HOPE

Hope is the theme for this Sunday's service, centred around Romans 15 v13. It's my first sermon after a significant break on study leave. It's always a bit of a challenge getting back into the way of preparing for Sunday, even after a short break, so I'm glad to be nearly organised by Friday lunchtime. I couldn't help thinking about this song - IN CHRIST ALONE MY HOPE IS FOUND - as I tried to focus on the overflowing hope that Paul speaks of.

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SAINTS DAY

Within the Celtic Daily Prayer there are regular Saints Days - days to remember specific people who lived heroic Christian lives. Today Jean Donovan is remembered. In her short life, she displayed so much courage in her efforts to help many oppressed people in El Salvador.

bana trust

Dear Friends
It is with mixed emotions that I share with you my decision to return to Scotland. I have felt for some time now that, whilst I am privileged to have had the opportunity to work with the boys on the street and to do the job I have been doing, I have to consider my children, particularly Palesa, who is at the age where things start to matter.
I have prayed about this decision, and have not made it lightly. I trust that I am hearing what God is saying and that I am moving in His will. I believe that the signs He is sending me are very clear, and I have a great sense of peace about it.
We hope to be home by the end of the year, and I am very much looking forward to being amongst family and friends once more.
Please keep an eye out for the next newsletter for more details on how the boys are doing and on our decision to move home.
With love
Robyn and the girls

ready steady slow

"To play it safe is not to play" Robert Altman.

One of the quotes from the READY STEADY SLOW website for Christmas, which contains a video reflection for each day of advent beginning today.

2 minutes on preaching

We are now entering the 3rd and final cycle of the Lectionary readings, which we began at advent 2008. This time next year, we will perhaps look at a new structure to follow for a while. Here's a possible way forward from brian mclaren.

sermons

We were discussing preaching and teaching last night in our kirk session meeting, and one of the elders shared his practice of downloading sermon podcasts to listen to during the week as he travels back and fore to work. A particular favourite was Tim Keller who I heard during my recent visit to the Lausanne Conference in Capetown. I've just taken a look at the website, and I think I will be downloading a few sermons myself in the near future.

Senior Citizens Advent Gathering

The pastoral care team held an afternoon tea for senior citizens today, which was enjoyed by everyone who came along. It was the first time such an event had taken place. Another one is planned for St Valentines Day.

MUSIC FOR JOY

The anual MUSIC FOR JOY concert takes place on Saturday,11th December at 7.30pm in the Church. You can see my post from last year on it here. It is a truly wonderful concert which I would really encourage you to experience, if you haven't been before. Tickets can be purchased at the Church this Sunday or you can email julieandjeremy@braemore5.wanadoo.co.uk for more information.

winter evening services

Just back from this evening's kirk session which had a variety of interesting discussions. We discussed how to make a decision about the evening service in the light of the potential for a long hard snowy winter. We decided that if the weather was bad and the forecast was poor, we would seek to make a decision before the close of the morning service. If the service wasn't cancelled in the morning, we would hold the evening service, with the proviso that no-one should feel under any pressure to attend, even if that meant having no musicians or welcomers or tea makers. Maybe we won't have any such decision to make this winter, but at least it's good now to have a plan in place.

ADVENT BOOKS

Over the last couple of years I have shared here and here about the books I have been reading to guide my thoughts during advent. This year, I have chosen two books to read, GOD IS IN THE MANGER and READY STEADY SLOW. I'll keep you posted on how I'm getting along.

advent 2010

It's the first Sunday in advent 2010, and for the third year in succession Jonathan has come up with another stonking idea for the children - this time with a real live tardis in the church! We had a great service of worship this morning, and if you're looking for an inspiring message for the beginning of advent, look no further than Morag Macritchie's wonderful talk this morning - "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" It should be here within the next 24 hours.

SUNDAY EVENING SERVICE

The evening service was cancelled because of the weather tonight for only the second time in 15 years. The last time was on the Sunday before Christmas last year. The road conditions today are pretty treacherous, and we didn't want to have folk risking life and limb after dark coming to a service. If this bad weather is going to continue over the winter, we will need to work out some protocol for cancelling services. We phoned around and we also put a message out on facebook. We have a Leadership Team meeting on Tuesday night, so we can discuss it there. Hopefully, most people got the message.

Church Buildings

You may have noticed the occasional post on the blog throughout this year, highlighting that the Congregational Board and Kirk Session have been reflecting on several issues relating to the buildings of Hilton Church. At this morning's service we launched a month long consultation for the whole congregation to engage in the discussion. With the upkeep and development of church buildings being the responsibility of, and only possible due to the contributions of the congregation, we want everyone to be able to have their say on how they think we should move forward. Some of the challenges during the Board's reflection on buildings has been the acknowledgement that we need to consider the future development and use of our buildings, against the reality that no specific plan or vision for a major redevelopment has become clear so far, and the current economic situation may well affect any fundraising efforts. So we've focussed the consultation around priorities. What are your TOP THREE PRIORITIES for improvement of our buildings?

There are a number of ways you can have your say:

• Paper forms are available in the church to fill in and leave in the boxes at tables in the foyer and large hall
• Email your suggestions to buildings@hiltonchurch.org.uk
• Comment and join the discussion online with our special Buildings Blog at www.hiltonchurchbuildings.blogspot.com (links on church blog and website)
• Chat to board members over coffee after services
• Join a focus/vision/planning group for ongoing reflection on buildings (email as above)
  
  

Everyone's views are equally important to us. So whether you think we should completely rebuild the church buildings, or think they're fine just as they are, or anything in between, please do let us know.

Mike Robertson
Congregational Board Chairman

Lausanne Capetown

This will be my last post for some time as I leave on Wednesday for the Lausanne Capetown Conference. This post captures the magnitude of the conference. I think it will be a once in a life time experience, and I look forward to telling you all about it in due course. The only downside I noted in this morning's email from the conference organisers were their words regarding dress code - "business casual or national dress!" At least it's not "robes required" as the invitations from Presbytery used to state. This was always a bit of a problem for me, as I don't possess any robes. I suppose I can go out and buy some slighty smarter clothes than I ordinary wear before I leave tomorrow!

Thank you

After a lectionary reading which highlighted the importance of saying "thank you", I want to say a massive "thank you" to Simon Varwell who performed heroics today with our visuals. The internet went down, so all my various clips on 10 10 10 were nolonger available. Thankfully we were able to go to the Lighthouse next door for internet access, and download the clips onto a USB and then take them back to the church. I could have done without that stress minutes before the service, and without Simon's knowledge and skill the outcome would have been very different.

10 10 10 - what's your promise?

10 10 10

Ceildh Bands

I was at Jodie & Muir's wedding reception last night. The Band for the ceildh who are called RhythmnReel were quite outstanding. There are certainly no shortage of good ceildh bands around these days. Skipinish and Meantime are two other bands which come to mind from various events over the years.

Wedding

Congratulations to Muir and Jody who were married at Cawdor Church this afternoon. Jody's late grandmother Evelyn was a much loved elder within the congregation.

TED TALKS

I came across some TED talks last night, and was impressed by the quality of them. I was also struck by the fact that these talks have a maximum length of 18 minutes. Why?

It’s long enough to be serious and short enough to hold people’s attention..... ....By forcing speakers who are used to going on for 45 minutes to bring it down to 18, you get them to really think about what they want to say. What is the key point they want to communicate? It has a clarifying effect. It brings discipline.

I'm wondering whether this is a discipline we need to follow in relation to our preaching? How long can the average person comfortably listen to a speaker? I don't think it would be much more than 18 minutes.