I have a hope for Scotland, tentative yet growing stronger by the day.

It comes from a week spent with the young people of this nation, from those who came to gather around the cross.

They represented towns and villages from north and south, churches of the east and west, schools, clubs and families. But they stood together under the banner of Jesus. And something new began to stir.

Their only allegiance was Christ and their only mission to proclaim his name to the nation.

This generation have not yet drawn lines in the sand separating them from their brothers and sisters. They have not been tainted by our tribal divisions and suspicions, have not yet inherited our prejudices.

I believe there is a new thing being birthed, where it will not matter who gets the credit, or whose church grows fastest, as long as people find their way to the Saviour. And so I have a mighty hope for Scotland.

But I also have a fear.

That we who have at times allowed other things to become more important than being sold out for Jesus, who have let our divisions blind us to our true priority, would somehow by our discouragement and disunity, quash the flame that has been lit in them.

And so I pray that we as the church would leave them unshackled from our history, our expectations, that we would instead boldly cheer them on as they go together to reach their streets, schools and cities, and that they will do together as family what we have failed to manage in our divided little parishes and pockets.

I pray that they continue to rally under the name of Jesus with their only passion being Him and making Him known. That we would help fan into flame this love so that a forest fire sweeps this nation.

And that they would lead us in a new way of walking as the church in this land.