when they decide they're going to attack some of the flock. But the point is, God cares for them.

[20:06] So every healthy, feisty raven that flies overhead gives a testimony to the God who cares for them. So maybe think about that when you see the ravens.

[20:23] Maybe I'll think about that as I'm running past that tree out west at a higher speed than usual to avoid the raven. It has a testimony. God cares for it.

[20:35] And Jesus then takes that and he applies that to us. And essentially, he argues from the lesser to the greater. And he says, if God cares for the ravens, these dirty birds, how much more does he and will he care for us?

[20:55] Those whom he loves. Those who bear his image. So consider the ravens, says Jesus. Consider their testimony.

[21:07] And then Jesus says, secondly here, consider the testimony of the lilies. Consider the lilies. Verse 27. Consider how the lilies grow.

[21:18] They don't labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that's how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith?

[21:39] Now, having read a few commentaries on this, is that the lilies in Palestine were not the same as the lilies that we recognize and we buy from a florist.

[21:50] They were wild flowers. And they were the kind of flowers that weren't planted by a gardener and they weren't cared for with great care and attention.

[22:02] They sprung up quickly in a wild place. They withered quickly, but in their short lives they were said to be incredibly beautiful little plants.

[22:15] And Jesus reminds us that God cares for them. He's the gardener. He's the artist of the macher, you could say.

[22:29] And so we ask the question, why does God create such beautiful, delicate, fragile wild flowers? Why is it that when we go over in Sillabos and we see this splay of colour, why does God do that?

[22:43] What's the purpose behind it? And the reason, I think, that we see these beautiful lilies and wild flowers in these places is they tell a story.

[22:59] They tell us a story of the love and the care and the beauty and the creativity of God. He didn't put us in a grey world.

[23:14] He didn't put us in a place where it's just one shade. But we look out the window even here and we see such beauty. And these lilies bear testimony about the Lord, the Lord whom we can trust to clothe us materially and spiritually we could say and care for us.

[23:45] So consider the testimony of the raven, says Jesus, as you look up ahead. And consider the testimony of the lilies, says Jesus, as you look around.

[23:56] And tonight, now as we come to the time when David will come up in just a moment, we're asked to consider the testimony of the Lord's people.

[24:12] And that's our call if we're Christians. We're not to be silent. We're to be ambassadors for Christ. We're to bear testimony testimony to Jesus.

[24:26] So, let's consider the testimony this evening. And as we think back over past months, let's consider the testimony of the Lord's people.

[24:37] Now, I know that the Lord's people are not perfect. And I know that because I know myself. I know that sometimes in our actions and our reactions, we can be poor witnesses.

[24:55] And that's because we're sinners. And that's because we're sinners who continue to struggle with sin. But in sharing testimony, we're saying that we are sinners who have met with and trusted the Lord Jesus.

[25:16] And one of the evidences that we've met with Jesus is we want others to meet with Jesus. And that's the common thread through every testimony.

[25:31] From the ravens to the lilies to the Lord's people, the same message is coming through every one of them.

[25:42] And it's a message of consider Jesus. that's the final thing I want to leave with you. Consider the ravens, they bear testimony.

[25:52] Consider the lilies, they bear testimony. Consider the Lord's people, they bear testimony. But above all that, consider him, Jesus. Hebrews 12, verse 1, says, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

[26:26] For the joy set before him, he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him.

[26:41] Consider him. Let's be encouraged tonight, whether we're here, whether we're watching online, consider him. It's a word to the believer who's struggling with sin, who may be discouraged, who may be feeling like giving up.

[27:01] Consider him who didn't give up, but he went all the way to the cross for us. Consider him and keep on keeping on.

[27:16] And to the person who has not yet believed, though he may even have stumbled over this on some evening in a future time, consider him.

[27:31] To the person who keeps on watching testimonies and listening with interest to those that we know and we pass in the community, consider the one who's speaking to us through these testimonies.

[27:44] Consider Christ. He promises to care for his people if you'll trust him and become one of them. He loves us so much that he endured the cross for us to forgive our sin.

[28:04] He wants us to have life that's abundant, life that's eternal. So consider him.

[28:16] Consider Jesus. Be encouraged even this evening. As we listen to David's testimony, be encouraged to put your faith in Christ.

