McCheyne preached for the first time at Ruthwell Church, Dumfries, the following Sunday. He wrote, 'Found it a more awfully solemn thing than I had imagined to announce Christ authoritatively; yet a glorious privilege!’ The next Saturday he wrote, "Lord, put me into thy service when and where thou pleasest. In thy hand all my qualities will be put to their appropriate end. Let me, then, have no anxieties."