'Aye, that's what you think'

I received an email from Jim Gordon this morning - Living Wittily - outlining his ideas for a weekend at Hilton Church to mark the beginning of Advent.

He wants to call it "Aye, that's what you think!" The Counter Intuitive Theology of Isaiah.

I think I'll leave the bit about counter intuitive out of our publicity as it sounds a bit academic, which knowing Jim, it won't be!
Isaiah was living at a time when morale was low amongst the people of God. They were in exile, and any positive word of hope was very likely to be met with the response "Aye, that's what you think!" For so many Christians in Scotland today the situation is very similar. The church is struggling, there are signs of death and decay all around. We are going through a time which feels like exile. Many people find it difficult to hear words of hope. "Aye, that's what you think!"

Over 30th November to 2nd December, we want to celebrate the fact that God's light has invaded the darkness and the darkness will never put it out. There will be a cafe service aimed at all ages from 7 - 8.15pm on Friday night, there will be a teaching time from 10-12 noon on Saturday and then on Sunday, Jim will be sharing at our 3 worship services. We are praying that this will be a superb weekend for us all as we engage with the Prophet Isaiah who brought the people of God a word of hope in the darkness.

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light" (Isaiah 9 v2)

Jim has also thought very deeply and written on a whole variety of very important pastoral issues, as his post today on bipolar disorder and his post last week on autism illustrates. I'm sure the weekend will also give us some very significant insights into many dimensions of pastoral care within our fellowship.

DM