On the evening of Tuesday, the 20th August, 1963, a new church was opened at Hilton, Fearn. It stands by the roadside, overlooking the sea, on the road from Balintore to Hilton. Gratitude is due to the members of the committee who saw to it that the work was well done. These were Messrs Wm. Mackenzie, Wm. Macdonald (Treasurer), John Macdonald and Hugh Macangus, with Samuel Grant (Architect), to whom a special word of thanks is due for all he did in connection with the planning and its execution. The ground for the building was given freely and willingly by Mr John Paterson, Hilton. The building is well suited for all its purposes. It is well lit and well finished, and, for ordinary occasions, holds about one hundred persons.
It was full to capacity at the opening service, and an overflow service was held in a hall near at hand. Rev. Wm. Grant conducted the opening service. Rev. R. R. Sinclair preached in the hall on the text, “Worship God.” He may be able to publish his discourse later in our Magazine. Friends were present from many parts at the service—from Inverness and the Stratherrick-Tomatin congregation, from Laide, Lochcarron and Wick. Beautifully, Dingwall. When Rev. W. Grant finished his discourse, the other ministers of the Presbytery, with Rev. D. M. MacLeod, Stornoway, were invited to take part either by prayer or by addressing the people. At the close, a cordial invitation was given on behalf of Mr and Mrs Mackenzie, Balintore Farm, to friends who came from a distance to go there to partake of their hospitality before leaving for home, and a number of us gathered also at the hospitable home of Miss Macangus, where meetings were held on the Lord’s Day, and on week-days, for many years. The Lord rewarded this servant of the Master already, and is, we believe, her Shield and her exceeding great Reward. It may be added that the collection made on Tuesday evening amounted to well over £200.
The debt on the new building is in the region of £1,500—about half the total cost of the church. Mr Wm. Macdonald, Contractor, Shore Street, Balintore, Fearn, will receive, with gratitude, any contributions sent to him.
The following are some of the main points of Rev. Wm. Grant’s sermon on the occasion. His text was “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (II Cor. ix: 15). “Only twice elsewhere is the word ‘unspeakable’ used in the N.T.—in I Peter, ‘joy unspeakable,’ and when Paul told of ‘unspeakable’ words. Here we have the unspeakable gift. From whom did it come? To whom is it given? What reasons have we for thanksgiving? It is from God. Jo. iii: 16 (quoted and used). The gift is unspeakably free, efficaciously bestowed on those in a state of rebellion. It is to all. Matt. xxviii: 20, Isa. lv: 1. He was in the manger, and in Gethsemane. Who is this? Heb. i: 1, and Dan. ix: 24. Yes, unspeakably great and glorious to enrich impoverished souls, an heir of hell made an heir of heaven. He is the hope of the hopeless. Pa. lxxxix: 19-20: Jas. iii: 16. That little word ‘so’ points to infinite and unfailing provision. Isa. lv: 5-6; Ezek. xxxiii: 11. We sang in Ps. lxviii of receiving gifts, temporal and spiritual. Men are gifts according to Eph. iv. He gave men—noble covenanters—and the Reformers of England, who suffered and endured, rather than deny the Lord and Saviour. In our day we are confronted with a dead Protestantism, ready to lend a hand to the man of sin. The Bible is a gift—the inspired word. The enemy would rob us of it. Yes, we have the written word. Through the written word, look to the incarnate Word. In 1839, there was a great awakening at Portmahomack, and in Tain in 1840. These took place through the preaching of Dr. Macdonald and Dr. Charles C. Macintosh. We have much cold formality today. We have need of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit as was there on the links of Dornoch, when sixty or so young people sat at the Lord’s Table. The cloth was wet with their weeping. They were there in the warmth of their first love, but cholera swept these parts, and many were taken home. By their walk, life and conversation, they said, ‘Thanks be to God’ Ps. xlv. The soul is more precious than the whole material world. If one has only false peace, there is no ray of hope. The sinner saved by grace is, in death, without a sting. I Cor. xv: 57-8. Paul’s mind was full of thanksgiving. Do we join in this? What is the hope of each of us tonight? One thinks, ‘Before I die, I’ll give heed,’ or ‘I’ll do the best I can.’ There is only one hope—Christ in you, the hope of glory. Thanksgiving is better. There is need of activity in prayer. ‘Where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.’ Thanks be to God for this building. Glorious days are coming. ‘Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.’ The test is, ‘What saith the Lord?’ Let there be a living thanks as well as a giving thanks. Thanks for the Gospel which knows no colour-bar. The Jews cried, ‘His blood be upon us, and upon our children.’ Yet a glorious day is in store for the Jews. Stewart of Cromarty said that when Joseph made himself known to his brethren the whole house of Pharaoh heard the weeping; and that when Christ will make Himself known to His ancient people, the Jews, the whole Gentile world will hear their weeping. Let us beware when the enemy seeks to rob us of the Sabbath-day. Dr. Kennedy saw this coming. He said that even common discernment would go.
“Thanks be to God for all we have through witnesses who bought the truth and sold it not. In Spain, there is no liberty as we have. Beware of the Papacy, and hand down what will be a blessing. Give thanks for Christ. Eternal life is His gift, unmerited. How many are in Scotland without the Bible—hardly seeing it? As if parents were saying to their children, ‘This is the way to hell—walk ye in it.’ May there be an extolling of the Name which is above every name, that, by the grace of God, you may have Ps. cxxii: 1—
‘I joy’d when to the house of God,
Go up, they said to me.’”
D. A. Macfarlane, Interim Moderator.