[28:36] Lord God, we pray that you would speak to us through your word and through your people. And we pray for David as he comes in just a moment to speak of your work in his life.

[28:49] Speak through him, we pray. And for those of us who are believers, who may be struggling, encourage us, we ask, to those who may not yet be believers, but who are hearing the voice of Jesus through these testimonies, enable each one to trust in Christ.

[29:10] Not to listen at a distance with some vague interest, but enable each of us to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus and be saved. And we pray this in Jesus' name.

[29:22] Amen. We're going to sing all of the places have been chosen by David tonight and we're going to sing Psalm 116 now from verses 1 to 7 and then during the psalm.

[29:35] I'll step down, David, and you can step up, please. Psalm 116 verses 1 to verse 7. I love the Lord because my voice and prayers he did hear and why I let world call on him who bowed to me his ear.

[30:19] Of death the courts and sorrows did upon the compass round the pains of hell took hold on me I grief and trouble found upon the name of God the Lord then did I call and say deliver thou my soul O Lord I do thee holy pray

[31:22] God merciful and righteous is yea gracious is our Lord God saves the me I was brought low he did me help afford O thou my soul do thou return unto thy quiet friends for large may all the Lord to thee his bounty have expressed as as

[32:41] David has probably as he has mentioned already recently and over the years most of us in this room have heard wonderful deep testimonies and in many of these great journeys frequently dramatic proof of Jesus' work in each of us my journey is more of a meander I see the journey to eternity as a fairly narrow path and for probably well over half my life 50 years or so 60 years perhaps I meandered and during that time I was nudged back and influenced to come back to the narrow path from people within our community and individuals and there's only time to mention a few of these tonight I could speak for a long time about them but I hope within it that some of you can see that there's a pattern that shows

[33:45] Jesus and God at work I have to go right back to the beginning I was born in Inverness as there is my mother to go there for medical reasons and I came back to Harris within the first fortnight I was brought up in the hotel across the road and it's funny I would say we were a non Christian family not we were against it but it's strange now and sometimes folks go before you ask them questions and I wish we had discussed it as a family but most of the time we were church non attenders but yet there must have been something behind there because I was baptized in the Church of Scotland in 1949 by the Reverend Murdoe MacLeod I was taught a nightly child's bedtime prayer I learned it for myself and in moments of stress I still can turn to it and say these five lines and they were quite reassuring

[34:48] I remember one time going to a faith mission in the old technical school over there with my mother I excused them in some ways and perhaps it's not for me to excuse but hotel work in those days was genuinely seven days a week 24 hours a day there weren't layers of management and there weren't people to step in if either life however the first early importance here that came into my life I suppose which and this is looking back and you can see a pattern it was the influence of growing up and living in a Christian environment and I don't think you can underestimate what that sort of seeps into you even unknowingly Sunday St.

[35:40] Harris in the 1950s were built around church and faith there wasn't a lot of movement on Sundays there weren't many cars anyway but there wasn't a lot of movement there was movement to and from church perhaps a walk if it was a sunny summer's evening but you didn't see very much happening there was a school hostel on the west side where the car park is now where the buses pull up and children from Burnery couldn't go home for the whole term so they were there at weekends and they used to and if you looked out the window you could see them going down the road crocodile style girls first boys behind hotel staff would also go to church when time allowed when it came to communion these were really really big occasions buses creaked their way into Turbot with people school closed on what they call the fast day of the established church on the

[36:43] Thursday there was no post there was no bank everything closed and I have memories of even shop windows having brown paper put next to the glass so you weren't able to even window shop it was a Christian community and everybody was aware it was a Christian community and most lived according to it I can't help feeling that being part of a community like that is beneficial and it is good the minister at that time was the Reverend McRae and he was a reasonably frequent visitor to the hotel he and my father had long conversations and not long before Mr.

