A Little Something from Hamish Wishart

The speaker tonight at Resolve07 is Hamish Wishart. He answers some questions for us here.

Describe the ministry context you find yourself in?
Cornton Baptist is situated right in the centre of a deprived housing estate on the outskirts of Stirling. It is located between Bridge of Allan with its affluence and Stirling itself. It is also close to Stirling University a busy university with students from all over the world. The church is on the doorstep of Scotland’s only female prison, Corntonvale. There is a great deal of alcohol and drug abuse in the area. The area is currently undergoing a regeneration programme.

Most of those who attend the church come in from outside the area, some are originally from Cornton itself others not. The biggest challenge is to reach out to the local community and share Jesus with them. We have a growing and thriving children’s work which we aim to build on.

The church itself is being renovated and extended at the moment with the sole purpose of using the new and improved facilities to benefit those in the local community.

What are your great passions in ministry?
My great passion is for the systematic expository preaching of the Word of God. I strive to bring God’s word to the flock in a relevant manner which allows each of us to grow in our faith and knowledge of Jesus.

Alongside this I have a great passion for those outside the church to come into contact with Christians and to hear the message that Jesus loves them and we do too! I long to see the lives of many in our community transformed and changed by the power of the gospel.

What are the greatest needs of the local church?
In my humble opinion the needs of the local church are that folk be connected in a deeper way with Jesus through the sound teaching of God’s Word and that they be equipped to reach out to those around them who are lost. When I say teaching of God’s Word I mean regular systematic expository preaching of the Word – not stories and ‘nice to hear’ messages delivered in fancy ways. We need to get rooted back in the Bible and only then will be able to reach out to the world around us.

I believe there is a also a great need to return to prayer. Prayer is often a quick one stop shop for presenting our requests to God then we run away again. It is time we took prayer seriously and were found often in communion with our God.

What areas do you see most often neglected in the church today?
The main area I feel lacks greatly is living the Christian life 24/7. Churches today are full of people who commit themselves to the morning service or the evening service on a Sunday but that is then it for the week – no more Church contact, no more church activity. We have to be finding ways to encourage our people to live for Jesus always; to integrate what they learn on a Sunday into their life during the week. Aligned with this is a neglect of the Word as I mentioned above. Once we get back to teaching Scriptural truth correctly and fully we will see the changes in lives which will result in more people living for Jesus 24/7.

Why does doctrine matter?
Doctrine matters because God’s Word matters. Doctrine suggests Grudem is what the whole Bible teaches about a topic. So when we come to look at the doctrine of God we use the whole of Scripture to build up the picture for us of who God is; what his characteristics are; how he loves us; etc. We have to be in the Word, reading and studying the whole Word, and learning the doctrines contained within it. When we understand and apply the teaching of doctrine to our lives we begin to live the way God intended us to live. We enjoy ‘life and life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10)

Do you, and if so why do you, think doctrine is dropping off the map off the church presently?
Doctrine has dropped off the radar in the life of churches today for various reasons. People don’t like absolutes anymore and there is somehow a mentality that there are many ways to God – there is only one ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’ said Jesus in John 14:6. There is also a lack of solid teaching – we are feeding people milk when they need solids. Sermons are full of stories and are lacking teaching.

As young pastors what are your ambitions for the church in Scotland?
I could talk for ever on this but let me try and be short and to the point – hard for me I know!!! My ambition is to see a church that is rooted firmly in God’s Word, passionate about reading and studying that Word and then living by what we learn. In that living we would then vibrantly share with others our love for Jesus. I long to see Christians rediscover their first love and to live with the joy and passion that they first experienced on coming to Jesus. I hope we see a church where people know how great our God is and live in light of that.