[37:31] McRae died he came and spoke to me about these conversations and although some of it was no doubt about fishing and salmon fishing of which he was very keen he did give the impression they had a lot deeper thoughts than that when they were speaking together so these were the early influences in the early years and then there was the influence in school Farahor spoke about this last month almost as soon as you went in the door you started learning you learnt the Lord's Prayer you learnt from the Catechism you learnt Psalms it was learning by rote and for me to criticise but at this age it was all learned by rote there was no explanations man's chief end is to glorify God I could say that at a couple of days older than five years old but I have to be honest it didn't mean I didn't know what the words meant and the same justification sanctification adoption

[38:32] I don't mean to be flippant in any part of this testimony but for many many years in Psalm 84 it talks about the tabernacle of thy grace to me at that age a tabernacle was a thing in a boat that you put the mast in and for years I did wonder what this bit of a boat was doing in Psalm 84 I'm sure David can work a little talk around that for the children we Mr McRae was the minister at the time as I said and he used to come to the school and again please don't think I'm being at all flippant but the priority in children's mind was please don't ask me the fourth commandment because it was so long that you would make a mistake before you got to the end of it Mr McRae was quite happy and he would prompt you and help you along but sometimes when he left the room we heard from the teacher that we hadn't done as well as we should do church was still very infrequent in my life and I did not attend

[39:43] Sunday school that's still a regret to this day particularly when at the children's lesson and when David's talking to them you see the joy and the knowledge that is already within these children and also they get it through Sunday school and there's jam and youth fellowship and there's loads of more opportunities the first positive nudge came when I moved to secondary in Tarbert and this is where ENA's I'm sorry he's not here his grandfather comes into the picture Alec John who people older people remember we got a period of religious instruction one a week and he took it he taught Latin and he taught Gaelic but he for the first time took smaller passages from within the Bible and went through them and explained them and asked us our thoughts on them and asked us what we thought about them it was really my first true insight into the riches that there are in the

[40:47] Bible and it started a deep interest in the Bible that has stayed with me for the rest of my life even through what I call the desert days following Tarbert you had to leave there if you wanted to sit O-levels and higher you had to go to Inverness to a hostel in Inverness and again we went through the routine we went through the motions there was a long period of desert in this we set a grace in the hostel before meals and we would go to church we had to go to church every Sunday we used to walk into the middle of Inverness and go to the west church but again I didn't feel that there was no depth in my relationship with Jesus and with God I can just again wilderness years and sixth year we managed to get one period of religious instruction RI in the week and one of the first things the teacher said to us of course

[41:49] Hebrews wrote symbolically and all you read in the Bible is symbolism and no not necessarily truth after Inverness I moved on to Edinburgh I was in Edinburgh for five years and that's probably the first time in my life I felt there was something missing it was in the late 1960s and young people were experimenting and encouraged to go and find things and I was looking in a way for a faith and I looked at various and I experienced various different religions to this day I like the simplicity of a Quaker I don't know if I should say that but I like the Quakers appealed at that time because of their simplicity it was a very simple message I even at one stage looked at Buddhism because they value life to the smallest very smallest degree and I like that but I was going totally wrong

[42:53] I was trying to fit my life without any changes into a belief or perhaps more accurately a religion even if that religion didn't have the God as we know it and Jesus within it and it failed and it failed although there were ones that had slight overlaps with my human feelings there was no real feeling of belonging there whatsoever after Ednaro this was 1970 71 I came home to the hotel and again elapsed my life is full of lapses it was my day off was a Thursday we were like one day off a week I was running the hotel with my sister Helen at that stage and again for about five years I worked in the hotel on that basis it was really late 1975 I think things began to take on a new pattern and this is where I began to get more positive

[43:53] I went to the bus garage across the road and ran the buses actually until 1993 during that time mission houses were closing and we were asked to provide buses to take people into the church here I was asked if the first approach was from Clure and Grosby that sort of area and the driver there was Nurse Marion's husband Catriona and Iona's father Don John and he's sadly no longer with us and I spoke to him and I said Don John we've had this request from your area would you be happy to do it and Don John said yes I'll do it but one condition and you know you think what is that condition going to be and his condition was I don't want to be paid for it I cannot accept payment for it he didn't see it as a job he just wanted to do it and it was perhaps a small event but it's part of this pattern but it's one that taught me a lesson it led me to a better understanding of the level of belief within people that's not always shown on the surface the next nudge influence was a big one people in

[45:18] Buna Bonetra and Artazic wanted similar service to take them into church and I was the driver in Tarbert so I took that role on myself to begin with I collected them took them down into the corner of the car park the corner nearest the church and let them off and they would go up that path and then over the top down to the church and I would go way back home and then I would turn up there when it was time for them to come out and this went on for quite a while and then they said that hill is quite hard for some of us can you take us down into the church car park so I thought fine okay so for the next while I took them into the car park but believe it or not it's hard I've got a smile when I think of this the stupidity of this we used to park up the bus down there and used to get out and I used to sit in the bus until everybody had gone in and I walked home

[46:21] I couldn't take the bus away because the traffic is a very narrow road and I walked back home and then I walked back down again just before I thought they were coming out to be sitting in the bus ready to take them home again and this went on for some time I mean it wasn't just weeks it was months if not here but I did eventually feel a pull to go in over the church door and it seemed to me to be a big step but the one thing I remember from that was the welcome I got from the people at the door somewhere here the welcome from Norman McKeever and that was a big lesson and to this day I thank the people for bringing me over the door into the church these influences seem to cascade a bit and get bigger and more important in the mid 1990s

[47:22] I ended up in rig moor for quite a while I had a three week and then a five week time in and I was in a side ward and I was told I had a visitor and it was Dr Robertson who was a local doctor here who sometimes preached in the church of Scotland and he came in and I can't remember any of the conversation at all I was probably out of it but he prayed and if you can imagine the situation because he prayed for my recovery and after he said that he said if it is your will in other words God's will I was in a side ward probably the best hospital in the north I was being looked after by a tremendous surgeon Alistair Munro a staff led by an old fashioned nurse Sister Chisholm both very Christian people and they still do Christian work but connected to this equipment and monitors and what have you but to Dr

[48:28] Robertson a medical doctor none of this meant very much it was if it was God's will that I was going to recover or not and I did a little extra that during hospital I received tapes from the church in Tarbird and we have many great presenters we have had for years but the one thing that's in my mind to this day is again coming back to Ian A's father John McSween I can even hear his voice on these tapes being played out and it kept that connection with the church in Tarbird and it does show you that even in those days connected to the church by something going through the screen or something going through a telephone or sound it's worth a lot to a lot of people you'd have thought with all that I would have learned but no sin entered once again I did see this journey as long a narrow path and before

[49:38] I sinned and that sinned in my mind and I can still see it today across this narrow path there was this huge black cube it wasn't a wall it was a cube it went out to the side it had depth and it had height and I couldn't get around it and I knew my journey to Christ to God stopped and again I did the wrong thing well I think I did the wrong thing I stopped going to church anyway just like that I searched the Bible trying to find biblical justification would you believe for what it was I tried to find something in the Bible so I could excuse myself but I so completely missed the point that you can't do that it's through Jesus and God that you get forgiveness not through yourself or reading it someplace this actually went on for about a couple of years and again this is where I'm so grateful to the work of

[50:50] God and the work of Jesus not necessarily in me but in people pointed me and pushed me back on this path and this time it was Angus Alec it was amazing often Angus Alec turns up and what I find fascinating I've never spoken to this about Angus before and all these people who influenced I don't think they knew they did it it just happened and it sometimes you don't know what happened was I was still working at the carriage selling petrol and Angus Alec came up one day after a couple of years and I said to Angus can I have a word can we have a wee talk and I explained the situation to them and all he said was it's between you and the Lord don't worry about anything else that was it I went I went home and I prayed more personally and fervently probably than I ever had before and in my mind's eye that dark black wide high cube it didn't explode it didn't crack it didn't fall apart it dissolved it dissolved from the top downwards like a gigantic ice cube but it wasn't an ice cube because there wasn't even any water there and I could see straight away the path onward and that opened up so I don't know if Angus

[52:21] Alley was aware of the effect he had but you know tonight's night for sake thank you the next big event that made an influence was the Alpha course because the Alpha course it ran over eight weeks it was run by Anthony Latham with help from Reverend John Reverend and Reverend McKeever and Duncan came in sometimes too it was an evening with a talk and there was time for questions and perhaps more importantly there was a time for a reflection on what had been taught and it really was based around the role of Jesus and the crucifixion and what it meant and how it came about it was centred on that and I was working I was into fish farming you must think I've got dozens of jobs but I moved from one to the other but I was in the fish farm at that time down in Stocknish I can't remember exactly when it was but suddenly on the way back thinking over this everything fell into place just it was putting the last bit in a jigsaw and suddenly seeing the picture and

[53:27] I was my own in the pickup on the way back and the only thing I could think of was I did I shouted I believe just the two words over and over again I really felt that I that was the moment in which everything fell into place and then I had to tell somebody so I came straight home straight into the kitchen saw Mari and said the same words to Mari I believe and it's that again a magic moment for want of bitter words in March 2003 I professed my faith publicly I came to the table and I acknowledged Jesus as my saviour and then in 2008 Mari joined me also coming forward and being a witness for Christ and if you like that in modern technology it was the cherry and the cream and the cake etc that rounded itself nicely we had both come a long way and we both know that doing this was something quite wonderful but we also both know today that it's still very much a work in progress and our journey still goes on this testimony so far has no quotes as I've heard in many others but what it has from the beginning to the end is how

[54:55] Jesus Christ and the Lord through other people have guided me this far and continue to do so both individually so through the community ENA's grandfather nurse Marian's husband Dr.

[55:11] Robertson there Tassigan Boonam and Aether people ENA's father Angus Alec Dr. Aether John John Mr. McKeever Reverend Roddy and now David the journey goes on their influences were and are somehow in God's plan for me and I do still ask myself why has he been so patient to me I don't know I can't answer that one it's somewhere somewhere the answer is somewhere out there but I have no idea why he's been so patient and so good I still struggle I struggle with the basics sometimes I do find praying publicly difficult I can have numerous and long unspoken prayers in my head I can pray privately and again no problem public prayer I find difficult the other thing this is something that David says you should do and I find it hard and that is starting a conversation and introducing my faith to somebody else even in the family

[56:18] I find that difficult but I continually pray for help in both these areas and other areas as well sometime back David mentioned that if you trust in the Lord you pray and then you wait and I think there's a lot of sense and a lot behind that you trust you pray and you just wait have faith in the Lord I tie this in with the one quote I'm going to give it's Matthew 7 verse 7 ask and it shall be given to you seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened unto you so today we're still on that path I don't know what tomorrow will bring except the joy of the absolute certainty that I try to encompass in the words I believe sure in the knowledge that

[57:21] Jesus son of God suffered and died on the cross to atone for the sins of people like me thank you thank you very much David for sharing testimony this evening I won't ask you to come up and pray just now we'll pray together our heavenly father we thank you for the the wonder of your love we thank you for the mystery of your grace you're the God who calls us you're the God who saves us through Christ you're the God who sustains us and we thank you that you simply call us to believe and we think back over many testimonies and we think of many different journeys that have brought people to the point where they say I believe and thank you for

[58:32] David's faith in Christ thank you for the testimony that he has shared this evening thank you for those who are here and others who are not here some who have gone on ahead of us from time into eternity those who have been witnesses themselves and brought words of direction and encouragement and we pray that David's testimony may be used to encourage many others as they listen in we pray that you would help us each of us to believe and to trust you to pray and to help us as we wait upon you to take the opportunities that you give to us to speak of Jesus so bless this evening bless this testimony and continue to work in David's life and Mary's life and in the life of everybody who believes and for anyone tonight who is here or listening who doesn't yet believe we pray that you would grant faith that you would continue to strive with those that you have taken hold of that they too may be able to profess faith in Jesus the one who loved us the one who gave himself for us so that we can have life that is everlasting sins forgiven the hope of eternity and we pray all these things in Jesus name amen we'll sing to conclude again a hymn that David has chosen and it's a mission praise 760 in some ways it's a hymn that reminds us of the simplicity of the life that we're called to in Christ when we walk with the Lord in the light of his word what a glory he sheds on our way while we do his good will he abides with us still and with all who will trust and obey trust and obey there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey when we walk when we walk with the Lord in the light of his word what a glory he sheds he sheds he sheds on our way while we do his good his good will he abides with us and with all who will trust and obey trust and obey for there's no on our way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey not a shadow can rise not a cloud in the sky but his smile quickly drives it away not a doubt not a fear not a sigh not a tear can abide while we trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey not a burden we pay not a sorrow we share but a time he doth richly repay not a grief

[62:32] nor a loss not a frown not a growth but a place that we trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey but we never can pray the delights of his love until all on the altar remain for the favor he shows and the joy he bestows are for him who will trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey and in fellowship sweet we will sit at his feet for we'll walk by his side in the way what he says we will do where he sends we will go never be only trust and obey trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in

[64:11] Jesus but to trust and obey and I may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with us all both now and forever more Amen